Budget 2024: The winners and losers

The coalition Government’s financial strategy for the year aims to rebuild the economy, ease the cost of living, deliver better health and education services, and restore law and order.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says this Budget lays the foundations for growth across Aotearoa.

Debate is underway depending on what side of the political spectrum you lean towards, but here are a few points PMN News found from the government's funding strategy for this year.

The winners

Relief package

- 1.9 million homes to benefit by an average of $30 a week. Households with children will receive $39/week.

- Minimum wage of $12.50/week. Superannuation contributors to get $4.50/week

- Independent Earner Tax Credit expansion with eligibility up from an income of $48,000-$70,000. Reductions from $ 66,000+ and not $44,000.

- From 31 July, the in-work tax credit increases to $25/week despite the 1 April National campaign promise.

- childcare payment of $150 a fortnight for low-and-middle-income households

Landlords

- $729 million to restore interest deducted for residential rental property

Health

- $16.7 billion over three years

- $3.44b over four years for Health NZ hospital and specialist services

- $2.12b over four years for primary, community, and public health

- $1.77b over four years to maintain Pharmac funding

- $1.1b over five years for the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha

Education

- $1.48b over four years for schools and kura kaupapa property

- $200m in grants for operating schools

Police

- $226.1m over four years for 500 more personnel

- $424.9m over four years for frontline policing

Local councils

- $1.195b over four years to expand the Waste Disposal Levy projects

Māori

- $12b over four years for Kōhanga Reo property maintenance

- $48.7m from 2025 over three years for Te Matatini Festival. This includes the $34m the national kapa haka competition received in Budget 2023 over two years

Roads

- $2.68b over four years for transport - two-thirds will be spent on roads

- $1b over four years to advance Roads of National Significance

- $939.3m over four years to roads damaged during North Island weather events.

Natural disaster response

- $939.3m over four years for road repairs due to Cyclone Gabrielle, Auckland floods, and other North Island weather events.

- $200m for flood infrastructure upgrades ($1.2b Regional Infrastructure Fund)

- $5m for the creation of the National Infrastructure Agency

- $106.9m over four years (operational funding) for GeoNet and National Seismic Hazard Model.

- $23.1m over four years for critical frontline rescue services

- $597m for the Climate Emergency Response Fund through the ETS.

The losers

Debt level

-$12b borrowing over four years increase from December's forecast

- Net debt peak forecast at 43.5 per cent GDP in 2025, to remain above 40 per cent ceiling over three years

Tax evaders

$147m to crack down on tax evasion

Pacific

- $25.6m savings from job cuts at the Ministry for Pacific Peoples

- Funding ceased for the Pacific Cooperation (Ministry for Foreign Affairs)

- $1m annual reduction to the Pacific Business Procurement Support Service (Ministry for Business, Innovation, and Employment)

Māori

- $35.5m saved from the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority

- $40m for Māori housing has been cut, returning uncontracted funding

- $20m for Rangatahi transitional housing returns to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. This funding was also uncontracted.

University

- $220m expected savings from switching fees-free from first-year to final-year students

- From 1 April 2025, interest rates for overseas student loan borrowers to increase from 3.9 per cent to 4.9 per cent

Gambling

- $47m from taxing online casino operators

NZ Film Commission, NZ Symphony Orchestra, Nga Taonga Sound and Vision

- $5.55m forecast in savings from these institutions over four years

Energy

- $38.27m will be saved over four years of scaled-down programmes including the Community Renewable Energy Fund.

- $178m savings over four years from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, discontinuing energy-efficiency measures, new Warmer Kiwi Homes subsidies for water heaters, LED lighting scheme, and community outreach for hard-to-reach households.

Wellington Science City

- Scrapped with $462.8m of savings forecast over four years.

Pharmac

- $70m a year over four years for 13 specific cancers although Willis confirmed to Parliament during her delivery that this wasn't possible this Budget. But she added that the government would continue to focus on future financial plans.