Finance Minister Nicola Willis will deliver her second Budget tomorrow, but hundreds of millions in spending initiatives have already been earmarked.
Ministers have been busy revealing parts of their plans in the lead-up to May 22, giving Kiwis a preview of where priorities lie for the coming year and beyond.
These pre-Budget announcements reach across education, health and other programmes that the Government want showcased before the big day itself.
The announcements to date don’t cover the potential cuts that may be required or other potentially larger initiatives that may still be revealed tomorrow.
Follow live coverage of the Budget on 1News.co.nz and TVNZ1 from 2pm on Thursday.
But here’s a comprehensive breakdown of the changes already revealed.
Over $2 billion for naval helicopters, extra $957 million for defence
The announcement was made at Auckland’s Whenuapai Air Base today. (Source: 1News)
Defence Minister Judith Collins unveiled at the beginning of May a more than $2 billion spend in this year’s Budget to replace the Defence Force’s ageing fleet of maritime helicopters.
An $957 million boost over four years, in addition to the previously announced $12 billion defence capability plan, would go towards missions, people, estate maintenance and international engagement.
“The fact is things have been left in a pretty dire strait, so we just have to get it done. It’s a lot of money, but it’s needed,” Collins said.
Better maths teaching and absenteeism targeted
Associate Education Minister David Seymour said it aimed to improve attendance over the next four years. (Source: 1News)
Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced a $140 million package to tackle chronic absenteeism, including $123 million for a new attendance service and almost $17 million to strengthen attendance.
“Frontline attendance services will be more accountable, better at effectively managing cases, and data-driven in their responses,” Seymour said.
From next year, every child will have their maths ability checked in their first two years of schooling (Source: 1News)
Transitioning to the new attendance service will begin at the end of the year, and the new services will become fully operational from early 2026.
“The level of service provided will depend on the need. It will range from advice and support to schools to intensive case management of students,” Seymour said.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Erica Stanford announced nearly $100 million over four years to boost maths achievement in primary and intermediate schools.
Education Minister says some details are being worked through, but a trial shows positive results. (Source: 1News)
The package includes $4 million for a new ‘maths check’ for lower primary students, $56 million would fund 143 new maths intervention teachers, and $40 million would target small-group tutoring for up to 34,000 year 7-8 students.
“This investment means more students will get the expert support they need, when they need it,” Stanford said.
Education Minister says $53m to pay for the scheme will be included in Budget 2025. (Source: 1News)
She also committed $53 million to fund teacher registrations through to 2028, saving each teacher up to $550 when applying or renewing their practising certificate.
Pay equity changes expected to save ‘billions’
Money saved from the Government’s pay equity overhaul has been factored into this year’s Budget and is expected to significantly reduce claim costs in the near term.
Workplace Minister Brooke van Velden announced the moves to raise the threshold for proving work has been historically undervalued to support a claim. (Source: 1News)
Rushed through under urgency two weeks ago, the sweeping changes were billed as making the existing system fairer and less complex. It raises the threshold for workers to prove they’ve been paid poorly as a result of sex discrimination.
It’s a justification deemed a “disgrace” and a major cut by the opposition. The move would come at the expense of not settling those pay equity claims under the previously agreed criteria and timeline.
But ACT leader David Seymour said the overhaul of the system had “saved the taxpayer billions” and “saved the Budget for the Government”.
Prime Minister says the primary consideration is to make sure that we’ve got a system that’s much more workable. (Source: 1News)
Willis and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon have previously denied that the move was motivated by wanting to make the Government’s finances add up.
Urgent and after-hours care prioritised
Over the weekend, Health Minister Simeon Brown revealed $164 million over four years to expand and maintain urgent and after-hours healthcare services nationwide.
“Around 5000 New Zealanders visit urgent care clinics every day, but the availability of after-hours services has declined in recent years, and access remains variable across the country,” he said.
The funding aims to ensure 98% of New Zealanders can access these services within one hour’s drive of their home, with targeted support for more than 70 remote communities.
“Expanding community-based urgent care will help ease pressure on hospitals and keep emergency department wait times down for those with the most serious conditions.
Five new 24-hour urgent care services and rural and remote services for more than 70 locations are to be delivered over the next four years. (Source: 1News)
“It also gives people more choice, particularly in rural and remote areas where options have been limited,” Brown said.
A new 24-hour urgent care service will be established in Counties Manukau, with 24-hour services also planned for Whangārei, Palmerston North, Tauranga and Dunedin.
New and extended daytime urgent care services were also identified in other provincial cities and towns, including in Lower Hutt, Invercargill and Timaru. There would also be better after-hours services in remote rural locations with 24/7 on-call support.
‘Growth’ desired with more subsidies for filmmakers
Willis, in her role as Economic Growth Minister, announced more than half a billion dollars over four years to support television and film production.
The $577 million injection brought total funding for the scheme to slightly over $1 billion over the forecast period, “reflecting expected demand for the scheme”.
“This funding will help bring investment, jobs and income to New Zealand, boosting our economic growth,” she said. “We are sending a clear message to the world: New Zealand is the best place in the world to make movies.
“Bring your productions here to take advantage of our talent and locations.”
Economic Growth Minister says Budget 2025 will inject $577 million into film and television production over the next four years. (Source: 1News)
While Willis acknowledged that “industry incentives are not generally our favoured approach,” she said “the reality is we simply won’t get the offshore investment in our highly successful screen sector without continuing this scheme”.
The Government would also commit an extra $100 million to the ‘elevate NZ venture fund’, to support the growth of later-stage New Zealand startups, Willis said.
The fund has helped finance more than 120 growing startups, and has attracted about $600 million of private investment into the venture capital market.
More money on the rails
On Tuesday, Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Rail Minister Winston Peters announced $600 million in funding for improving rail reliability.
“The funding provides $461 million to maintain and renew the rail freight network, and $143.6 million to replace and upgrade the Auckland and Wellington metropolitan rail networks, and will deliver a more productive, efficient and reliable rail network that supports economic growth and productivity,” Peters said.
“This programme replaces decades’ old bridges, culverts, and other assets with infrastructure to last for generations to come, and provides the bedrock for growth by the commercially-funded freight operations to move our goods.”
Govt gears up to push social investment
A long-awaited social investment-oriented overhaul of the way the Government delivers social services is also part of this year’s announcements.
Willis allocated $275 million over four years to social investment spending, with a $190 million social investment fund as the centrepiece.
The plan is the centrepiece of a four-year, $275m plan the Finance Minister says is meant to fix how social services are delivered. (Source: 1News)
“The social investment fund is a rejection of the failed approaches of the past. It’s being set up as a totally new way of working,” she said earlier this month.
“Over the next year, the fund will invest in at least 20 initiatives, using a completely different contracting approach than that traditionally used by Government agencies.”
The Social Investment Agency has also been allocated $20 million for initiatives supporting parenting in the first 2000 days of a child’s life, and $25 million for initiatives to help prevent children and vulnerable adults from entering state care.
Other announcements
The Government committed $774 million in Budget 2025 to improve the redress system for survivors of abuse in state care and strengthen the care system, and $25 million for initiatives to help prevent children and vulnerable adults from entering state care.
Changes include increasing average redress payments for new claims from $19,180 to $30,000, providing “top-up” payments of 50% to survivors who have already settled claims, and building capacity to process more claims annually, among others.
“We know there is nothing we can do to take away the pain of survivors, but the Government has committed a significant investment to improve the redress system and strengthen the care system to prevent, identify and respond to abuse in the future,” said Stanford, who leads coordination for the Government’s response to the Royal Commission’s Report.
Meanwhile, Customs Minister Casey Costello has announced an additional $35 million over four years to strengthen border protection and prevent drug smuggling.
In a pre-Budget announcement Customs Minister Casey Costello said New Zealand was being increasingly targeted and there were growing challenges. (Source: 1News)
The funding will support up to 60 additional roles over the next four years in investigations, intelligence and border operations, focusing on targeting drug smuggling, improving supply chain security, and extending Customs’ presence overseas.
In Budget 2025, the Government also committed $1.5 million per year in new baseline funding for Māori Wardens, bringing total government funding to $2.7 million annually.
The extra funding was part of the National and New Zealand First coalition agreement.
