Luxon: Our reforms are building the future

• By Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister and MP for Botany

Two years ago, National came into Government to rebuild the economy, restore law and order, and deliver better health and education.

Since then, we’ve restored discipline to Government spending, helping drive down inflation and interest rates and leaving Kiwis with cheaper mortgage repayments. A family refixing an average mortgage today is saving around $10,000 a year.

We’ve delivered tax relief for the first time in 14 years, and FamilyBoost is giving families up to $6,240 a year to help with childcare costs.

We’re investing in the future – building 17 Roads of National Significance and 12 Roads of Regional Significance to improve safety and reliability nationwide.

The infrastructure pipeline is now worth $275 billion and includes nearly 12,000 projects – meaning more roads, schools, hospitals, houses, and thousands of jobs nationwide.

We’ve attracted a record number of tourists from Australia, boosting businesses, and under National, exports have grown by $12 billion.

We’re also making good progress on restoring law and order. Ram-raids are down 85 per cent, tougher sentencing and a stronger gang crackdown are making communities safer, there are 38,000 fewer victims of violent crime, and youth offending is down 16 per cent.

We’ve made the biggest investment in health of any Government in New Zealand’s history, with funding going to the frontline. There are around 2,000 more nurses and hundreds more doctors. We’ve delivered 33 new cancer medicines and reduced elective surgery waitlists.

In education, we’ve banned cellphones in classrooms, mandated an hour each of reading, writing, and maths daily, and introduced a structured approach to literacy and numeracy.

New entrants achieving at the expected level have risen from 36 to 58 per cent, and the number exceeding expectations has doubled.

We’re focused on fixing the basics and are delivering reforms that are building the future –creating jobs, growing the economy, and putting more money in Kiwi pockets.