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 announcement 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 statehouse 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 statehouses.
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The report said that halving child poverty by 2030 is 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.
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"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.
Ardern was thronged by supporters during her visit Saturday to a market in the heavily Polynesian south Auckland suburb of Otara.
Her Labour Party has governed since the 2017 general election when it was able to forge a narrow majority in New Zealand’s 120-seat Parliament in a coalition with the left-wing Greens and right-wing New Zealand First parties.
Recent polls show a more comfortable result this year, with the Labour Party leading the National Party, led by 61-year-old conservative Judith Collins, by as many as 13 points.
Ardern’s visit to Otara was an effort to get out the vote in an electorate in which Labour out-polls National by around four votes to one.
“We’re seeing high turnout at the moment for advance voting,” said Ardern, who cast her vote in her Auckland district on Oct. 3, two weeks ahead of the official polling day. “We want to make sure everyone uses their voice until election day."
Voters have four choices to make this year. They are picking a candidate to represent their electorate and choosing which party to give their “party vote.” Seats in Parliament are allocated based on seats won and the percentage of the vote won by each party.
Voters also face two referendums. They will vote on the decriminalization of cannabis and on the legalization of “assisted dying” in limited cases.
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.
(IANS)
