Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are at Polyfest, meeting performers at the one of the largest Pacific festivals in the world.
Watch a live stream of his media conference here:
It is the first time the festival, New Zealand's largest secondary schools' cultural competition, has been held in full and open to the public since 2018, after years of disruptions and cancellations.
Speaking to media, Hipkins said a number of central government agencies were providing "quite a lot of sponsorship" to events like Polyfest because they were "an incredible opportunity for the community to come together".
"I think this is an amazing event," he said.
Asked about the industrial action being planned by tens of thousands of school teachers next week, Hipkins said the issue was ultimately a matter for the Ministry of Education and teachers to work through.
"I would encourage them to continue to negotiate; the government has put more money in so that the Ministry of Education can address the concerns that teachers are raising."
There were legitimate concerns from primary school teachers about the amount of preparation time that they get between their lessons, he acknowledged, but the offer on the table went "a significant way towards addressing their concerns".
"It's not everything that they've asked for, but it is a significant advance on where they've been previously."
Hipkins said he would much rather have teachers and children in the classroom.
"They've all missed a lot of time over the last few years; let's minimise that, let's keep negotiating, let's keep working through the issues that are being raised and find ways to resolve them," he said.
"A strike's not going to resolve any issues, so let's keep working towards resolution."
'Preparing for the winter peak'
Asked about the challenges being faced by the healthcare sector, Hipkins said hospitals were under a lot of pressure.
"We're very aware going into winter that they're likely to face more pressure, so that's one of the reasons that we've been working with them to make sure that we're preparing them for the winter peak."
He said he was proud of the government's track record on addressing pay issues for nurses "so that we can deal with some of those underlying gender disparities that have existed in that workforce in the past".
"Is there more to do? Of course there's more to do but we've made a lot of progress."
UK working holiday visa scheme expansion
The earlier implementation of an expansion of New Zealand's working holiday visa scheme with the UK, announced by Hipkins this morning, was a "win-win" for both countries, he said.
"This is fantastic news for Kiwis who want to go and spend some time in the UK and do their working holiday; they'll now be able to go for longer, earn more money, and enjoy all of what the northern hemisphere has to offer."
He said it was also great news for Kiwis and businesses.
"A lot of our businesses attract workers from the UK who come here on working holiday visas, they're now going to be able to work for up to three years instead of just one year."
MP to step down at election
Hipkins said he had talked to Labour MP Tamati Coffey, who today announced that he will quit Parliament at the end of this term.
"Tamati has indicated ... he's just become a dad for the second time and that that's where his focus is at the moment, and I absolutely respect that."
