Simon Bridges National MP simonbridges.co.nz

Among many other duties during the last fortnight, it has been a pleasure to be a part of some very positive events in Tauranga.

t was great to be one of the judges of the best dressed in the ASB Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Breast Cancer Walk. Thousands turned out for this great cause in all their finery. Iris Thomas and her team of volunteers did an amazing job organising it all.

It was also a privilege to attend our various colleges' senior prizegivings. Anyone who thinks our youth today aren't as good as they used to be needs to sit in the back row for one of these. They all left me feeling very optimistic about Tauranga's and our nation's future.

Finally, I enjoyed opening the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic's new Road Transport, Warehousing and Logistics Training Centre on Maleme Street last week. This facility is a great asset for our city, providing a unique one-stop shop for learning the road transport and logistics trades both practically and academically. The centre is a fully functioning warehouse, but also has classrooms. These skill sets are vital to our nation as they help us eliminate the tyranny of distance between us and our trading partners through more efficient distribution of our exports.

A steady hand on the wheel

National has a clear plan to take New Zealand forward by building a faster-growing economy supporting more real jobs and higher incomes. That's the only way we can provide Kiwis with security and the opportunity to get ahead.

Labour left us an economy that was in recession long before the global financial crisis. New Zealand had high inflation, high interest rates, forecasts of never-ending deficits and ever-rising government debt.

Since then we have been through three tough years – the global financial crisis, major earthquakes in our second-largest city and the finance company collapses.

Our first challenge was to steady the ship, help New Zealanders through the recession and get our debt under control. We have achieved that, while continuing to protect the most vulnerable in society.

While dealing with these challenges, we've also been building a platform for faster growth. We have begun rebalancing the economy towards exports, savings and productive investment and away from borrowing, consumption and government spending, which characterised growth in the mid-2000s.

We've improved the tax system, reduced the size of the bureaucracy and invested in modern infrastructure. We've also boosted funding for science and innovation, made it easier to do business, reformed the financial sector and pursued an ambitious trade agenda.

Our plan is working. The economy has grown in eight of the past nine quarters and 63,000 new jobs have been created in the last two years. This is 20,000 more than forecast in the May Budget. We expect to see another 150,000 jobs created between 2012 and 2016.

New Zealand is better placed than many other countries to manage what will remain an uncertain global environment. We're getting on top of our government debt by keeping it below 30 per cent of GDP and we'll be back in surplus by 2014-15.

Looking ahead, it's important we maintain momentum by creating real and durable jobs based on exporting and trading with the rest of the world, rather than temporary jobs based on borrowing and government spending. We'll press ahead with our programme.

The outlook for New Zealand is positive – interest rates are low, commodity prices are high, our trade with India and China is booming, we're very competitive with Australia and the job market is improving.

Our economic plan is about grasping these opportunities, so we can grow solidly during the next three years.

In these uncertain times, New Zealanders need a steady hand at the wheel. National has provided strong and stable government and sound economic management. A faster-growing economy supporting more real jobs and higher incomes is the only way we can provide Kiwis with security and the opportunity to get ahead.