Hi John,

It’s a busy time of year, so we’ll get straight to it: there’s been a lot happening lately and we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss any of the recent good news.

Here are six things we wanted to share with you this week:

More people in free apprenticeships and trades training: This week we announced we’ve now supported 240,000 people to upskill with free training and apprenticeships. This has not only helped set people up for a great career in the trades - it’s also helping to fill skill shortages in key industries. Read more about how we’re getting people into jobs here.

GDP up 2%, despite challenging global conditions: Brand new stats out yesterday show our careful economic management is working - and that means we’re in a strong position to face the volatile global environment and support New Zealanders through. Here’s what Grant Robertson had to say about the latest figures and our economic plan.

More medicines for more Kiwis: Thanks to our Government’s record funding boosts, Pharmac has been able to make more than 200 treatments available for thousands of people. Just this month, Pharmac has announced plans to fund Trikafta for people with cystic fibrosis, Spinraza for young people with spinal muscular atrophy, and EpiPens for severe allergy sufferers - and today, Pharmac has announced provisional agreements to fund lung cancer drugs Keytruda and Tecentriq. Get all the details here.

More skilled workers to help fill labour shortages: We’ve just expanded our Green List, making it easier to recruit overseas for nurses, midwives, teachers and other in-demand roles. You can catch up on this announcement here. 

Extra support helping thousands of families: The Families Package has just celebrated its fifth birthday! That means it’s been five years of the Winter Energy Payment, the Best Start Payment, extended paid parental leave and Family Tax Credit boost. Research released this week shows how this extra support has helped Kiwi households. Read more here.

The highlights of 2022: This week, Parliament wrapped up for the year with adjournment debate speeches - and as is tradition, these included some light-hearted moments alongside reflections on the year that’s been. Watch Jacinda Ardern’s adjournment debate speech:

With the end of the year fast approaching, our focus remains on supporting New Zealanders with the cost of living and providing economic security through the global challenges ahead. 

We’ll be back in touch soon with another update on how we’re helping Kiwi households, supporting people into work and investing in strong public services that New Zealanders rely on, while carefully managing the economy.

For now, you can find more good news and read more about everything we’re doing here.

Thanks,
The Labour Team