WELLINGTON: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Saturday (Aug 8) launched her re-election campaign promising a "laser-like" focus on boosting jobs and economic growth hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The charismatic 40-year-old leader is on track for a comfortable victory in the Sep 19 election, according to opinion polls, having won global praise for her leadership during the coronavirus pandemic.
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It has been 99 days since New Zealand had any domestic transmission of COVID-19, a rare achievement as the pandemic rages globally, and it has reopened the economy after undergoing a complete shutdown to eradicate the coronavirus.
"When people ask, is this a COVID election, my answer is yes, it is," Ardern told her supporters gathered in Auckland for the launch of her Labour Party's re-election campaign.
READ: Commentary: Jacinda Ardern, the leader our troubled times need
In her first campaign speech, Ardern pledged a NZ$311 million (US$205.32 million) scheme aimed at getting 40,000 Kiwis back in work, if her party wins the Sep 19 polls.
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The funding will allow businesses a subsidy of on average NZ$7500, and up to NZ$22,000, to hire unemployed New Zealanders.
"The new flexi-wage scheme is a key plank of our economic plan to support businesses to recover and to provide jobs to those who have lost work due to Covid," Ardern said.
New Zealand has been an envy of the world, having eliminated COVID-19 from its shores and successfully re-opening its economy when most of the world is still shuttered.
Recent data suggests unemployment due to Read More – Source
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