The Kiwi dream should be for all, not just some, the Labour Party leader has said as he hit out at coalition parties over the immigration debate.

Chris Hipkins made a speech to the Committee for Auckland and an Auckland business audience this morning.

Referencing Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s comments about immigration yesterday, he said coalition parties are “seeking to capitalise on disunity rather than drawing us together”.

He said the country was sliding backwards.

“They are choosing blame rather than responsibility, we are a better country than that and this is an election we can choose that.

“The Kiwi dream should not be reserved for the few, it should be delivered for everybody who calls New Zealand home.”

Diversity is one of New Zealand’s great strengths, he said.

He admitted that elections create uncertainty and the perception of instability.

A quarter of the population lives in Auckland, but he said the city needs a “step change”, with rising unemployment and other issues holding it back.

“With the right settings, Auckland can be one of the best cities in the Asia-Pacific region ... where talent wants to live and our kids who live overseas want to come home to because they see their future here,” Hipkins said to murmurings of approval from the audience.

He also vowed to work with local leaders, including Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, who was in the audience, if Labour won power this election.

Auckland’s regional plan needs to do more to work, he said.

“It is a plan to have a plan.”

He told the audience that Labour wouldn’t stop or throw away policies or projects it inherited simply because they weren’t their ideas.

“There’s far too much of that already. It makes it hard to get investment and momentum.

“We will work with Auckland, not impose on Auckland.”

Katie Bradford is a Senior Correspondent at the Herald. She has been a broadcast journalist for over 20 years and was based in the press gallery for 10 years. She specialises in politics, business and Auckland issues.