Salient’s Budget Breakdown (the bits that are actually relevant to you)

Words by The Salient News Team 

WTF is the budget?

Each year, the government drops a hefty document outlining how they plan to spend taxpayer money over the next 12 months. The budget is typically peppered with exciting initiatives to court voters’ attention, but this year, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins warned us that it would be a “no frills budget”. He really meant it. Budget ‘23 had less frills than a commerce student’s crusty jockeys. 

Transport:

One of the key announcements from the budget is the government's plan to permanently extend half price public transport to under-25-year-olds and make it completely free for children under age 13. Transport Minister Michael Wood said “half price fares for under 25s, as well as Community Service Card holders, will help over 1.6 million Kiwis save money, and make it easier for people to get to where they need to go.” But transport advocates are still disappointed, with free fares, saying that “there's more to be done” and calling on the government to make public transport completely free for tertiary students.   

Housing:

As per usual, funding for the development of affordable, healthy housing has received fuck-all. $71 billion has been allocated for the next five years for extremely vague “existing infrastructure projects”, and the government is releasing an Infrastructure Action Plan alongside the budget. There has been a reasonable amount allocated for public housing initiatives, with a combined total of $7.7b for “addressing cost pressures in the current public housing build programme”, as well as funds towards building 3000 new public housing builds by the end of 2025. 

Tertiary education:

Education was also a big winner in Budget ‘23, with a $521m funding boost over four years, as well as extending support to those on apprenticeships and targeted support for mātauranga and te reo Māori in tertiary education. The $521m funding increase is the largest increase in over 20 years and comes at a time where many universities, including VUW, are in a devastating financial pickle. Critics have pointed out that the 5% increase doesn't even match current inflation, which sits at 6.7%. Education Minister Jan Tinetti said it will “help tertiary institutions manage increases in delivery costs and maintain the quality and accessibility of tertiary education”.

Health:

Health has gotten a shit-ton of funding (spoiler alert: probs not enough to increase the wages of our nurses). $1.3b has been set aside for health capital investments which include renovations at Whangārei Hospital and for the Hillmorton mental health project. Dental needs grants will also increase from $300 to $1000. The government is continuing to throw money at the mental health crisis, with $100m allocated for mental health. A wellbeing initiative aimed at improving mental wellbeing in schools, Mana Ake, will be continued to be funded through receiving $90. The Piki programme, a Wellington-based free therapy service, will also be extended.

Te Matatini & Matariki:

Kapa Haka festival Te Matatini has received a significant funding boost in this budget, with their funding rising from just $2.9m previously to over $34m spread across two years. "Te Matatini is more than just an event that takes place every two years. It is a reason for Māori to connect to their culture and support their wellbeing—ā hinengaro, ā wairua, ā tinana,” Associate Minister for Arts, Culture, and Heritage, Willow-Jean Prime, said. Te Matatini Chief Executive Carl Ross said the festival was “absolutely over the moon” about the announcement. 

Continuing the focus on Māori cultural celebration, the budget also confirmed funding of $18m for Matariki celebrations, spread over four years. Both Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party were in support of the funding, with Te Pāti Māori arguing they had fought hard for the Te Matatini funding increase. However, they criticised the focus on events, whilst by Māori, for Māori policy remains underfunded. 

Gamers:

Nerds came out on top in this year's budget (unconfirmed if Chrissy is a bit of a gamer himself). The video game development industry received a 20% tax rebate to operate in Aotearoa, costing $160m to establish. Similar rebate or subsidy schemes already exist in seven Australian states. This reflects the existing changes in New Zealand’s economy and the government’s attempts to move away from primary industries into technology. Professor Matt Roskruge told ^RE: News^, “The primary sector got nothing [in this Budget] and that's probably realistically where a lot of … young people are going to and can be looking for really good work.”

Climate: 

After big climate spendings in the past three budgets, the 2023 Budget has been described as underwhelming by environment advocates. The climate wins: $120m over four years to build electric vehicle charging stations, $100m for councils to build flood resilience, $24.7m to improve data on the impacts of climate change, mitigation, and adaptation, and $167.4m to build resilience to future climate-influenced extreme weather events. 

Alongside this is $6 billion contributed to the National Resilience Plan, to help rebuild after Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Floods, and to prepare for future weather events. "What we [...] have not found is meaningful investment in nature-based solutions to climate impacts, and our biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture, has not yet been priced more than 30 years after New Zealand promised the world it would cut emissions," Forest and Bird chief executive, Nicola Tolski, told ^RNZ^. 

However, Professor Bronwyn Hayward—core writing team author for the IPCC—said the budget appeared “deceptively simple”, pointing to a “long-term shift in joined-up thinking” in climate policy. As well as highlighting the $1.9b pledged for climate resilience, Hayward points to investment in healthy homes, school lunches, and prescription charges that all contribute to building social infrastructure. "We need to join the dots when we talk about climate budgets and see how many of the wellbeing initiatives are also very real investments in climate resilient futures too.”