Our new National-led Government may have taken its time getting up and running but the winds of change are coming.
In its first 100 days, the Government has pledged to:
- Remove Auckland’s Regional fuel tax; the Ute tax; and Three Waters.
- Dispense with the blanket speed limit restrictions; stop light rail; and get Wellington moving again.
- Refocus the Reserve Bank’s mandate to price stability.
- Mandate basics for maths, reading and writing in our schools.
- Ban the use of cellphones in schools.
- Crack down on gangs.
- Implement major health targets for our healthcare system, including waiting times and cancer treatments.
- Repeal amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and regulations.
It’s an ambitious plan.
The removal of the Reserve Bank’s dual mandate
The dual mandate has been seen as a factor in allowing inflation to rise so far outside of the target band of 1 to 3 percent. The move to reinstate the RBNZ’s old mandate and enable the bank to concentrate purely on targeting inflation is widely seen to be a good thing.
Amendments to WHO health regulations
The long-standing rules and norms for managing disease outbreaks are under review by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and likely to see changes mid-next year. The Government is lodging a reservation against adopting any amendments to WHO health regulations to allow it to consider these against what is in the best interest of our country.
Repeal the Fair Pay Act
In force for less than a year, the Fair Pay Act seeks to provide a way to set minimum standards for employment in sectors across New Zealand including pay rates, overtime, penalty rates and pay rises. Deemed by National to be harmful to both productivity and business, it has promised to repeal the Act by Christmas.
Repeal the RMA reforms
The Resource Management Act (RMA) is a complicated set of legislation that governs everything from subdividing your land to how much noise you can make in your factory, and it also includes freshwater protection across Aotearoa. We await more detail on the specifics of the changes the new Government intends to make so watch this space for more to come.
A new mini- budget
A mini budget will be introduced prior to the mid-year annual Government Budget. This mini budget will outline the Government’s priorities and highlight where cuts will be made in preparation for National’s new priorities. It is tipped to include tax cuts, restoring interest deductibility for landlords, and income tax cuts (despite the lifting of the ban on foreign buyers is now off the table).
Access to justice
Very close to our own hearts is better access to justice for everyone. We’ve been seeing massive delays in the legal system causing issues for Kiwis needing to access the justice system in our courts and tribunal systems. National has promised to improve the court experience for all by ensuring technology is used more to improve efficiencies and resolve disputes quickly. We also hope they will review the legal aid rates, so they actually cover the cost of doing legal aid work.
The bright-line test
Introduced in 2015, the bright-line test was based on a two-year period until the rules changed in 2018 to a five-year period, and then in 2021 to a 10-year period.
National has promised the bright-line test will revert back to two years which means property owners will be free to sell a property after just two years.