E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e rau rangatira ma.
Tena koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou katoa.
Mālō e lelei
Kia Orana
Talofa Lava.
Fakaalofa lahi atu
Mālō Ni
Ni sa bula.
Namaste
As-salamu alaykum
Ni hao.
Warm pacific greetings to you all.
It’s a great time to be with Labour.
Thank you, Auckland, for your hospitality.
And thank you members for a fantastic conference.
It’s great to be back with the people who carry our movement, who knock on doors, pick up the phones, and talk to people up and down the country about our plan for the future.
To every one of you: thank you.
Our members, our volunteers, our MPs who stand up for their communities every day, and the remarkable people stepping forward to be Labour’s next candidates.
We will win – we can only win – because of you.
So. Are. We. Ready?
That’s what I thought!
There is so much at stake when we vote next year.
But our team is united, prepared, and determined.
I’m fired up.
Our whole Labour team is fired up.
We’re ready to make history.
We’re ready to make this New Zealand’s first ever one-term National government.
And we are ready to build a better, stronger future for New Zealand.
New Zealand simply can’t afford 3 more years of National.
We have 12 months to show New Zealanders a future worth fighting for.
A future built on hope, opportunity, and the potential of every single one of us.
Because right now, Kiwis are doing it tough.
Families are worried about the bills, about their jobs, about what the future looks like for their kids.
And every day this Government delivers another short-sighted, mean-spirited decision that holds our country back.
We’ve got a Prime Minister so out of touch he lobbied for rates relief on his holiday home – while pushing up costs for everyone else.
A Prime Minister who allows Ministers in his government to sow division.
A Prime Minister who blames young people for an economic mess they didn’t create, then tells them to move to where the work is.
Well, they have: to Australia.
Today – as they did yesterday, and as they will again tomorrow – nearly 200 New Zealanders will make the decision to leave the country.
It’s the worst it’s ever been.
In just twelve months, a record 73,000 Kiwis have left to look for work that should be available here.
These aren’t just numbers.
They’re young people packing their bags because they don’t see a future here.
They’re future business owners, entrepreneurs, and innovators taking their ideas overseas.
They’re nurses, teachers and police officers.
They’re skilled tradespeople, small business owners, and creatives.
People who want to stay, but feel they have no other choice.
And, in the clearest possible terms… they’re a vote of no confidence in Christopher Luxon and his Government.
I want everyone to know that under Labour they will be able to build a future here, at home.
National cannot offer that future.
We can – and we will.
For two years, this Government hasn’t been focused on you.
It’s put its energy to looking after tobacco companies, tech giants, property speculators, and the fossil fuel industry.
And it has failed on the two things it promised: grow the economy and fix the cost of living.
National hasn’t gotten the country back on track – they’ve derailed it.
No government gets everything right, but it is rare to see one get so much wrong.
So, two years on, I ask all New Zealanders this:
Are you better off now than you were two years ago?
Is the weekly shop easier to afford?
Are the bills any easier to cover?
Is it easier to see a doctor when you need one?
Under National, everything costs more, and the future feels more uncertain than ever.
People feel it when they’re filling up the car.
When they’re paying more at the supermarket.
When they’re sitting around the kitchen table looking through the bills trying to make it all add up.
That’s not bad luck.
It’s the predictable result of the political choices this Government made.
Let’s be clear:
Trickle-down economics doesn’t work.
New Zealand under National doesn’t work.
Far too many Kiwis under National can’t work.
Christopher Luxon is out of touch and doesn’t understand how tough it is.
He is making things worse – and blaming everyone but himself.
National has had two years and you’ve seen the result.
More division, higher costs, and a stalled economy.
They don’t deserve a second term.
One term is all they get.
Labour has a clear plan for the future.
We will grow the economy and lift living standards for everyone – not just a privileged few.
In Government, my team and I will go to work every day with a clear purpose: to make New Zealand a place where everyone can get ahead.
We will build a future where young people stay and build their lives.
A future where everyone can afford to see their local doctor.
Where a good job means a good life, with enough to cover the rent, the weekly shop, and the unexpected bill when it comes.
Where everyone can afford a warm, secure place to live, and where the dream of home ownership is restored for our next generations.
Jobs. Health. Homes.
More than a slogan.
The foundation of a good society – and it’s the foundation of Labour’s plan.
I want to tell you why it matters so deeply to me.
I was lucky growing up. I had two loving parents who worked incredibly hard to provide a good life for me and my brother.
They taught me the dignity of work: that if you work hard, you should be able to get ahead.
And they worked hard.
But one day, when I was still quite young – and I remember this vividly – Dad came home in the middle of the day, not in his usual work van, but in a taxi.
He’d lost his job.
After a lifetime of work, suddenly nothing.
Like so many Kiwis in the 1980s, the promise of a job for life had suddenly disappeared.
Overnight our family went from Dad’s full-time income to having to make do on my Mum’s part-time work from home.
Like many parents across the country right now, Mum and Dad shielded my brother and me from what must have been an incredibly stressful time for them.
That experience left a mark.
It taught me that work is more than just a pay packet.
It’s stability. It’s dignity.
It’s the foundation on which families build their futures.
So, when Nicola Willis told people who lost their jobs not to “take it personally,” I was disgusted.
Because it is personal.
When you lose your job, it’s not just a number on the payroll.
It’s the mortgage or the rent. It’s the power bill. It’s whether your kids can keep doing the things they love.
Good, secure work is the difference between getting by and falling behind – and right now, too many people are doing everything right are still struggling.
My family was lucky.
Dad got another job.
And later on he became self-employed.
I still have memories of him sitting at the dining room table with his big Casio calculator writing out his carbon copy invoices.
Mum and Dad worked so hard to create a comfortable life for our family and I’m so grateful to them for every opportunity they helped to create for me.
I want that for every family.
But right now, too many aren’t getting that chance.
They’re working harder than ever, but they’re not seeing the benefits they deserve.
That’s why I am so determined to make sure people can see a future for themselves here – in the country they love.
A future where if you work hard, you can get ahead.
Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis aren’t offering that future.
We will.
Labour’s plan for the future is about your future.
We will deliver a New Zealand where Kiwis can get ahead, support their families, and build a future here at home.
Where everyone can see a doctor without worrying about what’s in their bank account.
An ambitious, wealthy country – where that wealth is shared, and where we invest in our potential.
A country that rewards hard work and backs aspiration.
I never been more sure that we can build that future.
But… We won’t be able to do it all at once.
Some things will have to wait.
Every promise that I put my name to at the next election will be a promise I know we can deliver on.
Next year is our chance to turn the page.
In 2026 we choose our future.
A New Zealand where everyone has what they need to build a good life here – good jobs, affordable healthcare, warm homes.
Not for some. For all of us.
We are a country of innovators.
Where others see limits, we see opportunity.
I believe in New Zealanders and what we can achieve when we work together.
From foiling yachts and jet boats to electric fences and rockets through to world-class animation and breakthrough tech.
We’ve made the impossible feel normal before – and we can do it again.
But right now, too many good ideas go unsupported while wealth disappears offshore.
That’s why the first step in Labour’s plan is the New Zealand Future Fund.
It will back Kiwi innovation, support high-skill jobs, and ensure the wealth created here is kept here.
Where Christopher Luxon wants to sell our assets, Labour will protect them.
Where Christopher Luxon wants to sell us out to foreign investors, Labour will back our own people and ideas.
Where he runs the economy for a few, Labour will build it for everyone.
We’ll build an economy that lifts everyone – where young people see a future, businesses can grow here, and New Zealand’s success belongs to New Zealanders.
A future made in New Zealand, for New Zealanders, by New Zealanders.
But to build this future, we must have the courage to confront the choices that have held us back.
No country has ever created more well-paid jobs or boosted productivity by locking up its wealth in property.
Swapping houses with each other cannot be our long-term economic strategy – and deep down, National knows that.
Homes must be homes first, investments second.
So, Labour will introduce a simple, targeted capital gains tax.
It will only apply to the profit made on commercial and residential investment properties.
And it will shift investment into the parts of our economy that actually create jobs.
And as part of our plan to build a better economy for Kiwi families, the family home will always be exempt.
Always.
Nine out of 10 New Zealanders won’t pay a cent, but everyone will benefit from a stronger economy.
We know that for many New Zealanders a second property has been one of the few reliable ways to get ahead and build security for retirement.
People have worked hard, saved carefully, and made responsible choices.
Labour’s plan doesn’t punish that.
It sets better rules for the future to level the playing field for Kiwi businesses.
And it protects our health system.
Every dollar – every single dollar – raised will be ring-fenced to fix our health system – including three free doctor’s visits a year for every New Zealander.
Let’s be clear: no one can plan for the future if they cannot afford to see a doctor.
Affordable healthcare is fundamental to our stability and security.
And it’s front and centre in tackling the cost of living.
Right now, our emergency departments are overcrowded because far too many people can’t afford to see a doctor.
Tens of thousands of people delay care because they simply don’t have the money.
Preventable illness becomes serious illness, and that’s often when people end up in ED.
It makes no sense to treat people that way.
No sense personally, and no sense economically.
Fixing the health system will be at the heart of the next Labour Government.
We start by making sure no one ever has to choose between their health and paying the bills.
And we’ll do it with this new Medicard, which means you won’t need a credit card to see your doctor.
Under a Labour Government, every New Zealander will get three free visits to their local doctor every year.
That’s a good start.
But as anyone who has tried to get a doctor’s appointment recently knows, cost isn’t the only issue we face in health.
One in three people wait more than two weeks for an appointment.
More than one in six are waiting three or four weeks, or, in some cases, even longer.
That’s why a Labour Government won’t just make it free to see your doctor, we’ll make it easier and faster too.
Over the past few months, we’ve worked with experts on a plan to free up 4.5 million appointments a year through smarter digital tools and more efficient systems.
But we also need more clinics, closer to where people live, run by the very people who understand their communities.
And so today, I am announcing the Family Doctor Loan Scheme.
It will give doctors and registered health professionals a helping hand to set up new practices.
The Family Doctor Loan Scheme will provide doctors with low-interest loans to help them get started.
The loans will be interest-free for the first two years.
And targeted to support communities that don’t currently have GP clinics, or areas where people cannot register.
The Family Doctor Loan Scheme will support owner-operated practices NOT big health corporates.
This is the next step in Labour’s plan to put family doctors and nurses back at heart of our health system.
It will mean more communities have something simple but vital: a local doctor they can actually get in to see.
If we’re given the privilege to lead in next year’s election I’m committing to:
Free doctor’s visits; shorter wait times; and care closer to home.
It’s time to fix the health system. For everyone.
Over the past few months, I’ve set out the first steps in our plan for New Zealand.
A plan built on the simple idea: that we can build our future here.
A future where young people stay.
Where everyone can get ahead.
Where homes are more affordable.
Where seeing your local doctor doesn’t depend on what’s in your bank account.
Where the wealth we create stays in New Zealand and works for all New Zealanders.
New Zealanders deserve a Government that backs them.
A Government that builds a country that everyone can afford.
A country where hard work pays, a warm home is the norm, and eight hours on the job is enough to provide for your family.
A country where young people don’t have to leave to get ahead, because their future is here.
A country that is more hopeful, more affordable, and more aspirational.
Our next government won’t just be a Labour Government.
It will be your government.
The government of the construction worker and the nurse on the night shift.
Of parents juggling childcare and their jobs.
Of the tradies and small business owners fighting to survive.
Of the teachers and carers who keep our communities going.
Of the young people who deserve to see a future here at home.
So today, we start our campaign to build that future.
A Future Made in New Zealand.
In 2026, we can choose that future.
A New Zealand where everyone has what they need to build a good life here – good jobs, affordable healthcare, warm homes.
Not for some. For all of us.
In 2026, there’s only one choice: Labour.
Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.