Ardern grateful for NZ's COVID-free summer

On Thursday, the prime minister fired the starters pistol on the country's political year with the traditional team-building Labour caucus getaway.

She could barely have picked a more beautiful venue, taking her 65-strong caucus to a retreat at Oakura, near New Plymouth, with sweeping views of black sand beaches.

In keeping with the serenity of the outlook, Ms Ardern gave a reflective, rather than rousing, speech to her ministers and MPs, looking back over her own break.

"One of the things I reflected on most was ... just my gratitude that Kiwis got a summer," she said.

"For the second year in a row in the midst of a global pandemic, Kiwis got the break they so needed and deserved

"Now that wasn't by accident, that was by design. That was because we had a plan and it worked and it made a difference."

While Labour is eager to take credit for its careful coronavirus management - in contrast to countries like Australia which have experienced record case and death counts - Ms Ardern warned of tougher times ahead.

An Omicron variant outbreak is a case of "when not if", according to the prime minister, and NZ will also break case records.

"We know though that Omicron is in every corner of the world at the moment. We know that we will experience in New Zealand cases at a level we haven't experienced before," she said.

"For the most part though, vaccination will change the game and for the most part, people will be able to recover at home.

"We also now have antivirals that we didn't have at the beginning of this pandemic. And what a difference that will make.

"We are facing a tricky enemy and it's evolving. But in my view ... we can move into 2022 resolute about what's required."

The set piece speech was a chance for Ms Ardern to run through the rest of her government's priorities through 2022.

She listed economic management, trade agreements, reopening the border, health reforms, mental health investment, climate change, child poverty reduction and housing.

Of equal note were the top-line issues she didn't mention: water reforms and industrial relations reforms which face mighty opposition from rival parties and in the electorate.

Her primary message was that Labour - which boasts a majority in parliament and doesn't face an election until late 2023 - would continue to govern with "equity and fairness".

"The test of equity and fairness is how you manage a crisis ... I'd like to think through the last two years we've demonstrated Labour values," she said.

"We will continue to demonstrate our ability to manage challenges and change when it comes to climate, housing, poverty, everything we continue to face as a nation."

While back at work, Ms Ardern's own summer isn't over. She will marry long-term partner Clarke Gayford later this month at a reception near Gisborne, on North Island's east coast, before parliament resumes on February 8.

Australian Associated Press