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Recently the Prime Minister announced 14,000 new apprenticeships. It's a vote of confidence
in the kind of recovery we think we can see in New Zealand this year.
The problems of the world haven't gone away. We're still hearing about the difficulties
in the US of their fiscal cliff, which they've put off. And in the UK appears to have gone
back into recession, Europe is hardly growing at all, but our dominant markets in Asia and
China are actually doing fairly well. So the problems haven't gone away but we believe
the recovery can develop a bit of momentum in 2013.
And that's the real possibility for those 14,000 young people - particularly with the
recovery in Christchurch and a pick-up in the construction sector. There is the opportunity
for young people to look forward to keen employers who have a pipeline of work that's going to
last for some time that gives them a chance to build skills that are of permanent value
to them. And that fits with the Government's priorities.
Because a big priority this year is going to be encouraging investment and the kind
of investment that is going to help create new jobs. It's the kin d of investment that's
going to help build a competitive economy. When the world's in a difficult place we have
to focus on the kinds of things we can influence - how to make our businesses as competitive
as possible in these reasonably challenging conditions.
Alongside that we will be working on the Government's track to surplus. We're making some progress
there. Essentially what's happening is that we're holding our expenses while our revenue
gradually picks up, and that's what should get us to surplus in 2014/15.
Alongside that is Better Public Services. We've got the same challenges that every other
business had last year and are going to have this year. And that is how to do more for
less: more health services, better education, better reductions in crime, and to do it all
with less cash. We're on track to achieve that.
And of course the rebuild of Christchurch, where the pick-up in construction is going
to help support the whole economy, because it will be on a significant enough scale to
have a national impact. But so many people in Christchurch, in their
families and in their businesses, are still working through the complexities of their
insurance problems and how to get their housing and personal arrangements resettled so they
can get on with new lives. We will continue to support that through significant Government
investment heading towards $13 billion and also with the significant activities of government
agencies working with those families. So in 2013 we expect to see the economy continue
to pick up. But it's going to require the Government to continue to focus on the priorities
that the Prime Minister has recently outlined.