Sixth Labour Government of New Zealand
The Sixth Labour Government governed New Zealand from 26 October 2017 to 27 November 2023. It was headed first by Jacinda Ardern and later by Chris Hipkins, as Labour Party leader and prime minister.
On 1 August 2017, Ardern succeeded Andrew Little as both leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition. Following the 2017 general election held on 23 September, the New Zealand First party held the balance of power between the sitting centre-right National Party government, and the left bloc of the Labour and Green parties. Following negotiations with the two major parties, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters announced on 19 October 2017 that his party would form a coalition government with Labour. That same day, Green Party leader James Shaw announced that his party would give confidence and supply support to the 55-seat Labour–NZ First government. The Greens' support, plus the coalition, resulted in 63 seats to National's 56—enough to ensure that Ardern maintained the confidence of the House. Three years later, Labour went on to a landslide victory in the 2020 general election with 50% of the vote and 65 seats, an outright majority of the 120 seats in the House.
On 19 January 2023, Ardern announced her resignation and that she would not stand for re-election in the 2023 general election. Hipkins succeeded her as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party on 25 January 2023. Labour lost its majority to the opposition National Party following 2023 general election that was held on 14 October 2023. The Government remained in a caretaker capacity until the new National-led coalition government was sworn in on 27 November 2023.
History
Formation
The general election on 23 September 2017 saw the New Zealand First party hold the balance of power between National and the centre-left bloc of Labour and the Green Party. Following several weeks of negotiations with both National and Labour, New Zealand First announced on 19 October 2017 it would form a minority coalition government with Labour. Confidence-and-supply support from the Greens, negotiated separately with Labour, enables the Government to have a majority in the House of Representatives. During the coalition-forming negotiations, Labour agreed to drop its proposed water tax on farmers as part of its agreement with New Zealand First. In return, NZ First agreed to drop their demand for referendums on overturning New Zealand's anti-smacking ban and abolishing the Māori electorates. The Greens consented to a confidence and supply agreement with Labour and New Zealand First in return for several concessions, including: a referendum on legalising cannabis, treating alcohol and drugs as a health issue, net zero emissions by 2050 and requiring a climate impact assessment analysis for all legislationFirst term (2017–2020)
2017
The Government made several policy announcements in late 2017. In terms of domestic policies, the Government reaffirmed its commitment to re-entering Pike River Mine by March 2019, scrapped National Standards in schools, released a mini-budget funded by cancelling National's tax cuts and created a Tax Working Group to reform New Zealand's taxation system and alleviate the country's housing crisis. In terms of foreign policies, the Government continued New Zealand's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, opposed US President Donald Trump's move to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and reiterated New Zealand's support for the Two State Solution. In November 2017, Prime Minister Ardern offered to resettle 150 of the asylum seekers from the former Manus Regional Processing Centre in New Zealand, but was rebuffed by Australia's Turnbull Government.2018
On 19 January 2018, Ardern revealed that she was expecting her first child in June, and that Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters would serve as Acting Prime Minister while she took maternity leave for a period of six weeks. In June 2018, she temporarily relinquished her duties to Winston Peters, following the birth of her child, for a period of six weeks. Peters became Acting Prime Minister on 20 June 2018, when Ardern went into labour. Her six-week maternity leave concluded on 2 August 2018.On the domestic front, the Labour-led coalition government implemented several policies and new laws. In terms of education, the Government introduced legislation to stop the creation of new charter schools while allowing the 11 existing schools to transition to "special character" schools. The Government also launched several transportation, homelessness, family relief, emergency response and health plans and programmes with the aim of improving infrastructure, services, and social and health outcomes.
On 17 May, Finance Minister Grant Robertson released the 2018 New Zealand budget, allocating NZ$2.8 billion in operational funding and NZ$3.8 billion in capital funding. In October 2018, the Government formally established a new government department called the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to manage housing and urban development issues.
The Government also passed legislation banning future oil and gas exploration, banning most non-residents from buying New Zealand homes and allowing terminally ill patients to use marijuana for palliative care. In June 2018, the Government abandoned efforts to repeal the Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010 due to opposition from NZ First. In December 2018, the Government announced that it would be holding a binding referendum on legalising the personal use of cannabis during the 2020 general election.
On the foreign policy front, Ardern stated that New Zealand would be seeking to shift away from a 'donor, recipient relationship' with Pacific Islands nations in favour of forming bilateral partnerships in March 2018. The Government also ratified the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in March 2018 and endorsed the UN's Global Compact for Migration in December 2018. In April 2018, Attorney General David Parker announced a government inquiry into allegations that the New Zealand Special Air Service had committed war crimes against Afghan civilians during Operation Burnham while stationed in Afghanistan.
2019
Following the Christchurch mosque shootings on 15 March 2019, Ardern announced that the Government would be reforming New Zealand's gun laws. On 10 April, the Government passed legislation banning semi-automatic firearms, magazines, and parts. In addition, the government announced an amnesty and buy-back scheme for prohibited firearms and components. Ardern also proposed legislation creating a national firearms register, tighter firearms restrictions and a ban on overseas visitors buying firearms in New Zealand.In terms of defence policy, the Government announced the withdrawal of New Zealand forces in Iraq by June 2020. The New Zealand Defence Force's non-combat Building Partner Capacity training mission had been training Iraqi Security Forces in support of the US-led coalition efforts to combat Islamic State forces in Iraq. In June 2019, the New Zealand military deployment in Afghanistan was extended for another 18 months. In June 2019, Defence Minister Ron Mark unveiled the Government's $20 billion Defence Capability Plan 2019, which aimed to boost the Defence Force's capabilities, equipment and manpower over the next 11 years.
In terms of economic development, the Government allocated NZ$100 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to supporting Māori economic development, NZ$27 million to improving transportation and the horticulture sector around Kaipara District and NZ$20 million to rebuilding Hillside Engineering in South Dunedin. In terms of employment policy, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway announced that the Government would be raising the minimum wage to NZ$18.90 an hour from April 2020, a $1.20 increase from $17.70.
In terms of education policies, the Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced plans to merge the country's sixteen polytechnics into a "NZ Institute of Skills and Technology" by April 2020 in response to deficits and falling domestic enrolments. In May 2019, the Government invested NZ$95 million into teacher training programmes and scholarships over the next four years in order to address the teacher shortage. In August 2019, the Government proceeded to replace 11 industrial training organisations with several workforce development councils. Other notable education policies have included launching a trial free lunch programme, expanding the teaching of New Zealand history in schools, and investing NZ$400 million in school property upgrades.
In terms of electoral law, the Government introduced legislation restoring the voting rights of prisoners serving less than three years imprisonment and banning foreign donations over NZ$50.
In terms of fiscal policies, the Government ruled out a capital gains tax. Key priorities of the 2019 New Zealand budget included creating a new frontline mental health service, investing $40 million in suicide prevention services, stationing nurses at secondary schools, building 1,044 new homes, investing $320 million into specialist services to address family and sexual violence, investing $200 million into apprenticeships and vocational training programs, investing $1 billion into KiwiRail, and investing $1.7 billion and $1.2 billion into repairing hospitals and schools respectively. In October 2019 the New Zealand Treasury and Finance Minister Grant Robertson released a report stating that the Government's surplus had increased from NZ$2 billion to NZ$7.5 billion. The net Government debt had also fallen to 19.2% of Gross Domestic Product, which is still short of its self-imposed Budget Responsibility Rules to keep debt at less than 20% of GDP. The total government revenue also increased from NZ$6.2 billion to NZ$86.5 billion as a result of taxation. However, the total district health board deficit rose to NZ$1 billion. The net Crown debt rose by 0.2% from NZ$57.5 billion in the 2017-2018 financial year to NZ$57.7 billion in 2019.
In response, National's Economic development spokesman Todd McClay claimed that the Government was not investing enough money in taxpayers and highlighted declining business confidence.
In terms of health policies, the Government ordered 12 new radiation machines, invested NZ$60 million into Pharmac as part of a ten-year cancer action plan and created a Cancer Control Agency and Suicide Prevention Office. The Government also responded to a national measles outbreak by creating a National Health Coordination Centre.
In terms of housing policies, Minister of Housing and Urban Development Phil Twyford admitted in January 2019 that the government would be unable to meet its target of building 1,000 KiwiBuild homes by 1 July, with only 33 homes being built as of 23 January. The minister estimated that the government would be able to build only 300 houses by the 1 July deadline. In early September, Housing Minister Megan Woods announced that the Government would be revising its KiwiBuild programme, including scrapping its initial target of building 100,000 houses over the next years. In mid August 2019, the Associate Housing Minister Kris Faafoi and Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced that the Government would be launching a NZ$54 million program to tackle homelessness in New Zealand by hiring more staff to work with homeless people and investing $16 million in the Sustaining Tenancies Programme. In November 2019, Associate Housing Minister Kris Faafoi confirmed plans to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 in favour of tenants' rights.
In terms of immigration policies, the Government scrapped the requirement for African and Middle Eastern refugee applicants to have relatives who were residing in New Zealand and ending a partnership visa policy that discriminated against Indian arranged marriages.
Other notable miscellaneous legislation in 2019 have included overturning "blasphemous libel" legislation, passing the End of Life Choice Act 2019 subject to a referendum at the next election and passing the Climate Change Response Amendment Act. Other notable Government actions in 2019 have included re-entering Pike River Mine, upgrading the New Zealand–China Free Trade Agreement, and apologizing to the victims of the Erebus air disaster.