https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-11/beehive-red-og_0.png Experienced Ministers will hold key economic recovery and ongoing COVID response portfolios in the new Cabinet line-up announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today. “The next three years will be very challenging for New Zealand. With the global outlook worsening we won’t be immune to the ongoing impact Covid is having around the world,” Jacinda Ardern said. “With this in mind the new Labour Government will have two overarching priorities: to drive our economic recovery from Covid-19, and to continue our health response to keep New Zealanders safe from the virus.  “In what will be a difficult environment it’s critical we have our most experienced Ministers leading the ongoing Covid response to keep New Zealanders safe from the virus and to accelerate our plan for economic recovery.  “Grant Robertson will become Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Infrastructure Minister; drawing together the key portfolios central to that economic recovery. ...

https://www.rnz.co.nz/assets/news_crops/112079/eight_col_Andrew-Little-1.jpg?1604038807 Andrew Little says he “relishes” the challenge of stepping into the Health portfolio where he will take charge of introducing reforms of the sector. Little says working through the recommendations in the Heather Simpson report will be “vital” and he feels “suitably qualified” to “drive the machine to make change”. “I think it’s daunting … I think the next couple of weeks will be reading, reading, reading, but that’s the way I approach it and then I’ll spend the weeks after that getting around the sector, meeting people, getting to understand the breadth of it. “But I feel confident about rising to the challenge,” he says. Andrew Little: “I feel confident about rising to the challenge.” Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone “If we’re thinking long term we really have to drive change in the system. We have to drive it because we know, for example, some populations are not ...

https://www.rnz.co.nz/assets/news/247315/eight_col_house.jpg?1604276222 Natural disaster insurance claimants will no longer have to deal with the Earthquake Commission, because private insurers are taking over the process. Earthquake damage to a house in Waiau 80km south of Kaikōura in November 2016. The way household claims were handled for that event has led to a new natural disaster claims model. Photo: AFP The new model, which EQC and all the main private insurers in the country have agreed on, would come into effect between April and June next year. EQC chief executive Sid Miller has welcomed the new model, saying it would be “world-leading”. Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton said the new way would be quicker and less stressful for claimants. “One point of accountability, one point of responsibility and one entity – your insurer – who you chose, looks after you all the way through the process so you only have to make ...

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-11/beehive-red-og_0.png The South Taranaki museum, a New Plymouth distillery and a Pasifika building firm will benefit from a Government investment totalling more than $1 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. The $1.05m in grants and loans from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will help the recipients expand and create new jobs in the region, in line with the objectives of the Government’s COVID-19 economic response. New Plymouth company BeGin Distilling, which makes Juno gin, is receiving an $800,000 PGF loan to expand its operations, employ more staff and provide greater opportunities for local farmers. “The distillery is a great success story and this loan will help it expand and increase production to meet the growing demand for its products, both here and in overseas markets,” Shane Jones said. The expansion will create five new distillery jobs, as well as offering local farmers new opportunities to grow key ingredients ...