It's been more than 50 days since the new government revealed its 100-day plan and the curious number of 49 actions that came with it.
With MPs set to sit at Parliament next week, how many of those actions have they already checked off?
Actions accomplished so far:
Repeal the Clean Car Discount scheme by December 31
Legislation to end the Clean Car Discount scheme or "ute tax" as it came to be known was pushed through just before Christmas.
Since then, Transport Minister Simeon Brown has also announced light electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids will soon no longer be exempt from road user charges either.
Ban the use of cellphones in schools
Students will officially need to put their cellphones away from Term 2 this year, however Education Minister Erica Stanford said she still expected schools to start implementing the policy from Term 1.
Require primary and intermediate schools to teach an hour of reading, writing and maths per day starting in 2024
This measure is due to kick off from Term 1, Stanford confirmed.
"The Ministry of Education will provide guidance and support to assist schools with the implementation of these changes," she said.
Appoint an Expert Group to redesign the English and maths curricula for primary school students
A Ministerial Advisory Group is indeed being set up to review the primary school English, maths and statistics curricula, according to Stanford.
Stop "blanket speed limit reductions" and start work on replacing the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022
Simeon Brown revealed changes for road controlling authorities in mid-December.
Those changes included removing the mandatory requirements to implement speed management plans and removing the deadlines for those authorities to submit plans by March 29.
Introduce legislation to restore 90-day trial periods for all businesses
Legislation was passed in December, allowing all employers to implement 90-day trials.
Repeal Fair Pay Agreement legislation
Fair Pay Agreements were also repealed in December. No Fair Pay Agreements were ever finalised before the repeal.
Introduce legislation to narrow the Reserve Bank's mandate to price stability
The Government passed the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (Economic Objective) Amendment Bill on December 13.
The move would return the Reserve Bank to a single focus on inflation, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said.
Commission an independent review into Kāinga Ora's financial situation, procurement, and asset management
Former Prime Minister Sir Bill English was appointed to lead this review.
Meet with councils and communities to establish regional requirements for recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent major flooding events
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Make any additional Orders in Council needed to speed up cyclone and flood recovery efforts
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon visited some of the areas that were most severely impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle. He toured some of the damaged areas and also met with council representatives.
Begin disestablishing Te Pūkenga
Work on disestablishing the super-institute began in December.
Repeal the Spatial Planning and Natural and Built Environment Act and introduce a fast-track consenting regime
Legislation to repeal both Acts was passed in December.
Improve security for the health workforce in hospital emergency departments
The Government spent $5.7 million to fund an extra 200 security employees to keep hospital emergency departments more safe and secure.
By December 1, lodge a reservation against adopting amendments to World Health Organization health regulations to allow the Government to consider these against a "national interest test"
The Government did lodge the reservation. The move baffled public health and legal experts at the time, who said "robust checks and balances already exist".
Actions accomplished by stopping work on projects:
A sizeable chunk of the Government's 100-day plan is made up of ending work on several projects introduced by the previous government.
This includes:
Stop central government work on the Auckland Light Rail project
The Government officially cancelled work on this project on January 14.
"Auckland Light Rail Limited has been instructed to immediately cease work on the project, and to take the necessary steps to wind up the company," Simeon Brown said.
Withdraw central government from Let's Get Wellington Moving (LGWM)
The Government, Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council have agreed in principle to dissolve the major Wellington infrastructure project.
Cancel fuel tax hikes
The previous Labour government had proposed raising the fuel tax in stages over several years with the first rise of two cents due to take place mid-2024.
Abolish the previous Labour government's prisoner reduction target
The Labour government had already committed to dumping this target if it had been re-elected.
Stop work on: He Puapua, the Income Insurance Scheme, Industry Transformation Plans, and the Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme
Work has presumably ended on all of these, too. The Government did officially confirm decommissioning has begun on the Lake Onslow project.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)'s website also said: "The Government has closed the Industry Transformation Plan programme."
Actions still to come:
There were very few sitting weeks left in Parliament when the Government revealed its 100-day plan, meaning some planned legislation is still (presumably) in the pipeline.
Introduce legislation to disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora / the Māori Health Authority
This proposed legislation is currently the subject of an urgent Waitangi Tribunal inquiry.
Introduce legislation to remove the Auckland Fuel Tax
Transport Minister Simeon Brown said late last year that the exact timing for this policy was yet to be confirmed.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said scrapping the tax without a plan to replace that funding would leave the council's budget with a gap of close to $2 billion.
Introduce legislation to repeal the Water Services Entities Act 2022, also known as the Three Waters reforms
Simeon Brown, this time in his capacity as Local Government Minister, said the Government would be passing legislation to repeal the so-called Three Waters legislation in "early [2024]".
While the country waits for that legislation, Infrastructure New Zealand this week did ask the Government to provide details around its replacement for the Three Waters legislation as soon as possible.
Introduce legislation to ban gang patches, stop gang members gathering in public, and stop known gang offenders from communicating with one another
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Give police greater powers to search gang members for firearms and make gang membership an aggravating factor at sentencing
While legislation relating to gangs is yet to be passed, Police Minister Mark Mitchell did meet with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster last year to set out the Government's expectations.
"I expect police to be using the full force of the law and the tools and resources it has available, to significantly disrupt gang and organised crime within communities across New Zealand," Mitchell said in a letter to the Police Commissioner.
"I expect to see an immediate and sustained focus to deliver results in this area by police."
Allow the sale of cold medication containing pseudoephedrine
Over-the-counter sales of pseudoephedrine have been banned in New Zealand since 2011. The cold and flu medicine is yet to reappear on pharmacy shelves.
Begin work to repeal the Therapeutics Products Act 2023
It is unclear if work has begun on repealing this Act that was only passed in July last year.
Repeal amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and regulations
The Government's plans to repeal these regulations before they even begin garnered a lot of attention, both locally and internationally, however the legislation to actually do so is yet to be introduced.
Begin efforts to double renewable energy production, including a National Policy Statement on Renewable Electricity Generation
Specific details around this work have not yet been revealed, but Climate Change Minister Simon Watts told 1News late last year that the Government was "deadly serious" about meeting its climate targets.
Sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Waikato University to progress a third medical school
A full cost-benefit analysis needs to be conducted before any binding agreement on a third medical school is made, according to National's coalition agreement with ACT.
Begin work on a National Infrastructure Agency
Minister of Infrastructure Chris Bishop told The Post in December that the proposed agency would create a "pipeline" of projects, allowing for the planning of major projects for the next 30 years.
Other actions still to come include:
- Begin to repeal and replace Part 6 of the Arms Act 1983 relating to clubs and ranges
- Set five major targets for health system, including for wait times and cancer treatment
- Take first steps to extend free breast cancer screening to those aged up to 74
- Establish a priority one category on the social housing waitlist to move families out of emergency housing into permanent homes more quickly
- Begin work on a new Government Policy Statement reflecting the new Roads of National Significance and new public transport priorities
- Introduce legislation to extend eligibility to offence-based rehabilitation programmes to remand prisoners
- Stop taxpayer funding for section 27 cultural reports
- Enable more virtual participation in court proceedings
- Begin to cease implementation of new Significant Natural Areas and seek advice on the operation of the areas
- Take policy decisions to amend the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to make it easier for build-to-rent housing to be developed in New Zealand
- Begin work to enable more houses to be built, by implementing the National Party's Going for Housing Growth policy and making the Medium Density Residential Standards optional for councils
Actions that remain unclear:
Start work to improve the quality of regulation
Details about what that work will look like are currently scarce, but the Government does have the newly created Ministry of Regulation, with David Seymour taking on the mantle of Minister of Regulation.
Start reducing public sector expenditure
National campaigned on cutting public sector “back office” spending by an average of 6.5% across key agencies, while Seymour told Q+A last year he expected thousands of public service jobs to be slashed.
However, those numbers and where those jobs will be cut from have not been confirmed.
Begin work to crack down on serious youth offending
Details around how this project of work are also scarce.
Begin work on delivering better public services and strengthening democracy
It's unclear what work has been undertaken to deliver on better public services so far.
It's also unclear what work has been done to strengthen democracy, though arguably that would be a big ask in any 100-day plan.
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