New Zealand’s new prime minister Jacinda Ardern has vowed to honour Labour’s election promise to cut net migration to 20,000 to 30,000 a year.

She also predicted that New Zealand will be facing an economic slowdown which she plans to prepare for:

“Certainly there were signs of an economic slowdown, “Ardern said.

“It was only fair of Mr Peters to reflect what might be on the horizon for this new Labour-led government, to make sure that people have some anticipation that we will potentially have a rocky road in front of us.”

It was the government’s job to manage the economy if it was affected by the international outlook, but the government couldn’t always control what it faced.

On Newstalk ZB, Ardern was asked whether she might have been better off spending the next three years in opposition, rather than going into government with NZ First, which could have given Labour a good chance of a strong result in 2020.

“You cannot take these moments in time and view them with political expediency,” she said.

“The decision we were making was not about what was the best political opportunity for Labour in the long term but what presented us with the greatest opportunity to deliver change for New Zealand and the New Zealanders who need us to deliver change.”

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