The Labour Party is launching its re-election campaign in Auckland's Town Hall.
New Zealand’s 52nd Parliament wrapped up this week, with parties ready to hit the campaign trail in the lead up to the September 19 election.
It's an election likely to be dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and each party's proposed plans for helping New Zealand recover.
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3pm - We will wrap the live updates up there. Thanks for following along.
2:45pm - COVID-19 will be the biggest challenge New Zealand will face for decades to come, Ardern says. She believes it is "only right" that the Labour Party talks about its plan to respond, recover and rebuild.
2:40pm - The Labour leader is now speaking to media.
She says the new flexi-wage expansion will help place "people into long-term employment, jobs that will last". The initial scheme was begun under the National Party Government.
"Our view is if you have got something that is already in place, that is working, then make sure you are using that so you can move quickly to get people into employment and to support businesses."
After her speech, Ardern was crowded by a large number of supporters.
"Everyone is still, even if it is a bit crowded, everyone is still really respectful."
She says she is grateful so many people wanted to come out.
Her overall goal over the next three years is to cushion the blow of COVID-19 and to build back better.
2:10pm - Ardern has finished her speech. There are massive cheers as other Labour MPs join her on the stage.
"To do more for our people and their wellbeing, for our small businesses, for our economy and our recovery.
"To grab hold of the opportunities that lie in front of us.
"So let’s keep going.
"Let’s keep rebuilding.
"Let’s keep moving!"
That looks to be it from the Auckland Town Hall.
2:05pm - She says this will be a "COVID election".
"But that does not mean that there aren’t still choices to be made. It does not mean there aren’t ideas to be debated, or plans to be discussed, policies to be announced."
Ardern says Labour has learnt a lot over the last three years.
"We came in on a platform of change, and a commitment to tackle our long term challenges, and that is what we have done."
She said there is much more to do.
2pm - The Labour leader is going over the new policy the party has announced. You can find more here.
"It is aimed at supporting real jobs that have a real chance of lasting. It’s an investment in our people, their future, and it’s about working together.
"Almost every day I talk to businesses – large and small. I know their contribution to the economy, the commitment they have to their staff, I understand the pressures they face. Government alone can’t do everything. Neither can business. But together we can.
"But as with all investments, there is a price tag. This scheme represents an investment of $311 million."
She said the scheme will be paid through the "current underspend" from the wage subsidy, not from the COVID Response Fund "which we intend to preserve in case it’s needed to fight the virus again, or to reduce our level of debt".
1:55pm - Ardern says New Zealand now has one of the most open economies in the world - due to the efforts of the "team of 5 million" - but "there is no denying that COVID-19 has changed New Zealand".
"It will inevitably change what we talk about this election. "
She says there was no playbook for how to deal with the pandemic.
"That means there was no pre-written plan for how a country should respond to a one in one hundred year global pandemic. But respond we did.
"We went hard and we went early, used the wage subsidy to support 1.7 million workers through a lockdown and beyond, and put ourselves in the position to safely reopen our economy.
"We have never wavered from the view that the best economic response was a strong health response. There are tough times ahead but the proof is in an economy up and running well before others."
1:52pm - She is discussing the three 'disasters' her Government has faced - the Christchurch shooting, the White Island eruption, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Whether it was March 15, or Whakaari White Island, or even COVID-19 - these three entirely different events that devastated in very different ways - they drew out a response from kiwis that was the same.
"They drew out a sense of collective purpose, of determination, of kindness. They are all values we will need as we take on our next challenge - and our next challenge is huge."
1:50pm - The Labour leader is now outlining some of the changes her Government has made over the last three years. She mentions the Winter Energy Payment, extending paid parental leave, lifting the minimum wage and increasing PHARMAC funding.
But Ardern also says the Government didn't reach every goal.
"We wanted more homes for first home buyers. We wanted light rail in Auckland. But we’ve had to accept that sometimes when you try things that have never been done before, you won’t always succeed, but that doesn’t mean you should give up."
1:45pm - Ardern has given a shout-out to previous National Party Prime Ministers.
"John Key and Bill English, they were good managers of our economy. And I want to thank them for that. They helped New Zealand through the GFC and they paid down debt," she said.
"But after nine years of a singular focus on GDP and surplus, the actual result was too many families sleeping in cars, too many New Zealanders suffering from poor mental health and too many of our waterways polluted.
"I maintain the point I have often made through this term, economic growth accompanied by worsening social outcomes is not success at all. It is failure.
"And so, on the 26th of October 2017 as our government was sworn it, we set out to change that."
1:40pm - The Labour leader has just announced the party's first big policy of the campaign.
Labour wants to expand a scheme which subsidises employers who take on new employees otherwise at risk of long-term unemployment.
The existing Flexi-wage subsidy scheme was introduced in 2012 by then-Social Development Minister Paula Bennett. Labour leader Jacinda Ardern on Saturday promised to boost it by $311 million, aiming to get 40,000 Kiwis back in work.
1:38pm - Jacinda Ardern is now coming to the stage.
She talks about the differences between when she launched the 2017 campaign and this year's launch.
"It’s hard to believe that we were here, in this town hall just three years ago, launching our 2017 campaign.
"If you had told me then that our launch in 2020 would be in the midst of a global pandemic with our borders closed – I would have found that very hard to fathom.
"If you’d told me that Clarke and I would have a toddler, I wouldn’t have believed we would have been so lucky.
"And if you’d told me that we would have just completed a term in Government with both New Zealand First and the Greens, I’d assume you’d been watching excessive amounts of “Stranger Things” on Netflix."
1:35pm - Clarke Gayford is now speaking to the crowd. He said there was joy after Winston Peter's speech back in 2017 in which he announced the formation of the Labour-NZ First Government.
Gayford says he witnessed a "profound change" in Ardern. She has never stepped back from that higher gear she went into.
"I've never seen her once - even privately - celebrate the role."
Talking about Ardern's drive, he mentions Cabinet papers being read in bed at night and early morning alarms.
Gayford says she doesn't have a ceiling and there is much more to do.
He says it is difficult to have a disagreement with the world's most eloquent leader, a title she was given by a British professional development company last month.
1:30pm - Kightley says the speeches are about to begin. While the lecturn is set up, he is going through a series of achievements of the Government's, such as re-entering Pike River and boosting the minimum wage.
1:25pm - The audience is standing as Hātea perform the national anthem.
1:20pm - Neilson says it is an honour to be at the event and to help celebrate Jacinda Ardern.
1:15pm - Wondering what Winston Peters is up to as Labour launches its campaign? He's heading to Hamilton for a meeting, according to a tweet.
1:10pm - Oscar Kightley has taken the stage as the MC. He asks the crowd if they are excited and there is a big cheer.
He said there has been remarkable progress over the last three years, but the work isn't over.
Singer Tami Neilson has now taken the stage.
1:05pm - The Town Hall has darkened.
1pm - The Labour event should be getting underway soon. We will have a livestream for you when the speeches begin.
12:55pm - More pictures from the Town Hall are being posted on Twitter, including from some Labour MPs.
12:50pm - People are pouring into the Auckland Town Hall for the launch.
12:45pm - Labour's campaign manager Megan Woods told Newshub Nation on Saturday morning that the party would be releasing new policies.
"Of course there will be policies. I'm not going to spruike my leader's speech by announcing any on here."
Asked if it could be related to jobs, with unemployment set to spike as the wage subsidy scheme draws to a close, Woods said: "I'm not going to spruik the leader's speech on here today."
Asked if it could be about tax, Woods said: "I'm not spruiking the leader's speech. You're not going to get me on that one."
12:30pm - Here are some more images from Newshub radio reporter Emma Stanford.
12:25pm - Newshub's Political Editor Tova O'Brien is down at Auckland Town Hall. She's just posted this image on Twitter.
12:15pm - Jacinda Ardern is preparing for Labour's campaign launch. She has just posted this image from backstage at the Auckland Town Hall, where she is finalising her speech.
Newshub will be livestreaming her big speech from 1pm onwards.
