Cunliffe announces Best Start package
Best Start – Labour’s plan to give every Kiwi kid the best start in life, starting before they’re born and moving through early childhood and into education.
David Cunliffe, leader of the Labour Party delivered the State of the nation speech, speaking at the Kelston Girls college with an overflowing hall. David Cunliffe started on a personal note recounting how proud he was of his childhood and the New Zealand he grew up in.
“We will build a nation of opportunity. And it all begins with our kids. I’m a proud dad. I have two great boys, and like every Kiwi parent I want to give my children the best start possible.”
Going on to detail the ’Best Start’, saying the start a child has in life affects all of us in the long run, and the more support we can give parents during those critical years, the better off we will all be.
There is no year more critical than the first. For 59,000 families with new-born babies, will all receive a Best Start investment of $60 per week, for the first year of their child's life. The payment will go to all families with a combined income of $150,000 or less, and will give them more choices around how they juggle the pressure of work and care for their baby.
Easing the pressure for modest and middle income families beyond that first year the families will get a payment of up to $60 a week continued to their child's third birthday. Also proposing to increase Free Early Childhood Education to 25 hours, up from 20.
“We’ve already freed up $1.5 billion per annum by dropping policies that were not as targeted as these. And we will be unashamedly asking the wealthiest few percent of income earners to contribute to giving all Kiwi kids the best start” said Cunliffe.
We will also expand access to early childhood centres, because free hours aren't enough if you don't have a centre in your neighbourhood, or if all the rolls are full.
In partnership with communities, Labour will fund the development of early childhood centres in lower income communities to ensure there are places for every kid.
Emphatically responding to the applause from the audience he said that quantity is no good without quality.
Criticising the National government’s funding cuts for qualified teachers in our early childhood centres.
He called on the opponents to remove their financial veto, so that Sue Moroney’s Paid Parental Leave bill can proceed as planned on 1 July this year.
The Best Start package will ensure parents have more choices and better support so they can give their kids the opportunities they deserve.
Blowing the election conch, Cunliffe encouraged the people to choose between growing inequality on the one hand, and restoring opportunity for all New Zealanders on the other. “It’s between a Government that has stopped listening” he said for the National lead government, “that is arrogant and out of touch” and a new direction from a new government that will create opportunity for all, starting with our kids.
David Cunliffe had earlier underlined the principles NZ had fallen from and no more represented. “This is a great country built on great values, compassion, resourcefulness, creativity, respect for our environment, and opportunity and fairness for all, regardless of background. What has happened to our country? From the highest living standards in the world, to “sponsor a Kiwi kid for less than a dollar a day.”
That is the state of our nation today, Cunliffe remarked.
That’s why under Labour:
A full day’s work will cover the basics, There will be more jobs available, and wages will catch-up with prices, New Zealanders will pay what is fair – whether in their power bill, their tax bill, or their grocery bill; And every child in this country will have the ‘best start’ in life.
But we can’t have good jobs and better living standards without a strong, modern economy. That’s why we will support our world-beating innovators and entrepreneurs, by rewarding research and development with tax credits. That’s why we will encourage investment away from property speculation and into our productive businesses by introducing a capital gains tax.
And that’s why we will to assist our primary industries to keep jobs and profits in this country. Because when raw logs, or bulk fish, or whole carcasses - rather than finished products - sail off our shores, so does most of the added value. And off with it go the good jobs and the decent wages Kiwi families deserve, and need to get ahead.
Best Start – Labour’s plan to give every Kiwi kid the best start in life, starting before they’re born and moving through early childhood and into education. David Cunliffe, leader of the Labour Party delivered the State of the nation speech, speaking at the Kelston Girls college with an...
Best Start – Labour’s plan to give every Kiwi kid the best start in life, starting before they’re born and moving through early childhood and into education.
David Cunliffe, leader of the Labour Party delivered the State of the nation speech, speaking at the Kelston Girls college with an overflowing hall. David Cunliffe started on a personal note recounting how proud he was of his childhood and the New Zealand he grew up in.
“We will build a nation of opportunity. And it all begins with our kids. I’m a proud dad. I have two great boys, and like every Kiwi parent I want to give my children the best start possible.”
Going on to detail the ’Best Start’, saying the start a child has in life affects all of us in the long run, and the more support we can give parents during those critical years, the better off we will all be.
There is no year more critical than the first. For 59,000 families with new-born babies, will all receive a Best Start investment of $60 per week, for the first year of their child's life. The payment will go to all families with a combined income of $150,000 or less, and will give them more choices around how they juggle the pressure of work and care for their baby.
Easing the pressure for modest and middle income families beyond that first year the families will get a payment of up to $60 a week continued to their child's third birthday. Also proposing to increase Free Early Childhood Education to 25 hours, up from 20.
“We’ve already freed up $1.5 billion per annum by dropping policies that were not as targeted as these. And we will be unashamedly asking the wealthiest few percent of income earners to contribute to giving all Kiwi kids the best start” said Cunliffe.
We will also expand access to early childhood centres, because free hours aren't enough if you don't have a centre in your neighbourhood, or if all the rolls are full.
In partnership with communities, Labour will fund the development of early childhood centres in lower income communities to ensure there are places for every kid.
Emphatically responding to the applause from the audience he said that quantity is no good without quality.
Criticising the National government’s funding cuts for qualified teachers in our early childhood centres.
He called on the opponents to remove their financial veto, so that Sue Moroney’s Paid Parental Leave bill can proceed as planned on 1 July this year.
The Best Start package will ensure parents have more choices and better support so they can give their kids the opportunities they deserve.
Blowing the election conch, Cunliffe encouraged the people to choose between growing inequality on the one hand, and restoring opportunity for all New Zealanders on the other. “It’s between a Government that has stopped listening” he said for the National lead government, “that is arrogant and out of touch” and a new direction from a new government that will create opportunity for all, starting with our kids.
David Cunliffe had earlier underlined the principles NZ had fallen from and no more represented. “This is a great country built on great values, compassion, resourcefulness, creativity, respect for our environment, and opportunity and fairness for all, regardless of background. What has happened to our country? From the highest living standards in the world, to “sponsor a Kiwi kid for less than a dollar a day.”
That is the state of our nation today, Cunliffe remarked.
That’s why under Labour:
A full day’s work will cover the basics, There will be more jobs available, and wages will catch-up with prices, New Zealanders will pay what is fair – whether in their power bill, their tax bill, or their grocery bill; And every child in this country will have the ‘best start’ in life.
But we can’t have good jobs and better living standards without a strong, modern economy. That’s why we will support our world-beating innovators and entrepreneurs, by rewarding research and development with tax credits. That’s why we will encourage investment away from property speculation and into our productive businesses by introducing a capital gains tax.
And that’s why we will to assist our primary industries to keep jobs and profits in this country. Because when raw logs, or bulk fish, or whole carcasses - rather than finished products - sail off our shores, so does most of the added value. And off with it go the good jobs and the decent wages Kiwi families deserve, and need to get ahead.
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