Wellington: Ahead of the upcoming general elections, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Sunday unveiled her 2030 vision, under which she wants the state housing waiting list to be empty and child poverty to have halved by that year.
Ardern’s announcment came while she was addressing a ruling Labour Party rally here ahead of the October 17 general elections, which will determine the membership of the country’s 53rd Parliament.
According to a report in The New Zealand Herald newspaper, the state house waiting list is currently about 20,000, up from about 6,000 when the Ardern government came to power in 2017.
It has so far built about 4,000 new state houses.
The report said that halving child poverty by 2030 is actually less ambitious than the government’s 10-year targets announced in January 2018.
Ardern’s 2030 vision also included a New Zealand with no health inequalities based on race, wealth or geographical location.
In her address, the Prime Minister also highlighted the country’s record on the Covid-19 pandemic.
“What started as a summertime conversation this year has led to more than 30 million cases and 1 million deaths, and it’s not over yet.
“Here at home we have lost 25 loved ones and managed 1,864 cases.
“As we’ve travelled around the country campaigning this election with only limited restrictions, it hasn’t been lost on me how lucky that makes us,” The New Zealand Herald quoted Ardern as saying.
The upcoming election was initially scheduled for September 19 but was postponed due to a second Covid-19 outbreak.
The previous parliament was elected on September 23, 2017 and was officially dissolved on September 6 this year.
