Grant Robertson announced his plans for 2019 - including tackling New Zealand's mental health problems.
Appearing on RadioLIVE on Tuesday, the Finance Minister told hosts Carly Flynn and Mike Puru his priorities for next year include continuing to rebuild health, education and housing.
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"A good example there's the mental health issues, which I think have been one of the defining topics of this year actually, is what do we do to improve New Zealanders' mental health and how do we get on top of those terrible suicide stats," he says.
"We've got that inquiry report now and I've already announced that that will be one of our top priorities for next years' Budget."
Business confidence remains weak, but Mr Robertson calls this a "historical trend" for Labour Governments and hopes they will "cheer up for Christmas".
"We're working closely with the business community and the Prime Minister has formed her Business Advisory Council, we've got them involved in most of the big policy areas we're working on," he says.
"I've got a group that comes together to talk about what we call the future of work which is how we're adjusting to all the big technological changes that are happening in the workplace.
"We work closely with the business community but sometimes you just have to accept that people have got their inbuilt views that aren't going to change quickly. My big focus is actually on the real data. Not just what people's perceptions are but how the economy's going itself."
Summing up the year in review, Mr Robertson said he thinks it's been a good one and he's "pretty pleased with where we're at".
"One of the things I'm really pleased about is the way the coalition's going together," he says.
"It's a real MMP Government, so we've got to work through issues as they come up and I think we've done that and overall the economy's ticking along relatively well."
And he has a special message for New Zealanders - "be kind".
"Let's look after each other," he says.
"As the PM would say, let's be kind to one another... it's a real opportunity for us to look out for our neighbours, and friends and our family over the seas and just everyone come back safe and happy in the new year."
Newshub.
