National Party leader John Key, who ended Labor’s nine-year hold on power at the weekend, is keen to map out a brighter future for New Zealanders. “A sense that New Zealand is worth staying in,” he told ABC Radio.
“In my view, that large and extending wage gap between New Zealand and Australia has acted a bit like a magnet for Kiwis across the Tasman. We’ve got to try and reverse that.”
Key flagged reining in bureaucracy, reducing red tape holding back business and reforming planning laws constraining investment as the core basics for his new government.
He also welcomed a “very gracious” congratulatory call from Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
“He made it absolutely crystal clear that he sees the relationship between New Zealand and Australia a critical one,” Key said. “He wants to put politics to one side and that’s absolutely the case from our point of view as well.”
Key said Rudd invited him to visit Australia so the two leaders could meet.
