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New Zealand First is back in parliament



This week marks the official start of the 54th parliament of New Zealand, and New Zealand First welcomes the privilege it is to have been returned to the halls of parliament. We will work tirelessly to represent the people who have voted for us, and we remain grateful to the many kiwis who have supported us over the past three years in our steep climb back to office.



As part of the new coalition government, New Zealand First brings eight Members of Parliament to the house, and we congratulate them on the portfolios that have been appointed to them.



The portfolio’s covered by our Ministers are a clear indication of the pledges we made during our election campaign. This suite of common sense policies was then negotiated into our coalition agreement with the National Party, and we are excited to see our new Ministers represent our Party’s values in Wellington with their contribution.



First speech in the house from Rt. Hon. Winston Peters



Coming out swinging in his first speech in the house today, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters showed exactly why New Zealand First is back. He ended his fiery speech with a simple message: “We are proud to have joined this coalition, to save this country”.







<[link removed]>Watch Now <[link removed]>



Speech from the Throne



The Governor-General, her excellency Dame Cindy Kiro addressed Members of Parliament today in the Legislative Council Chamber with her speech from the throne, outlining the government's priorities for the next parliamentary term. As with the first 100-days plan, many of the policies stated were taken from the coalition agreement between New Zealand First and the National Party.



Our longstanding focus on common sense policy solutions has been clearly highlighted in the Government’s aim to improve the lives of all New Zealanders, while leading a unified and confident country. This is based on the belief that all of us can achieve more by working together, and that co-operation will enable greater reach into communities, particularly those with high needs, to effect change. The Government will restore law and order and personal responsibility, so Kiwis feel safer where they live and work.



The First 100-Days Plan



The strength of our representation in parliament is highlighted by some of the following policies outlined in the Government’s first 100-days plan. The immediate focus will be on rebuilding the economy, easing the cost of living, restoring law and order, and delivering better public services.



- Begin work to repeal the Therapeutics Products Act 2023

- Stop all work on He Puapua

- Begin work on a National Infrastructure Agency

- Make gang membership an aggravating factor at sentencing

- Introduce legislation to extend eligibility to offence-based rehabilitation programmes to remand prisoners

- Begin work to crack down on serious youth offending

- Require primary and intermediate schools to teach an hour of reading, writing and maths per day starting in 2024 and appoint an Expert Group to redesign the English and Mathematics curriculum for primary school students

- Begin work on delivering better public services and strengthening democracy

- Introduce legislation to disestablish the Maori Health Authority

- Repeal amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and regulations

- Repeal the Water Services Entities Act 2022 (Three Waters)

- Withdraw central government from Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM)

- Stop central government work on the Auckland Light Rail project

- Repeal the Spatial Planning and Natural Built Environment Act and introduce a fast-track consenting regime



You can read our full coalition agreement here <[link removed]>



Hitting the ground running



New Zealand First welcomed the government's decision to reserve against the proposed amendments to the World Health Organisation (WHO) health regulations also known as the ‘International Health Regulations’ (IHR). Meeting the 1 December submission deadline was one of the 49 actions of the government’s ‘100 day plan’, released on Wednesday 29 November. 



Before New Zealand accepts any agreements from international agencies that may limit national decision-making, they will be subject to a “National Interest Test”.



Ensuring that New Zealand’s domestic law holds primacy over any international agreements sends a clear message that we value our sovereignty. New Zealand First will do what it can to protect our nation’s interests, laid out by this commitment and many others in our coalition agreement.



New Zealand First Action

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