安倍内閣総理大臣 平成25年 年頭所感

 

謹んで新年のご挨拶を申し上げます。

　昨年末、第96代内閣総理大臣に就任いたしました。新たな年を迎え、この三年あまりで失われてしまった政治への信頼を取り戻し、未来へ向けた新しい国づくりに邁進していく決意を新たにしています。

　遅れる復興、長引くデフレ、そして、我が国固有の領土・主権に対する挑戦。我が国は、今、危機的状況に置かれています。安倍内閣に課せられた使命は、こうした危機を突破し、経済、教育、外交を着実に建て直し、暮らしの安心を取り戻していくことです。

　政治への信頼を取り戻すために、実現不可能な空虚な言葉は要りません。何より大切なのは、スピード感と実行力です。

　人物重視、能力重視で人材を集め、重厚な布陣を敷きました。組閣時、すべての閣僚に「経済再生」「復興」「危機管理」の三つに全力で取り組むよう指示いたしました。安倍内閣は、危機突破に向けて、一つ一つ「結果」を出していくことにこだわり続けます。

　日本にとって何より喫緊の課題は、デフレと円高からの脱却による経済の再生です。

　最初の閣議で、早速、経済再生の司令塔として内閣に「日本経済再生本部」を設置し、早急に緊急経済対策をとりまとめ、補正予算を編成するよう関係閣僚に指示いたしました。新年早々に「経済財政諮問会議」を再起動し、来年度予算や税制改正の作業も急ピッチで進めてまいります。

　大胆な「金融政策」、機動的な「財政政策」、民間投資を喚起する「成長戦略」が経済再生の「三本の矢」です。

　頑張った人が報われ、今日よりも明日の生活が良くなると実感できる日本経済を取り戻すために、内閣の総力を挙げて、経済政策を強力に進めてまいります。

　忘れてはならないのは、二度目の冬を迎え、未だに仮設住宅などで不自由な生活を送られている被災地の皆さんのことです。就任最初の訪問地として、私は迷うことなく福島を選びました。未だ故郷に戻れない方々の厳しい状況に正面から向き合い、被災者の心に寄り添っていかなければなりません。

　除染や生活再建など課題は山積していますが、これまでは縦割り行政の弊害や現場感覚の欠如によって対応が滞っていると多くの指摘を聞きました。安倍内閣では、政府内の縦割りを廃するため、東電福島原発事故からの再生を福島再生総括大臣の下に一元化し、被災地の現場でスピーディに決定し、実行できる体制を整えます。これにより、早期の帰還、復興を実現してまいります。これからまとめる経済対策でも、復旧・復興に思い切って予算を投じ、被災地の復興を加速させます。

　昨年は、我が国の領土・領海・領空を巡り、様々な事件がありました。安倍政権では、日米同盟を一層強化するとともに、近隣諸国との関係を立て直し、アジアの成長を取り込みます。

　そして、広く世界を俯瞰して、自由、民主主義、基本的人権、法の支配といった基本的な価値に立脚した戦略的な外交を大胆に展開します。国民の生命・財産と領土・領海・領空を断固として守り抜くため、国境離島の適切な振興・管理、警戒警備の強化なども進めてまいります。

　もちろん、大規模災害や重大事故などの危機管理対応に24時間365日体制で万全を期してまいります。

　日本の将来を担っていく子どもたちは、国の一番の宝です。我が国の教育を立て直し、世界トップレベルの学力、規範意識、歴史や文化を尊重する態度を取り戻すため、教育の再生を進めます。

　「暮らしの不安」を取り除き、安心社会を作り上げることも、安倍内閣の重要課題です。国民の命を守り、競争力を高めるための国土強靭化対策を進めます。

　持続可能な社会保障制度を確立するために、自民、公明、民主の「三党合意」に基づき、社会保障・税一体改革を継続します。女性が活躍し、子どもを生み、育てやすい国づくりも、前に進めてまいります。

　安倍政権に課せられた使命は、まずは「強い経済」を取り戻していくことです。成長していこうとする気概を失った国に、未来はありません。矢継ぎ早に政策を実現することで、成長していく。そうした明るい未来を目指し、国民一丸となって、「強い日本」を取り戻していこうではありませんか。

 

　年の初めに、国民の皆様の御理解と御協力を切にお願いするとともに、皆様のご健勝とご多幸をお祈りして、新年のご挨拶とさせていただきます。

 

平成二十五年一月一日
内閣総理大臣　安倍晋三

New Year’s Reflection by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

I would like to wish all of you a very Happy New Year.

At the end of last year I was designated as the nation's 96th Prime Minister. In starting this new year, I have renewed my determination to restore the trust in politics that has been lost over more than three years and push forward with building a "new Japan", working towards the future.

Amidst delayed reconstruction, prolonged deflation, and challenges to Japan's sovereign territory and our nation's sovereignty itself, Japan is now in a critical situation. The mission assigned to the Abe Cabinet is to break through such crises, steadily rebuild the economy, education, and diplomacy, and restore peace of mind regarding daily life.

To restore trust in politics, we do not need hollow words that can never be realized. Most important of all are a sense of speed and the ability to get things done.

Placing emphasis on character and ability, I have brought together capable people to compile a ministerial line-up of substantial depth. Upon forming my Cabinet, I instructed all of its members to dedicate their greatest possible efforts to the three areas of economic revival, reconstruction, and crisis management. The Abe Cabinet will continue to insist upon generating results one by one, with a view to breaking through the crisis.

For Japan, the most urgent issue is reviving the economy through breaking out of both deflation and the appreciation of the yen.

At the first Cabinet meeting, I immediately established the Headquarters for Japan's Economic Revival within the Cabinet as a "control tower" for economic revival and instructed the relevant ministers to compile urgent economic countermeasures and formulate a supplementary budget as soon as possible. Early in the new year I will be reinstating the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy and also moving forward with work on both the budget for the upcoming fiscal year and tax reform with a great sense of urgency.

Bold monetary policy, flexible public finance policy, and a growth strategy that encourages private sector investment are the three prongs of economic revival.

I will vigorously push forward economic policy through the collective efforts of the Cabinet in order to restore a Japanese economy that rewards those who work hard, in which people can feel keenly that their lives tomorrow will be better than their lives today.

We must not forget the people in the disaster-stricken areas who are still leading lives of great inconvenience in temporary housing and other such arrangements as they begin their second winter. When selecting the very first place I would visit upon assuming the post of prime minister, I chose Fukushima without any hesitation whatsoever. We must face squarely the harsh circumstances of those who are unable to return to their hometowns even now and consider the sensitivities of the people in the disaster areas.

Although there are a multitude of issues, including decontamination and livelihood rehabilitation, I heard it pointed out numerous times that until now, the response has fallen behind due to the deficiencies of the government's vertically-segmented administrative structure and a failure to grasp what is going on there on the ground. In order to do away with vertical segmentation within the government, the Abe Cabinet will unify revival from TEPCO's Fukushima nuclear power plant accident to be under the auspices of the Minister in Charge of Comprehensive Policy Coordination for Revival from the Nuclear Accident at Fukushima and will prepare a framework to enable speedy decision-making and execution in disaster-affected areas. By taking such steps, we will achieve the return of residents to their hometowns and reconstruction at an early time. Within the economic countermeasures that will be compiled in the near future, we will intrepidly set aside a budget for recovery and reconstruction and accelerate the reconstruction of the disaster area.

There were various incidents last year concerning Japan's territory, territorial waters, and territorial airspace. The Abe administration will work to rebuild our relations with neighboring countries and incorporate Asia's growth while reinforcing the Japan-U.S. alliance still further.

Moreover, looking down broadly over the world, we will boldly develop strategic diplomacy rooted in the fundamental values of freedom, democracy, fundamental human rights, and the rule of law. In order fully to defend the lives and assets of our nationals as well as our territory, territorial waters, and territorial airspace in a resolute manner, I will also move forward in appropriately developing and administering our remote border islands while reinforcing their security.

We will of course take all possible crisis management measures for large-scale disasters, major accidents, and other such occurrences under a system operating 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

Children, who will shoulder the responsibilities of Japan's future, are the nation's greatest treasure. We will put education back on the right footing and move forward with reforming education so as to restore in our children world-leading academic ability and social morality as well as an attitude of respect for history and culture.

Dispelling the sense of anxiety people feel within their daily lives and creating a society having peace of mind are also important issues for the Abe Cabinet. I will push forward with measures to make the nation's infrastructure more resilient in order to safeguard the lives of the people while enhancing the nation's competitive strength.

In order to establish a sustainable social security system, we will continue with the comprehensive reform of social security and taxation systems on the basis of the "three-party agreement" reached among the Liberal Democratic Party, The New Komeito, and the Democratic Party of Japan. We will also propel forward the creation of a country in which women are dynamically engaged and in which it is easy for them to bear and raise children.

The mission assigned to the Abe administration is first and foremost to restore a robust economy. A country that loses the mettle to grow has no future. We will grow by realizing policies in rapid-fire succession. Let us restore a "strong Japan" with the people of our nation striving in unison for just such a bright future.

As we begin 2013, in sending this New Year's greeting I extend my best wishes for everyone's health and happiness and ask sincerely for the public's understanding and cooperation.

Shinzo Abe
Prime Minister of Japan
January 1, 2013