As business leaders, you know that while um sound uh economic policy is how we get ahead, uh this is actually a really good conversation to have about economic growth. Uh I want economic growth and I want successful businesses because of the benefits that they bring to all New Zealanders. Economic growth means more money coming into local communities. Economic growth means more jobs and higher wages. Uh economic growth means more money for doctors, nurses and teachers and better schools, hospitals and roads. And economic growth means that Kiwis know that if they work hard, they can get ahead. Now before we dive into some of our thinking around that economic plan, I want to talk about the global context. Uh because our world is changing and there are three big changes at foot that make it a much more volatile and I think much more uncertain place. First, we're moving from a world that's being ordered by rules to one that's increasingly ordered by power where major powers, major countries get to seek and dominate smaller ones. Second, we're moving from an economic focus to increasingly a security one where trade once a given is now something that we actually have to go out and fight for. And thirdly, we're moving from a world that pri global efficiency to one that now puts national resilience first. And so, yes, the world is more chaotic. It's more unsettled and there are forces uh that none of us can fully control. But in that challenge I put to you is also an immense and tremendous opportunity for New Zealand because here's what we can control. We get to control how prepared we are, how resilient we are, and how well we seize the opportunities that do come our way. And so almost three years into this job, I have to tell you, I remain relentlessly optimistic because however volatile the world is, New Zealand has incredible potential to do incredibly well for ourselves, for our kids, and for our grandkids. And I think we have so much going for us. When you think about it, New Zealand has the natural resources, we have the location, we have the institutions, and above all, we have the people to do exceptionally well in the decades ahead. We have the Indo-Pacific region right on our doorstep. And in there will be twothirds of the global growth, twothirds of the middle class by 2030. And what do they want? They want the products and services that we want to sell. In a volatile and uncertain world, we're an investment of safe haven. We are trusted with strong social and democratic institutions. And as I said, we have worldclass innovative, incredibly ambitious people. But all that success is not guaranteed. That future must be built. And ultimately, National's economic plan is all about a better future for Kiwis. No new taxes, so you get to keep more of what you earn, ensuring that if you work hard, you can get ahead with more jobs and higher wages, and helping Kiwis build greater financial security. But achieving those goals is is similar to many ways when a business says, "I'm aiming to improve profitability." That's the objective. But actually reaching it requires addressing fundamental issues. It means diving in and analyzing cost drivers. It means identifying new market segments. It means streamlining processes. And it certainly means upskilling the workforce. Because if we're really honest with ourselves, over recent decades, New Zealand under successive governments has actually struggled with an economic productivity problem. And I'm not talking about Kiwis working harder because we're already some of the hardest working people on planet Earth. What we're talking about is on a per capita basis. New South Wales is now 25% wealthier. Ireland is almost twice as wealthy. Singapore is three times as wealthy. And that matters because to quote Katherine Rich, lifting productivity is how New Zealand actually improves our living standards. It's how we fund higher quality public services, strengthen national resilience, and it means that we can meet the long-term costs of an aging population. So the components of National's economic plan to achieving greater productivity and prosperity are clear. We have to do six things. We have to build a world-class education system so our kids can access high paying jobs. We need to embrace more technology, science, and innovation. We need to cut the red tape and back business. We need to deliver modern, reliable infrastructure, drive more international trade and investment and get the books, the fiscal books, the financial books back in order here at home. And the good news is that the collective effort that we've all made over the last few years is beginning to show some results. We're seeing GDP up 2.1% over the last nine months and you're seeing the Treasury, the Reserve Bank, uh, and economists all forecasting stronger growth ahead. We've seen manufacturing growth at its highest since 2021. We've had exports up 12 billion in just the last two years, and tourism is up 8% and today we announced that tourism is back at pre-COVID levels in terms of visitors in the month of July. Inflation is back down from a 32-year high of 7.3%. Interest rates have fallen and that's saving the average household across New Zealand $7,000 a year on their mortgage and confidence has started to return. Business confidence has recovered significantly since the depths of the Middle East crisis back in April or May. And in the last year, Kiwis coming home from Australia is up 14%. Now, we still know that there is so much more for us to do, and I think all of us in this room can agree on that. I've read business New Zealand's election priorities uh sheet and I want to say I agree with the direction of travel and I'm not going to cover every aspect today of national's economic plan but I think there are three key areas I want to sort of go into a little bit more depth for you. The first is about fiscal management and getting our books in order. The second really is around education and getting our skills upgraded and the third area is about how we give more support for businesses. If I'd start with the fiscal settings and the fiscal management because the simple fact is if the crown's books aren't in order, the whole country stays incredibly exposed and vulnerable to major shocks at home but also abroad. And I just think in a more volatile and uncertain world, an economy that can't support itself in a crisis is in fact a is a strategic risk, not just a financial one. And I think the latest developments in the Middle East have, you know, we've seen even just in the last week pushed up yet again oil prices and putting economic pressure on countries right around the world. But the cost of borrowing is also rising almost everywhere. And the reason is pretty straightforward. There's a lot of competition for money right now. And the short answer is we can't spend our way out of a global oil shock. We can't tax our way to a more affordable cost of living. And we certainly can't borrow our way to better frontline services. Yes, spending more, taxing more, borrowing more is exactly what the opposition parties are proposing. But in the world that we live in now, being economically irresponsible is being reckless with our national security, not just our financial security. And I think Kiwis deserve much much better than that. So that's why National's plan has three fiscal rules. You would have heard it. surplus by 2829, net core crown debt down below 40% and crown spending heading towards 30% of GDP. Of course, our fourth rule is quite simply no new taxes. Now, I think we've made real progress. We have rep prioritized $50 billion across the last three budgets and we've brought the forecast surplus forward a year and I want to acknowledge Nicola Willis in particular for the role that she's played in driving fiscal discipline across our government. National delivered tax relief for the first time in 14 years. And we're going to continue to make tough choices to rep prioritize low value spending so that we can invest in the frontline services without blowing the books and needing new taxes or to increase debt. We actually all know what the alternative looks like because over the last few years, we've all just lived through it. Under the last Labor government, spending grew at one of the fastest rates in our history. Debt tripled. It went from 60 billion to $180 billion and it doubled as a share of GDP. And we didn't get better schools. We didn't get safer streets or shorter hospital cues. We got higher inflation. We got higher interest rates. And we got a massive big debt bill handed down to our kids and our grandkids. And this time the difference is that there are nine new taxes on the table from those opposition parties. Now on the second area, I want to talk about education and skills. I want to acknowledge the fantastic work that Erica Stanford and Penny Simmons are doing in that space. New Zealand's prosperity, as I'm sure many of you in the room will agree with, depends on the knowledge, the skills, and the ambition of our young people. And for too long, achievement in reading and writing and mathematics has gone backwards while employers have actually struggled to find the skills that they need. So, we are turning all of that around. We are rebuilding our education system from the ground up around the evidence and around what works. And so yes, we've delivered an hour of reading, an hour of maths, an hour of writing each and every day. Yes, we've banned the cell phones in class. We've rolled out structured literacy, structured mathematics, and we're going to instigate a social media ban for under 16s. We've made assessments regular and clear so that parents and teachers know how their child is performing not against other kids but actually against the mastery of the subjects and the content that we're asking them to learn. We've restored regional poly techs so that training can happen closer to home but most importantly be much more connected into local jobs across New Zealand. And we've established eight industry skills boards to ensure that learners and apprentices actually are job ready. And there is still much more for us to accomplish in the next two. We've got to replace NCA and it's in place having clear grades from A plus to E and exams in every subject. We want the focus to be on mastering content and subject knowledge rather than just collecting credits. And we're going to double the number of trades academy places by 2030 like introducing new industry developed vocational subjects into our high school curriculum as well. And I'm happy to say we have a lot more to say about education on November the 7th. Finally, I want to talk about how we support businesses and business success. And we do that by reducing regulation. We do it by encouraging competition, optimizing science and technology settings to drive innovation because ultimately I don't believe governments actually create the prosperity. No, our prosperity is actually driven by our farmers getting up early to milk milk the cows. It's our growers that are actually getting out there producing the best food in the world. It's our dairy owners. It's our trades. It's our rocket companies. And it's our filmmakers. And every job, every payrise, every dollar of tax that pays for a hospital or school actually starts with a Kiwi with an idea and a willingness to have a go. And I think for too long our businesses have been hindered by slow consents, complex regulations, and distance from markets. And so National backs Kiwi businesses to grow. And we're going to do everything that we can do as a government to make it easier to build, invest, hire, and export. And so we're replacing the RMA to half the number of consents required to make it easier to just get things done in this country. And I want to commend Chris Bishop because I honestly think he's led the biggest planning reforms in a generation. ending the war on farmers by restoring common sense to winter grazing, limiting farm to forest conversions, keeping agriculture out of BTS so we don't just shut down our productive sector, our farms and send production overseas. Investment boost is really helping businesses invest and expand. It's an idea that came from conversations with many of you in this room when we were at opposition. And I think the problem with it is that Labour wants to scrap it adding an extra $5 billion tax on businesses over the next few years. You've seen Todd Mcclelay out there in the world hustling. You know, I' I've managed his success based on how many times I don't see him in a given year, uh how many days and how many freely programs he signed up to, but he's completed the Indian FTA in record time. He's brought the New Zealand EU uh FTA into force much earlier ahead of schedule. We've completed our first uh free trade agreement in the Middle East uh with the UAE and now we've completed negotiations with the Six Nation GCC as well. And we've got seven more markets we want to target in the next term, realizing the next billion of consumers available to New Zealanders. But our exports are up $20 billion. And that means more money and more jobs for Kiwi communities up and down the country. But you guessed it, as I said, there's plenty more for us to do in that space as well. Some of you know me a little bit and you know that I'm highly competitive and the reason I came to politics 500 years ago is because I want this country to be the best country on planet Earth. I want us to realize all the innate potential that is in this awesome place. And I want our young people overseas on their OE to be looking back at New Zealand thinking, man, wow, things are there amazing things happening here back at home. And I have to tell you, there are amazing things happening here at home in New Zealand. They're driven by Kiwi innovation and Kiwi research. Last year, New Zealand had the third most space launches of any country on the planet. We've got our farmers now monitoring and moving stock around their farms from their iPads. We've got red kiwi fruit flying off shelves all around the world. I think this had another billion dollars to revenue just in the last 12 months. And we have these incredible startups that are starting to come out of our university system being plugged into science, technology, innovation, entrepreneurs, and to create highpaying jobs for other Kiwi kids coming out of our education systems as well. Think about Dawn Aerospace. Think about ZOS. Those two companies in Christ Church. So New Zealanders have great ideas, but we haven't always been the best at converting and commercialing those ideas into really highly skilled and high paying jobs. We want to fix that. A lot of what we're doing in the science sector is embracing the Irish system uh so that we can actually get more science, technology innovation through our institutes, through our universities and into our businesses. We've aligned tertiary research funding with economic growth priorities and our tertiary institutions should be breeding grounds for the very next brilliant idea. And I want ruthless, ruthless commercialization so that Kiwi innovation creates more wealth for our Kiwi communities here at home. That's where we need businesses like all of yours, too. Because Kiwi businesses have the ideas and the ambitions to create the products, the technology, and the high value jobs of the future. But research and development, as you all know, is extensive and it takes time and comes with no guarantee of success. When reviewing business New Zealand's election priorities, your comments, my thought on R&D innovation particularly resonated with me and I know with many in my team and in particular whether the R&D tax incentive is actually too low right now and we all know we've got countries around the world competing for talent, competing for capital and new technology. And I think we must prioritize giving businesses the confidence to invest in your new ideas. We know this works. You know this works. Independent estimates I think have shown that every dollar spent by government translates into a more than four-fold increase in economic activity. But it does also come with a cost and responsibility comes first and managing the books must come first. And that's why we have committed to getting those books back into surplus in 28 29 and we intend to achieve that. And I don't think any of you in the room would thank us if we committed to more spending than we could afford right now and return to a spiral of spending, taxing, and borrowing and inflation. [clears throat] So, I'd say to you, watch this. We certainly are, and I hope to be able to say more about it after Treasury opens the box uh and releases its pre. I think we got to be honest. Let's say a plan to drive economic growth is not always the most exciting topic. It is to me, but may not be to everybody in the room. Uh but what we can deliver by getting under the hood and fixing the fundamentals in our economy is incredibly exciting. Getting those books back in order means that we can invest in the frontline services while delivering our commitment on low taxes. That economic growth allows us to look to the future with confidence knowing that hard work will be rewarded and we can set the joint up for our kids and our grandkids as we go forward. If we get it right, we can help Kiwis become financially secure at every single stage of life. Whether that's helping save for retirement from supercharged kidney saver contributions or support when a little one comes along with longer paid parental leave, whether it's that leg up that we've talked about for your first home with more access to 5% deposits by lifting the income uh caps up to $300,000 or more money in your back pocket when you enter the workforce with reduced student loan repayments if you stay in New Zealand. That all helps. And when the economy goes faster, life gets easier as we all know and life gets better. So by fixing the basics like our underlying financial security, New Zealand can then afford to build our future. I think it's quite easy for politicians to make promises. It's another matter, I think, to be judged on their track record. That's actually precisely what I want you to do because I think National is the party of delivery. For the last election, we promised to deliver tax relief and we did it the first time in 14 years. We said we'd restore law and order and today there are 37,000 fewer victims of serious violent crime. There's a 20% 28% reduction in youth offending, 85% reduction in ram rates, the doubling of police out on the beat. We said we'd teach our kids the basics brilliantly as we rebuild our education system. and our kids are now reading, writing, and doing maths for an hour each each and every day. Instead, we replace the RMA and get major projects moving again because it's been too costly, too timely, and we're not getting things done. Fast track approvals are now helping us unlock those roads, those renewable energy projects uh and infrastructure that New Zealand so desperately needs. And we said we'd rebuild the economy, and inflation has fallen. Interest rates have come down. Confidence is rebounding, and New Zealand is growing again. So I think there's an incredibly bright future ahead of us if we want to. So I [clears throat] just want to say to you all today, if you take one thing from today is that we all know there's a lot more for us to do together to build that future, but I want you to know that Nashville is up for doing just that in the second term. So again, thanks for your participation today. Thanks for listening to all the politicians that have come through this uh convention center. Uh and I look forward to mixing them with a few of you uh in the time that we have left this afternoon. so much.