The Prime Minister has recently returned from Europe and it is clear that the European economy is in poor shape.
By comparison we are doing well and, because of the conservative nature of this year's Budget, we are likely to see gradual improvement in our economic indicators over the next three years.
I'm sure agriculture will continue to be a big player in leading us through these difficult economic times.
The National-led Government is committed to raising student achievement.
We want all our kids to have the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century.
But we don't want to create unnecessary angst for parents, which is why we've decided not to proceed with the changes to the teacher/student funding ratios announced as part of Budget 2012.
We have heard the concerns of parents and teachers and are reversing this part of our education plan.
We remain firmly focused on raising student achievement and ensuring all our kids have the opportunity to succeed. We continue to believe that investing in quality teaching and professional leadership is the best way to do this.
We're injecting an extra $512 million to help raise achievement in education over the next four years. To help achieve this, the Minister of Education is setting up a cross-sector forum to work with the Government to collectively contribute to our overall goal of raising achievement.
The Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill was read for a first time in Parliament this week and has now been moved onto the select committee for consideration. The most significant changes are to:
Refocus the purpose of local government through a new purpose statement. In 2002, council roles were expanded into promoting the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities. We believe that council's core roles should be focused on local infrastructure, regulatory functions and public services.
Introduce financial prudence requirements for local authorities.
Strengthen local authority governance provisions that will:
(1) Enable central government to provide assistance to a struggling council before the situation becomes critical.
(2)Empower elected members to set employment and remuneration policy, and requiring councils to report salary information in their annual reports.
(3) Empower mayors to lead the development of plans, and appoint a deputy mayor and committee chairwomen/men.
Streamline local authority reorganisation procedures, giving more flexibility to the Local Government Commission to develop community-led proposals.
One last thing: Check out my website where I have photos and video blogs to keep you up to date on what I have been up to: www.ianmckelvie.co.nz