Mr President,

The parliamentary elections on 12 September gave the Storting a new majority.

A majority for a new policy and a new government.

The Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party have therefore undertaken to form a majority government.

We will change the form and content of the political process.

We will pursue a policy of greater solidarity and social justice.

We will change the form of the political process by virtue of being a majority government.

This will increase predictability and lead to a clearer division of responsibility between the Government and the Storting.

The Government will base its policy on the political platform formulated by the three parties at Soria Moria.

Norway is a country of opportunity.

We have abundant natural resources and untouched nature.

We have long-established democratic traditions.

We have a high level of education and expertise.

We will seize these great opportunities.

We will use them to create wealth and distribute it equitably.

We must create wealth in order to have something to distribute.

And if we are good at equitable distribution, we will get even better at creating.

High-quality education for all, well-developed public welfare services and gender equality stimulate value creation in society.

Thanks to the Scandinavian model the welfare of the people and the competitiveness of the private sector are among the highest in the world.

We will safeguard and continue to build on this.

The main features of Norwegian foreign policy will remain unchanged.

The Government will promote a UN-led world order based on international law. Our NATO membership, the EEA Agreement and Norway’s status as a non-member of the EU will be the mainstays of our international engagement.

We will work actively to create a better, more secure world within this framework.

We will be at the forefront in the fight against poverty and international environmental efforts.

We will have a clear profile as a nation of peace.

We will be at the forefront of efforts to cancel the debts of the least developed countries (LDCs).

We will increase Norway’s official development assistance (ODA) to one per cent of GNI, and further intensify our development co-operation efforts during the period.

We will make a substantial contribution to the UN Emergency Relief Fund, and participate actively in efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Together with others, we will work to ensure that all children have access to vaccines.

The Government will use NATO to further develop the transatlantic partnership.

New tools will be used to address new security policy challenges.

We will terminate the assignment for Norwegian staff officers and training personnel in Iraq.

We will strengthen Norwegian participation in ISAF in Afghanistan. Therefore, the mandate for Norwegian participation in Operation Enduring Freedom will not be renewed.

The Government wants a modern defence establishment and will improve financial control in the Norwegian Defence.

The Norwegian Defence will be adapted to the new security policy challenges.

We will step up Norwegian civilian and military participation in UN peace-keeping efforts, with a particular focus on Africa.

The High North will be Norway’s most important strategic priority area in the years ahead. The Government will intensify efforts to exercise Norwegian sovereignty and to ensure the sustainable management of the rich fish and energy resources.

The aim of our High North policy is to protect the environment, maintain settlement patterns and promote business development in the north.

We will further develop our co-operation with Russia and our other partners in the north.

We have always had strong ties to the rest of Europe.

We will further strengthen these ties in the time ahead and pursue an active European policy.

We will co-operate with the EU on the basis of the EEA Agreement, and make active use of all the opportunities it provides to safeguard Norwegian interests.

The Government will pursue a humane and compassionate refugee and asylum policy based on Norway’s international obligations and the principles of the rule of law.

We will intensify our efforts to remove immigrants who are staying illegally in Norway, and we will work actively to conclude readmission agreements with more countries.

We will combat discrimination and at the same time make it clear that all people living in Norway have an obligation to participate actively and adhere to the laws and the basic democratic values of our society.

In the current WTO negotiations, the Government will work to promote overall Norwegian interests, with a view both to maintaining a viable agricultural sector in all parts of the country and to securing markets for our fisheries and seafood industry.

The Government will promote greater transparency in the negotiations and as far as possible ensure public access to the process.

We will support countries that promote the interests of the poor countries of the world.

We will carry out a comprehensive review of the consequences of the WTO negotiations for Norwegian agriculture.

The Government will pursue a policy of employment for all.

We will therefore conduct an active private sector policy and a sound economic policy.

We will strengthen our labour market policy by creating more places in job insertion schemes, and by means of a youth guarantee for all young people under 25 and a job insertion guarantee for the long-term unemployed.

There will never be employment for all if we do not have an inclusive labour market.

We will combat hidden unemployment by means of a more inclusive labour market. We will reverse the weakening of employee rights and intensify efforts to prevent social dumping. Proposals in this field will be presented before Christmas.

This Government gives priority to employment for all and collective welfare rather than to new tax breaks.

The public sector must be strengthened in order to safeguard our welfare.

It must therefore be renewed and developed.

This will enable us to give the population good services, freedom of choice and a say in decisions that affect their lives.

Our goal is to ensure that everybody has access to adequate and equal health and care services.

No local hospitals will be closed down.

We will continue efforts to improve the division of labour between hospitals in order to enhance the quality of the treatment provided to patients.

The services provided to persons who suffer from mental illness will be improved through the implementation of the Escalation Plan for Mental Health.

We will develop a binding national escalation plan for efforts to combat substance abuse.

The Government will give high priority to extending nursing and care services.

There is a need for more people in the care sector.

Our goal is to increase the number of employees in the geriatric care services by 10 000 in order to ensure a life of dignity for all elderly people.

Care services are to be the responsibility of the public sector.

The Government will create favourable conditions for voluntary organisations, which are an important complement and supplement to public services.

We do not intend to commercialise and privatise basic public welfare services.

The individual is society’s most important resource.

The Government will therefore give priority to education and knowledge.

By doing so, we create opportunities both for the individual and for the country as a whole.

We will continue and enhance the main features of the Knowledge Promotion school reform.

The Government intends to raise the number of teaching hours in primary and lower secondary school and increase the number of teachers, so that they can better follow up the pupils.

We will strengthen higher education and enhance our research efforts in terms of both funding and quality.

We will focus particularly on research in fields where Norway has a comparative advantage and significant potential for value creation.

The Government considers kindergarten to be a voluntary part of a child’s education.

We will ensure full day-care coverage, lower the price to NOK 2250 a month from 1 January 2006 and establish children’s statutory right to a place in a day-care centre once full coverage has been achieved.

The Government took office on 17 October, which is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Poverty should not exist in one of the world’s richest countries.

The Government will present a comprehensive plan for the eradication of poverty in Norway.

We will return more people to the workforce so that they can live on their own income.

We will increase benefits to people who live in poverty.

A socially responsible housing policy will be pursued to support the fight against poverty.

The Government has high ambitions for its environmental policy.

We will build on the principle of sustainable development and solidarity with future generations, both nationally and internationally.

We will pursue an environmental policy that maintains natural diversity, limits pollution and facilitates changes in production and consumption patterns.

We will make it simpler for people to make environmentally friendly choices in their everyday lives.

We will safeguard people’s opportunities to experience nature and take part in outdoor recreation.

The Vefsna river system will be protected against hydropower development.

We will give statutory protection to the forest areas surrounding Oslo and other cities.

Norway is an energy nation.

Many companies and a large number of people are involved in the production and processing of Norwegian energy resources.

We intend to maintain economic growth.

We will promote new, renewable energy sources and apply environmental standards to other energy production.

We will find solutions that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

The Government will seek to ensure that a larger share of the natural gas produced on the Norwegian continental shelf is used in the domestic industrial, energy and transport sectors in compliance with our international climate commitments.

Norway aims to become a world leader in the environmentally friendly use of gas.

The State will participate in funding infrastructure for the transport of natural gas.

We will create conditions that encourage CO ₂ capture, transport and storage.

The Government will ensure that the establishment of a full-scale CO ₂ capture facility at Kårstø is started and will provide funding towards this.

Petroleum activities will not be initiated in the Nordland VI area during this parliamentary period.

Once the integrated management plan has been adopted, it will be decided which parts of the remaining areas off the Lofoten Islands and further north, including the Barents Sea, are to be opened up and which are to remain closed to petroleum activities.

We will create conditions that are conducive to Norway becoming one of the world’s leading innovative, dynamic and knowledge-based economies.

Welfare and a favourable business environment are created through co-operation between the private sector, the work force and the public sector.

The range of instruments available to the public sector will be strengthened.

We will develop national strategies in areas such as the marine and maritime sectors, energy, the environment and tourism.

It is a goal for this Government to create conditions that make it profitable to process Norwegian raw materials in Norway.

Transport and communications are important for maintaining settlement patterns, promoting private sector development and making use of resources in all parts of the country.

The Government will give higher priority to transport and communications.

Air pollution in the large cities must be reduced by investing in public transport, bicycle paths and footpaths.

The Government will redirect regional policy with a view to providing the same standard of living throughout the country.

The great potential for value creation in all parts of the country will be released by applying a range of measures and utilising our natural resources.

We will ensure that regional policy concerns are taken into account and co-ordinate the overall role of the State to a greater degree.

We will maintain a viable agricultural sector in all parts of the country and ensure that the sector enjoys an income development and social conditions in line with those of other groups in Norwegian society.

The Government will implement a new, integrated coastal policy.

We will launch a broad study to assess the effect of the structural measures that have been introduced for the fishing fleet.

There will continue to be three elected levels of government in Norway.

The Government will initiate a reform of the regional structure with a view to establishing a renewed and strengthened regional level of government.

The Government considers strong and healthy municipal finances to be necessary to ensure good welfare services in all parts of the country and will implement a multi-year escalation plan in order to rectify the financial imbalance in the municipal sector.

In 2006 the non-earmarked funds provided to the municipalities will be increased by NOK 5.4 billion, which is a substantial boost.

Ensuring public safety is one of society’s most fundamental tasks.

Therefore we intend to combat crime more actively.

Our aim is more effective prevention, a higher resolution rate, quicker reaction times and better rehabilitation.

The Government will introduce a social reinsertion guarantee providing for close follow-up after release from prison.

We will provide better services for victims of violence and crime, while at the same time developing preventive measures against crime.

In a country where the vast majority are materially well provided for, the aim is not just to have enough to live on, but also to have something to live for.

We therefore intend to strengthen the position of art and culture in our society.

The Government will promote increased activity in both elite and grassroots sports.

We will pursue a new, comprehensive policy on voluntary work.

We will follow up the policy aims set out in the white paper on cultural policy by increasing the allocation for culture to one per cent of the government budget by 2014.

We will seek to ensure that the Church of Norway continues to be an open and inclusive national church.

We will encourage broad debate on the relationship between church and state based on the report of the commission appointed to examine this question.

The Government will promote a society where all people have equal opportunities to develop their potential, irrespective of gender, age, social background, religion, ethnicity, skin colour, functional level and sexual orientation.

We will therefore combat all forms of discrimination.

We will fulfil our obligations with respect to indigenous peoples and national minorities, and ensure that the Sami Parliament is given real influence over policy areas of importance to Sami society.

The Government will pursue an economic policy that stimulates continued economic growth.

Total taxation will be at the 2004 level.

Our budget policy will be based on the spending rule for the use of petroleum revenues.

How well we succeed in reaching our goals will depend on how much economic room for manoeuvre we have within sound fiscal parameters.

Some of the main aims of the Government’s economic policy are low unemployment, a high employment rate and economically stable and sustainable development.

The Government will promote a sustainable economy in both the short and the long term.

We will carry out the pension compromise reached in the Storting this spring in order to ensure that the pension system is more equitable that our society will be able to finance it in the future.

Mr President,

If someone had said 100 years ago that Norway would be one of the world’s richest countries in 2005, nobody would have believed it.

We have been both industrious and fortunate in Norway.

We have managed our resources in a long-term perspective, and we have ensured that they have been distributed equitably.

Let us together seize the unique opportunities open to Norway.

Our task is to make Norway even better.

A better country

- to grow up in,

- to live, work and realise oneself in,

- to grow old with dignity in.

At the same time we must avoid closing ourselves off from the outside world, but rather increase our international commitment.

This Government has a majority in the Storting.

This does not mean that we will do as we please.

Quite the contrary.

We invite everybody to participate in making Norway better during the next four years.

No Government can do this alone.

We know that the representatives in this chamber possess valuable experience and knowledge.

Many have acquired it through a long political career.

Others have acquired it from working in various sectors of society, and in different regions and municipalities.

We need everybody’s insight and capabilities.

Organisations, companies and individuals must also express their views on how we should develop Norway.

We aim for openness and dialogue with people throughout the country and with a broad range of organisations.

In this way, we can achieve great results together.

During the next four years, the Government will work to make Norway a country characterised to an even greater degree by solidarity and social justice.

A country that is more sustainable, more internationally committed and better to live in than the one we took over.

These are the challenges the Government will address and the goals it has set for itself.

We look forward to co-operating closely with the parties represented in the Storting on reaching these goals.