Labour’s Future Fund heralds a truly ambitious economic future.
After what has been a difficult and uncertain year for many, the coming holiday season offers us all a moment to step back and take stock of where we stand, reflecting on what worked, what didn’t and start looking at the path ahead, especially our financial one.
Although each of our paths is different, we are united in our desire for economic confidence and at a time when we are well and truly reaping the negative effects of short term thinking and doing the bare minimum fiscally, it’s time to change the way we navigate what lies ahead.
To this end, the Labour Party has made a very positive statement of our economic ambition with the introduction of the Future Fund. At its heart, the proposal is a bold plan to rethink the economic role of the state, not as a passive manager of yesterday’s assets but as an active builder of tomorrow’s prosperity. In a country like ours, one that is chronically under capitalised, slow to scale innovation and perversely committed to selling off our success stories, this is a necessary step that takes a long term approach to national development.
No longer can we rely on neo-liberalism’s blind faith in private capital and it’s mis-heralded ability to solve productivity issues, magically deliver on infrastructure challenges and solve the increasingly significant problems related to climate change. The Future Fund, in contrast, signals a return to a centralised, strategic economic thinking that stretches across generations, not election cycles and allows us to collectively choose the shape of our economic future.
It's a powerful idea and has, at its core, a commitment I am very keen on, a commitment to patient capital which prioritises long term investment for substantial future returns over short term profits. For far too long New Zealand has relied on foreign investment to scale promising companies or fund transformative infrastructure. The result is a slow leak of economic value offshore. When firms succeed, they are sold off, when big projects are needed we rent foreign capital. The Future Fund changes all this by creating a pool of domestic capital, publicly owned, professionally managed and strategically directed toward the country’s long term economic well being and self sufficiency. It aims to partner with New Zealand businesses, Māori enterprises and innovators so that the value which will inevitably be created stays here.
And its ambition extends to our broader national goals such as transition to a zero-carbon economy, development of world-class infrastructure, support of local industries and the creation of secure, high quality jobs. If New Zealand wants and needs green energy, resilient supply chains, advanced manufacturing and thriving regional economies, the government must take the lead and the Future Fund signals Labour’s intention to be that leader, partnering with private capital to set a bold direction using public investment to shape markets and catalyse innovation. Worldwide, such public risk-taking has always been the genesis of sustained innovation and the Future Fund ensures that the reward is shared just as much as the initial risk.
Critics, and there are some, warn of political interference, misallocation of capital and the government ‘picking winners’. These are predictable complaints from a vocal minority and they, perhaps wilfully, misunderstand the model. The fund is structured to operate at arm’s length, managed by independent guardians with a mandate to invest in ventures and projects that advance long term national well being, not pet projects.
We can build the future our children deserve and, in the end, the Future Fund is much more than an economic tool, it is a strategic statement that the Labour Party will be bold economic managers, taking risks, partnering with the public and sharing the rewards of the resultant prosperity. It confirms my belief that with vision, investment and patience, we will positively reshape our financial future and on that upbeat note, it remains only for me to wish you all a very happy holiday season and a steady, prosperous new year.
I look forward to catching up in 2026. (Helen White)
helen.white@parliament.govt.nz www.labour.org.nz/HelenWhite
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