Kia ora John, 



This afternoon, I delivered the Leader’s Address at the Labour Party’s Annual Conference, where I announced changes that will lift the incomes of more than 300,000 families.



I’ll go into more detail about these changes below (and as is tradition at Annual Conference, I will once again ask for your support <[link removed]>). Before that though, I want to send a message to everyone in Auckland.



For what will feel like endless weeks now, you have carried a burden on behalf of the rest of the country. You have maintained a border, stayed home, and sacrificed so much to protect your community, and the rest of New Zealand.



Thank you. What you have done has had a profound impact on New Zealand, and protected so many.



Thanks to you and the work of the team of five million throughout this pandemic, we’ve seen fewer cases, hospitalisations and deaths than any other country in the OECD.



But COVID hasn’t made any of our existing challenges go away - in fact, it made some of them worse. Yet despite taking on the worst health and economic challenge of our lifetimes, we have not stopped addressing the housing crisis, water quality, climate change, or child poverty.



This brings me back to today’s announcement. We know child poverty is an issue that has been made even worse as a result of COVID. Lockdowns hit everyone, but especially those who have the least. Ensuring families aren’t left behind has been critical to our COVID-19 response.



That’s why today, we announced we’re increasing the Family Tax Credit, the Best Start payment and support for caregivers to lift the incomes of more than 300,000 low and middle income families. Together, the changes will mean these families are, on average, $20 a week better off, and are estimated to lift 6,000 more children out of poverty. You can read more about the changes here <[link removed]>.



This is just one extra thing we can do for families in this tough time, and ensure we continue to make progress on long-standing issues like child poverty, too.



For now though, I want to once again say thank you. Without the support of people like you, none of what we’ve achieved over the past four years would have been possible - and without the support of people like you, we won’t be able to continue to make progress on the big issues like child poverty in 2023 and beyond.



And just to close, as I mentioned above, it’s traditional for the Labour Leader at Annual Conference to put out a call for donations to our Party. We all know what we can achieve together relies on the generous support of our members and supporters, and so today, if you’re able to, please give what you can to help us build an even stronger Labour movement in New Zealand. <[link removed]>



Thank you - and please, look after yourselves!

Jacinda



P.S. If you missed today’s speech, you can watch the whole Leader’s Address here <[link removed]>.









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