Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says there are some very big challenges ahead for New Zealand as the coalition Government marks its first 100 days in office. 

Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking this morning, Luxon said while there would be testing times, the opportunities were even larger. 

Luxon denied that the plan was just announcements without actions when pressed by Hosking. 

The resource management changes and the cell phone ban in schools were examples of measures introduced during the 100 days, he said. 

“These are the must-dos,” said Luxon. 

“We’re going to announce five healthcare targets [today]. 

“I want ministers to be decisive ... but they’re going to do it with an expert panel.” 

“There’s some pretty practical common sense stuff in there,” he said of his 100-day plan. 

The healthcare targets would include set rates and expectations, such as wait times and immunisation numbers. 

Hosking put it to the Prime Minister that the economy is going backwards compared to other countries, to which Luxon responded: “We’ve got some really big challenges ahead of us. 

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“We’ve got a great future, we honestly do. 

“The opportunities are bigger than the challenges for us.” 

‘War against the poor’ 

First Union general secretary Dennis Maga said, after 100 days in power, the Government has made workers significantly worse off and punished the poorest. 

“It has been a hundred steps backward for any worker in Aotearoa so far and it’s only getting worse. 

“It seems like people haven’t fully grasped the extent of this government’s intentions just yet,” said Maga. 

Maga said policies like the reintroduction of 90-day trial periods at work, the repeal of Fair Pay Agreements, the upcoming real-terms cut to the minimum wage, and the repeal of the Reserve Bank’s dual mandate beyond inflation will have “increasingly disastrous economic” effects over time. 

“The only real beneficiaries under this government so far have been their ‘investors’ - the landlords and billionaires, tobacconists and payday lenders, and the American-style ‘culture warriors’ who encouraged them to fight a war on the poor in New Zealand. 

“We should all feel rightfully disgusted at the invented austerity of taking away a child’s free school lunches while incentivising their parents’ landlord to up the rent or buy another house to flip,” Maga said. 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Health Minister Shane Reti. Photo / Michael Craig 

Health targets announcement 

Luxon is traveling between Auckland and Northland today as he completes his first 100 days in office, making a major health targets announcement. 

The PM will make the final health announcement of the 100-day reform package in Whangārei with Health Minister Dr Shane Reti this afternoon. 

During his pre-election campaign, Luxon unveiled a 100-day plan comprised of 49 actions " to improve the lives of New Zealanders”. 

The bulk of the items on the Government’s plan was based on undoing what the previous government did. 

It’s understood they will introduce health targets today aimed at improving the country’s faltering health system. 

Christopher Luxon met Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the Asean special summit in Melbourne earlier this week. 

During their election campaign, National’s five major targets for health were focused on emergency departments, cancer treatment, immunisation and wait times for specialists and surgery. 

- Shorter stays in the emergency department – 95 per cent of patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred from an emergency department within six hours. 
- Faster cancer treatment – 85 per cent of patients to receive cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat. 
- Improved immunisation – 95 per cent of 2-year-olds receiving their full age-appropriate immunisations. 
- Shorter wait times for first specialist assessment – a meaningful reduction in the number of people waiting more than four months to see a specialist (target to be set in government).
- Shorter wait times for surgery – a meaningful reduction in the number of people waiting more than four months for surgery (target to be set in government). 

Luxon on his meetings in Australia 

Luxon said while in Australia he was talking to leaders and investors. 

“What we want to do, is make sure we do have good relationships with China,” he said when asked about Asia-Pacific tensions currently. 

“We’re not gonna get rich trading with each other.”