A new page for NZ

You’ll have seen in the recent Budget that New Zealand is doing well. Everyone deserves credit for that, especially the millions of hardworking Kiwis who get up each morning determined to help their family get ahead.

Now it’s time to make sure families are doing well too. This month marks one of the biggest changes to everyday Kiwi family incomes in decades.

Many whanau will be surprised to learn they now qualify for Working for Families payments, or that their accommodation supplement has risen, or that the government is providing extra support for every family with a new baby.

When the Families Package is fully rolled out, more than 384,000 middleand lower-income families will be better off by an average of $75 a week.

Our package is about making the most important job in the country — raising a family — just a bit easier. We know that what matters most to Kiwis is that our families are doing okay, and that’s not too much to expect. But for the past decade everyday working families have been feeling more and more squeezed as costs of raising a family creep up, while incomes stay relatively flat.

The Budget showed that the books are in order, and we’re committed to tight control of the economy in order to keep it this way. But we’re also making the investments that you asked us to make in last year’s election.

We’re investing in housing, in health care, in schools and in our regions. After years of neglect, here in Northland the government is working with our people on opportunities to enhance tourism opportunities, develop jobs, housing, transport and businesses with a $46 million investment package announced last month.

Most of all, we’re investing in Kiwi families. I’m proud of that.

This month we’re expanding Working for Families, so more families receive greater support. Payments are rising, and 26,000 more families will be eligible for payments for the first time, rising to 39,000 extra families by 2021.

The package will lift tens of thousands of children out of poverty.

We want every child to have the best possible start in life. And we want all parents to be able to share that precious time with their children. So this month we’re extending paid parental leave from 18 to 22 weeks, and further to 26 weeks by 2020.

A new baby is wonderful, but everyone knows parents can use a little extra help when there’s a new arrival. Our Best Start payment provides $60 a week to every family with a baby born after July 1 this year.

There’s also help for grandparents and other superannuants so they can keep their houses warm over winter.

This month we turn a new page for New Zealand, one guided by fairness in health, housing, education and employment. The Families Package is a huge step. But there’s more to come. Let’s keep doing this.

"Our package is about making the most important job in the country — raising a family — just a bit easier. "