The NZ First & Labour Coalition Agreement & Press Conference

The NZ First & Labour Coalition Agreement has been released and a joint press conference is presently on-going. The key points are:
• Have agreement on banning purchase of existing homes from freight buyers
• Govt will review and reform the Reserve Bank Act
• Employment and Price Stability will be part of the RB Act review
• No resource rentals for water this term but will introduce a royalty on bottled water exporters
• Said they will be fiscally responsible.
• A $1 billion per year Regional Development (Provincial Growth) Fund
• Significant investment in regional rail.
• Re-establish the New Zealand Forestry Service, and planting 100 million trees per year in a Billion Trees Planting Programme.
• Commissioning a feasibility study on moving the Ports of Auckland to Northport
• Increase minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2020, with the final increase to take effect in April 2021
• Strengthen the Overseas Investment Act and create a comprehensive register of foreign-owned land and housing
• Increase R&D spending to 2 per cent of GDP over 10 years
• Re-establish the Mental Health Commission, annual free health checks for seniors with the SuperGold card, free doctors' visits for all under 14s.
• Establish a Housing Commission
• Superannuation eligibility to remain at 65 years.

The NZD is lower across the board in immediate response.

Current indicative levels are:

NZD-USD 0.6945 / 0.6970
NZD-AUD 0.8880 / 0.8905
NZD-EUR 0.5900 / 0.5925
NZD-GBP 0.5250 / 0.5275
NZD-JPY 78.70 / 78.95

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