AM Edition: Here are the top 10 politics articles on LiveNews.co.nz for May 29, 2026 – Full Text
1. Budget 2026: Securing New Zealand’s Future
May 28, 2026
Source: New Zealand Government
Mr Speaker,
I move that the Appropriation (2026/27 Estimates) Bill be now read a second time.
E ngā iwi o Te Ūpoko o te Ika.
E te Māngai, ngā Mema Pāremata o ngā rohe pōti me ngā Mema o ngā Rōpū Tōrangapū.
E te motu whānui.
Nei rā te mihi.
Anei te Tahua Rua Mano Rua Tekau mā Ono.
Kia ora e te Iwi!
To the home tribes of Wellington.
To the Speaker, electorate and party list MPs.
To the whole country.
I salute you.
Here is Budget 2026.
Mr Speaker,
This is a responsible Budget.
The Government is responding to an increasingly uncertain world with an economic plan and sensible choices that will make New Zealanders more secure in the years ahead.
The documents I have tabled in Parliament today show that New Zealanders can look forward to growth, higher wages and rising employment.
They can look forward to better public infrastructure, expanded healthcare services, better schooling for their kids, and safer communities.
They can look forward to a much stronger set of Government books.
Despite the chaos in the Middle East, and challenging global events, the Government’s responsible approach means Treasury is now forecasting a return to surplus in 2028/29 – a year earlier than forecast in December. An earlier surplus means less debt and lower interest costs than would otherwise be the case.
The Government is tackling New Zealand’s major challenges, not with shallow quick fixes, but with a responsible and durable approach.
Today’s Budget marks further progress towards a more secure future.
I don’t expect New Zealanders to read every page of it.
What I really want Kiwis to know is that this Budget is about them.
It delivers on the Government’s belief that life can be better in this country, not just for the voters of today, but for their kids and grandkids too.
I think Mums and Dads across this Parliament, and across the country, want the same thing I do.
We want this to be a country our kids choose to live in when they grow up, because it’s a place where their achievements will be rewarded and where their dreams can be realised.
Yes, the world has thrown us some curveballs.
And I recognise that many Kiwis are doing it tough right now.
But New Zealanders listening today should have confidence.
They should have confidence that the Government is spending their money wisely, that it’s addressing the country’s big problems and that it’s making investments in the things that really matter.
That’s important not just for today but for what lies ahead.
The world is more volatile than ever.
The rules-based global system is under strain.
Countries are boosting their spending on defence.
Global competition for growth, jobs and investment is sharper than ever.
And conflict in the Middle East means Kiwi households and businesses are paying more for petrol and diesel.
What is more, we entered this period in a more fragile state than we would like.
New Zealanders have shown real grit to recover from an extended period of runaway price increases, high interest rates and the weaker economy that emerged as a result.
An economic recovery has been unfolding but scars run deep.
The Government is also carrying a significant burden of debt – more than twice as heavy as it was seven years ago, and with an annual interest bill of $9 billion.
New Zealand’s sovereign credit rating has a negative outlook from ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s, which is a warning that we must start bending the debt curve down.
New Zealand’s population is getting older, meaning the bill for delivering healthcare, New Zealand Superannuation and other public services is becoming heftier for workers to shoulder.
The annual cost of Superannuation is rising sharply, from less than $20 billion in 2023 to more than $30 billion by 2030. In the next year alone, the cost of Super will rise by around $1.8 billion.
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent.
Economic shocks, which have happened with some frequency over the past 20 years, will keep happening.
And this Government is having to play catch-up on much-needed policy reforms, from housing to energy to resource management.
There’s no hiding from these big issues.
Yet, in an election year, some will choose to ignore this context and instead suggest band-aids and sugar hits, all slapped on Afterpay.
Not only does that approach ignore the real challenges New Zealand faces, but in the absence of a magic money tree it’s our future selves who’d have to foot the bill, with interest.
This Government is taking a more responsible approach.
We are determined to deliver Kiwis real solutions that last, and to do so within very real financial constraints. Conflict in the Middle East has been a set-back but New Zealand can and will bounce back. That is reflected in Treasury’s forecasts.
This responsible Budget makes significant investments in health, education, law and order, and other frontline public services.
As a result, New Zealanders will experience more progress towards the Government’s targets, including reduced health waiting times, increases in educational achievement, reductions in violent crime, lower levels of welfare dependency, and a more capable defence force.
The Budget also provides $7 billion of new capital investment to help deliver the public infrastructure New Zealand needs.
Construction projects like Whangārei Hospital, 10 school redevelopments, the next stage of the Waikato Expressway, state highway resilience projects, new courthouses and new police stations will support more jobs for Kiwis, with the Infrastructure Commission estimating that every billion dollars of infrastructure funding supports about 4500 jobs.
What’s more, with careful spending choices and ongoing restraint, the Government is set to get the books back to surplus earlier than previously forecast and bend the debt curve down.
That is a responsible Budget.
Mr Speaker,
Let me turn to the economic and fiscal outlook.
A broadening export-led economic recovery was underway in New Zealand at the start of 2026, with employment and confidence increasing.
In late February, conflict in the Middle East shocked the global and domestic economy.
No one knows for sure how this conflict will unwind or how long its impacts will be felt.
In the midst of uncertainty, Treasury puts forward its best professional judgement.
Its central forecast assumes that the impact of the crisis will be temporary.
Over the next 12 months, it expects that fuel prices will contribute to higher inflation and lower real GDP growth than previously expected.
But inflation falls after the current quarter and economic growth picks up.
Annual average growth in the year to June 2026 is forecast to be 1.2 per cent, accelerating to 2.3 per cent by June 2027 and 3.2 per cent by June 2028.
That growth will be accompanied by new jobs and higher wages.
Over the next four years, Treasury is forecasting employment to grow by 220,000 and wage growth to average 3.1 per cent.
Over this period, core Crown tax revenue is expected to be more than $9 billion higher than was previously forecast.
That may seem surprising, given the fuel crisis, but a lot of factors feed into tax forecasts and over 90 per cent of the revisions to tax since the last update have nothing to do with the Middle East.
As a share of GDP, tax revenue rises over the forecast period, but core Crown expenses go the other way. They are initially steady, then fall to 30.3 per cent of GDP in 2029/30.
The Government’s long-term objective is to get core Crown expenses down to 30 per cent of GDP.
Reaching 30.3 per cent by the end of the forecast period therefore represents extremely good progress, reflecting the Government’s disciplined approach to spending.
That disciplined approach is demonstrated by the Budget 2026 operating package.
Last year, we set an operating allowance for this Budget of $2.4 billion per annum on average, which Treasury duly put in the forecasts.
In Budget 2026 we have spent less than this.
Yet again, this Government has come in under its allowance.
The actual net operating package in Budget 2026 is $2.1 billion.
The net package incorporates $3.8 billion of new spending a year, on average. And it includes $1.7 billion of savings and revenue, the main sources of which are:
- a fundamental overhaul of the public service
- the end of the final-year Fees Free scheme, and
- reduced Kāinga Ora construction costs which has resulted in $368 million of lower operating expenses.
Disciplined spending, and a forecast improvement in revenue, improves the track for the Government’s headline operating balance indicator – OBEGALx.
OBEGALx is now forecast to return to surplus in 2028/29 – a year earlier than previously expected.
Members, this will be the first time in a decade the books have been in the black.
At every update I am conscious that OBEGALx is the small difference between two very large numbers, and that small differences matter when the balance is close to zero.
Forecasts are not set in stone – they can move around, and it takes a lot of work to turn them into reality.
All that remains true, but it’s heartening to see for the first time that the surplus date is coming forward, not being pushed back.
The track for net core Crown debt has also improved.
Treasury’s forecasts show the debt curve bending down, and they show it bending a year earlier than previously expected.
Net core Crown debt is forecast to peak at 46.1 per cent of GDP in 2027/28, lower than at the Half Year Update, then decline to 44.4 per cent of GDP by the end of the forecast period.
This improvement in the books is reflected in the government’s borrowing programme.
New Zealand Debt Management has lowered its forecast issuance of government bonds by $6 billion over the next four years.
This is the first downward revision to the bond programme since 2021.
Mr Speaker,
The Budget 2026 operating package is frontloaded, which partly reflects the Government’s decision to provide temporary, timely and targeted funding to respond to the fuel crisis.
As previously announced, the Budget funds a temporary increase to the in-work tax credit of $50 a week, supporting up to 157,000 low-to-middle-income working families.
Government agencies that rely heavily on fuel to deliver frontline services, such as Police, Fire and Emergency, and Education, have also received additional funding to maintain their operations.
Funding has been set aside to help public transport authorities manage fuel cost pressures and keep services running.
The Minister of Health has announced a temporary 30 per cent increase in mileage rates for home and community support workers, and for people travelling for specialist treatment.
And $150 million has been set aside to increase New Zealand’s strategic fuel reserves.
Some of that will be used to fund the previously announced deal with Z Energy, lifting New Zealand’s diesel reserves by nine days.
While precise numbers are commercially sensitive, I can assure you that even accounting for this deal, the $150 million fund still has room for future increases in strategic fuel reserves, if needed.
The Government has also set aside funding of $450 million in a time-limited contingency in case further fuel-related support is required.
We join all Kiwis in the hope that fuel prices and supply pressures won’t increase further.
However, it is prudent to be ready for a scenario in which fuel prices could spike or stay higher for longer.
So this is a reserve, much like some households have an emergency savings account. You hope you don’t have to dip into it, but if you do, it’s there.
It is also funded from the operating package, which means if we do have to use it, it won’t add to forecast debt.
Mr Speaker,
Boosting New Zealand’s security and resilience are major themes in this year’s Budget.
New Zealand faces the most adverse and contested geostrategic environment in the past 80 years.
While we cannot control the actions of other countries, we can ensure we have the capability to defend and advance New Zealand’s interests.
Last year’s Budget funded the first year of the Defence Capability Plan, including a capital pre-commitment of $1.6 billion.
Budget 2026 funds the second year of the Plan, which includes extending the operational life of the Anzac-class frigates and HMNZS Canterbury, acquiring new drones, building modern housing on military bases, and delivering a new training facility at Linton.
It provides funding to increase Defence Force numbers in key occupations and retain existing staff.
And it provides a $156 million uplift for our intelligence and security services.
Budget 2026 also boosts New Zealand’s aid programme, providing $110 million to increase development and humanitarian assistance in the Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions.
And it provides $145 million to ensure a resilient, safe and secure offshore diplomatic network.
Mr Speaker,
New Zealand is subject to severe and unpredictable weather events, alongside other natural hazards.
Budget 2026 invests in stronger infrastructure, smarter emergency management systems and better information about natural hazard risks.
It sets aside $400 million of capital for state highway resilience projects in regions whose roads are too often closed after major weather events.
The Government is making the choice to strengthen roads before they fail, rather than repeatedly paying to rebuild them afterwards.
The projects include resilience improvements on SH2 through the Waioweka Gorge, SH3 through the Awakino Gorge, SH25 around the Coromandel, SH60 over Takaka Hill, SH6 between Cromwell and Kingston and between Haast and Hawea, and SH94 between Milford and Te Anau.
The Budget also provides a capital contribution of $1.8 billion for a new Road of National Significance, the Cambridge to Piarere Expressway.
This critical freight and economic link will extend the Waikato Expressway from Cambridge to the turnoff to Tauranga.
The Budget also puts aside just over $1 billion for KiwiRail’s network improvement programme, alongside $107 million to continue the renewal of critical metropolitan rail infrastructure.
The Government is getting better hazard information across the country, including the first New Zealand Flood Map to help councils, communities, infrastructure providers and property owners make smarter long-term decisions.
The Budget also provides funding to help develop more cost-effective ways for the Crown to manage its infrastructure risks and reduce costs to taxpayers.
And the Government has allocated new funding to modernise emergency management systems so that when disasters strike emergency services can respond faster and co-ordinate more effectively.
Mr Speaker,
Reliable and affordable energy underpins a growing economy.
Budget 2026 includes a gas transition loan scheme to help businesses transition from New Zealand’s shrinking reserves of natural gas.
It also provides capital funding for the purchase of around $200 million of new shares as part of Genesis Energy’s $400 million capital raise announced in February.
Genesis will use the additional capital to bring more flexible capacity to the electricity market to address the risk of insufficient electricity supply in years when the hydro-lakes run low.
This investment will directly contribute to enhancing New Zealand’s energy security.
Mr Speaker,
Perhaps the most important source of resilience for every Kiwi is their physical and mental health.
The single biggest item in the Budget is support for frontline health services.
Next year, government spending on the health system is expected to total $34 billion, or $17,000 for every New Zealand household.
Additional funding of $5.5 billion from Budget 2026 will help the public health system address frontline pressures and deliver more services, including responding to more emergency department events, increasing specialist assessments, boosting elective surgery, and increasing cancer treatments and GP visits.
Targeted health initiatives include a nationally coordinated specialist paediatric palliative care service, a boost for ambulance services, more funding for forensic mental health services and an ongoing funding increase for Pharmac.
The starting age for free bowel screening will be lowered from 58 to 56, and mothers will be given the choice of longer postnatal stays.
The Health Digital Investment Plan will receive $300 million for priority projects including strengthening cyber security across New Zealand’s health system.
Budget 2026 also commits $682 million of capital funding for investments in health infrastructure, including the delivery of a new 158-bed ward tower at Whangārei Hospital and the next stage of redevelopment work at hospitals in Tauranga, Hawke’s Bay and Palmerston North.
It funds the purchase of land for a future new hospital south of Auckland, the establishment cost of the new medical school at the University of Waikato and the redevelopment of the Mason Clinic.
Mr Speaker,
The Budget continues this Government’s efforts to boost educational achievement.
This is good for young people, who will have better opportunities, and it’s good for the economy as a more educated workforce will boost productivity.
Budget 2026 provides a $1.6 billion boost in operating funding for schooling and early childhood education.
Schools will receive increases to their operational grants, alongside funding to cover increased employer contributions to KiwiSaver.
And early childhood education services will receive a boost to their funding rates.
Targeted new investments include measures to strengthen teaching and learning to raise student performance in reading, writing and maths, and funding to roll out a refreshed secondary curriculum and new national qualifications.
We’re leaving NCEA behind us.
The Healthy School Lunch Programme will continue to offer affordable, nutritious meals to students in 2027, while ongoing work continues to explore future innovations to the programme.
Budget 2026 also allocates $470 million of capital funding to redevelop up to 10 schools, deliver up to 232 additional classrooms and purchase land for new school sites in high-growth areas such as Queenstown.
This Budget ends the failed Fees Free scheme for students in tertiary education.
Fees Free did not increase enrolments or completion rates, especially for those from low-income backgrounds.
The money from Fees Free will now be put to better use delivering frontline public services, including to better prepare young people for trades and other vocational education.
I want to acknowledge New Zealand First, and Minister Jones in particular, for proposing and championing this policy.
The Government will double the number of Trades Academy places, from 10,000 to 20,000, for year 11 to 13 school students.
And it will provide 1,000 more Youth Guarantee places that provide wraparound support and training for school leavers with no or low qualifications.
Mr Speaker,
The law and order package in this year’s Budget provides a $1.1 billion uplift in operating funding for Corrections, Customs, Police and the Ministry of Justice to maintain essential frontline services that keep communities safe.
This includes funding of $477 million for Corrections to manage an increasing number of prisoners, a $50 million funding boost for frontline policing, and investment to replace Police’s end-of-life Automated Biometric Identification System.
To advance the Government’s firearms reforms, the Budget provides funding to establish a new independent firearms regulator – Firearms Safety and Education New Zealand.
Budget 2026 provides capital funding of $100 million towards the construction of a new High Court, District Court and Māori Land Court in Rotorua. And it funds badly needed new Police stations in in Greymouth and Whanganui.
Customs also receives new funding to disrupt transnational, serious and organised crime groups and to combat drug smuggling.
Mr Speaker,
The Government has a Going for Housing Growth programme to increase the supply of housing and make it more affordable.
The Treasury’s latest assessment is that that there will be a relative improvement in the affordability of new dwellings. House prices are now forecast to grow more moderately, rents have stabilised and first-home buyers now make up a much larger share of the market.
The Budget drives forward the next stages of Going for Housing Growth.
The first pillar of this programme is freeing up land for urban development and removing unnecessary planning barriers through major reform of the Resource Management Act and changes to national direction.
Budget 2026 provides $294 million of funding to begin rolling out this new system.
This includes a new, centrally managed platform for planning, consenting and compliance, so things aren’t still done 78 different ways across 78 different councils.
The second pillar of our housing reforms is improving infrastructure funding and financing tools so councils and developers can better fund the pipes, roads and other infrastructure needs to support growth.
The Budget supports this with $30 million of funding for the regulatory oversight of development levies charged by territorial authorities and water organisations.
The third pillar is directly improving the incentives for councils to support housing growth by ensuring they share in the economic upside that growth creates.
The Budget allocates $400 million to achieve this, by establishing a direct funding stream linked to housing growth.
This was a commitment in the National–ACT coalition commitment and has been championed by Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour.
The Budget progresses reforms to improve the fairness of housing support for low-income tenants.
Right now, people in similar circumstances, but living in different houses, can receive very different levels of financial support and security of tenure.
Budget 2026 includes a package that reduces, but by no means eliminates, this wide gap in support.
It increases the amount social housing tenants pay towards their rent from 25 to 30 per cent of their income.
And it increases maximum Accommodation Supplement rates across the country, so lower-income private renters get more help.
This package is broadly fiscally neutral – it is about re-balancing support, not reducing it.
At the same time, the Government is providing funding to support the delivery of between 1,800 and 2,250 social houses over three years, with a $69 million boost to the Flexible Housing Fund.
The Budget also continues efforts to reduce dependency on emergency housing, with $22 million invested to reduce reoccurring emerging housing needs.
This initiative will more than pay for itself through savings in otherwise costly motel bills.
Mr Speaker,
The Budget boosts funding to support New Zealanders in need.
Budget forecasts show several thousand fewer New Zealanders on Jobseeker Support and Sole Parent Support benefits in the coming years.
That is part of a deliberate effort by this Government.
Budget 2026 includes funding of $93 million for additional case management and assistance to support sole parents into work.
That is the upfront cost, but the initiative is expected to deliver net savings of $97 million as more sole parents move from receiving a benefit to having a job.
The Government is also reducing the maximum rate of Temporary Additional Support payments, generating $196 million of savings.
This is to better reflect its original purpose as temporary hardship support, paid as a last resort, and not a long-term top-up to beneficiaries’ incomes.
The Budget provides ongoing funding for the Food Secure Communities programme and the KickStart Breakfast programme.
And it delivers a step-up in investment to better protect children at risk of harm.
In 2022, Dame Karen Poutasi issued a compelling report with a series of recommendations to the Government on steps it should take to ensure strong and effective safety nets that prevent the abuse of children.
Our Government has picked up each and every one of Dame Karen’s recommendations, and this year’s Budget invests $77 million to help make the changes needed.
Alongside this, Oranga Tamariki will receive a $184 million funding uplift so it can better respond to reports of suspected harm and increase its support for children with high and complex needs.
Finally, Budget 2026 provides funding of $36 million to introduce a version of the SuperGold Card that can be used as an accepted form of primary identification.
This will help seniors access services that require identification, when they may not have a driver’s license or passport.
Mr Speaker,
Over the last year, Inland Revenue has consulted widely on the taxation of charities and not-for-profits, fringe benefit tax, and loans made by companies to their shareholders.
The Government has made decisions in each of these areas.
We will ensure that membership subscriptions and levies received by not-for-profits remain non-taxable.
We will increase the amount of net income a not-for-profit organisation can earn without having to pay tax from $1,000 to $10,000.
And we will ensure the donation tax credit scheme remains financially sustainable, and limits tax planning risks, by capping eligible donations at $100,000 a year.
On fringe benefit tax, the Government is simplifying the rules for private motor vehicle use.
There will no longer be a requirement for detailed logbooks. Instead, a “close enough is good enough” approach will significantly reduce compliance costs for businesses.
Another change will ensure that six months after a company has been removed from the Companies Register, any outstanding loans it previously made to its shareholders will be taxed as income.
Finally, the Government is introducing a new prudential levy on banks, non-bank deposit takers, insurers and some other financial institutions, to cover the costs of prudential regulation and supervision.
Such a levy is consistent with other jurisdictions such as Australia and the United Kingdom, and with levies imposed by other New Zealand financial regulators.
It is expected to recover revenue of $209 million over the forecast period.
Mr Speaker,
While I have the pleasure of delivering this speech, the Budget is a team effort.
It reflects the efforts, late nights, and extraordinary skills of talented New Zealanders in the public service and in Ministerial offices.
And it demonstrates strong, stable government.
The Budget Ministers team includes Associate Finance Ministers David Seymour, Shane Jones and Chris Bishop.
Each represents a different political party but each came to this Budget with a focus on responsible management of the Government’s finances.
Together we have worked through the difficult choices and trade-offs that a Budget entails.
Where we have disagreed, we have done so agreeably and with respect.
No matter the challenge, we’ve always found a way through. The ultimate result is a Budget we can all be proud of.
I also want to thank the Prime Minister for his consistent support and wise counsel, and for his enduring belief in the potential of this great country.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the support of my own family who are watching from the gallery today – my Mum and Dad, my brother and sister, their spouses, my husband and our four children.
James, Harriet, Reuben and Gloria – I know I’m not home enough. I work hard and I hope to make you proud.
Mr Speaker,
New Zealand has a great future ahead of it.
The Government’s disciplined management means Kiwis can look forward to a growing economy, effective frontline public services and increased investment in the things that matter.
We can have all of that and a strong set of books too.
Thanks to our care with public money, the Government’s books will return to surplus a year earlier than previously expected.
But none of this can be taken for granted.
Delivering these results requires New Zealand to stay the course.
Now is not the time for promises of reckless spending and big new taxes.
This Budget shows that the Government’s programme over the last two-and-a-half years is making a difference.
We are securing the future.
And Kiwis can look forward with confidence.
Mr Speaker,
I commend this Budget to the House.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/budget-2026-securing-new-zealands-future/
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2. Incentivising councils to go for housing growth
May 28, 2026
Source: New Zealand Government
The Government is making a major investment to back councils that support housing growth, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour, Housing and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop, and Local Government Minister Simon Watts say.
“The Incentives for Growth Fund provides both an incentive for councils to enable housing growth, and a means of covering some of the costs that fall on them as a result. It transforms development from being a source of cost to a source of revenue. This is part of the ACT-National Coalition Agreement,” Mr Seymour says.
“Currently, local councils face poor incentives to enable growth. New housing developments can involve costs to existing ratepayers to provide the new infrastructure and services needed before houses can start construction. These costs act as a disincentive for councils to approve new houses and subdivisions.
“The only time you get prompt service from a council is when they’re issuing a parking ticket. They’ll come to you, anywhere, anytime, because there’s money in it. Imagine how many consents they’d issue if there was money in it for them?
“Budget 2026 allocates $400 million over four years through a tagged contingency for the new Incentives for Growth Fund.
“Councils will receive payments based on a proportion of the national average new dwelling consent value. That funding will help councils invest in the roads, services and local infrastructure needed to support growing communities.
“To incentivise councils to go for growth, payments under the fund will be higher for councils that enable higher rates of growth.”
Under the Incentives for Growth Fund, councils will be paid more per home as they consent more homes:
For each new home consented up to an equivalent of one per cent of their existing dwellings, councils will receive a payment of 0.25 per cent of the national average consent value.
For consents between one and two percent of existing dwellings, councils will receive a higher payment of 0.5 per cent of the national average consent value.
Beyond two per cent of existing dwellings, each new consent will generate a payment of 1.25 per cent of the national average consent value.
Mr Bishop says the Incentives for Growth Fund delivers the third pillar of the Government’s Going for Housing Growth programme, with payments commencing from 1 April 2027 for consents granted in the year to January 31 2027.
“New Zealand’s housing crisis didn’t happen by accident. For decades we’ve had a planning and infrastructure funding system that made it too hard to build the homes New Zealanders need.
“That’s why the Government is committed to Going for Housing Growth, a comprehensive programme of reform to free up land for housing, improve infrastructure funding and financing tools, and provide councils with stronger incentives to support growth. The three pillars of the programme are:
freeing up land for urban development and removing unnecessary planning barriers through major reform of the Resource Management Act and changes to national direction.
improving infrastructure funding and financing tools so councils and developers can better fund the pipes, roads and other infrastructure needed to support growth. We have legislation before Parliament to do exactly that.
directly improving the incentives for councils to support housing growth by ensuring they share in the economic upside that growth creates.
“For too long, growth has been seen by councils as a cost to manage rather than an opportunity to embrace. We’re changing that.
“If councils enable more homes, they’ll receive additional funding to help deliver the infrastructure and local amenities their communities need. That’s good for councils, good for communities, and good for New Zealanders struggling to find a home.”
Mr Watts says the Government expects councils to focus strongly on value for money while also recognising the financial pressures growth can create.
“This Government has high expectations of local government. We expect councils to do more with less, focus on the basics, and deliver better value for ratepayers.
“But we also recognise that enabling housing growth creates real fiscal challenges for councils. Infrastructure like local roads, parks and community facilities often need to be built years before new residents move in and start contributing rates revenue.
“The Incentives for Growth Fund will help councils manage those pressures by providing a direct funding stream linked to housing growth.
“It means communities that are doing the heavy lifting to support New Zealand’s growth will receive additional support to help pay for the infrastructure and services that growing populations require.
“This is about creating a more balanced system where councils and communities see the benefits of growth, not just the costs.”
Note to editors:
Councils will be able to use funding for infrastructure-related capital and operating expenditure, but not for water infrastructure or costs chargeable to developers via development contributions or levies.
This recognises that Local Water Done Well is creating a new operating environment including multiply owned, financially independent water services providers, and Pillar 2 of Going for Housing Growth is improving infrastructure funding and financing, ensuring growth can pay for growth.
Councils will be required to report annually on how they have used funding, to demonstrate to communities that they are addressing growth impacts.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/incentivising-councils-to-go-for-housing-growth/
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3. Rail infrastructure fully funded
May 28, 2026
Source: New Zealand Government
The Government has committed up to $1.075 billion to KiwiRail’s planned network investments between 2027-2030, alongside $106.9 million to continue critical metropolitan rail infrastructure renewals, Rail Minister Winston Peters and Transport Minister Chris Bishop announced today.
“New Zealanders invested sweat, blood and tears to build their national rail network, but previous Governments let it rot,” Winston Peters says.
“We are putting New Zealanders’ rail assets to work once again.
“Rail infrastructure is funded like the State Highway network thanks to our law reforms when last responsible for Rail, and this is the first time a government has fully funded a three-year programme up front to put rail on the same sure footing as many other infrastructure categories.
“Rail freight covers its own costs by competing commercially and we are now seeing rail freight volumes, revenues, profits and reliability improve after a concerted effort to deliver a strategy that makes best use of national rail assets.
“KiwiRail can now use this funding allocation in Budget 2026, combined with the approximately $60 million its freight customers contribute to Track User Charges, to prepare the 2027-2030 Rail Network Investment Programme for approval by the Government.
“Rail infrastructure investment already sees 66 cents in every dollar going to maintenance and renewals, well above the 60 cent benchmark the Infrastructure Commission recommends and we expect this will increase over time, ensuring a great network condition for families and freighters.
“The Government expects value for money and cost efficiency from KiwiRail having enabled the procurement of modern plant and equipment to underpin faster and simpler rail network operations,” Winston Peters says.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop says the $106.9 million to continue critical renewals on the Auckland and Wellington metropolitan rail networks will help improve their reliability and resilience.
“Thousands of people rely on trains every day to get to work, school, appointments and events. They deserve services that are reliable, resilient, and able to keep pace with growth in our biggest cities,” Chris Bishop says.
“Auckland and Wellington have suffered from historic under-investment in their metro rail networks.
“This Government’s funding builds on investment into metropolitan rail renewals in Budgets 2024 and 2025. It will help continue to address the backlog of overdue renewals, including replacing and upgrading core rail assets like track, sleepers and ballast, as well as slope remediation and formation works.
“These basic, essential projects are not glamorous but they are exactly what is needed to improve the performance of the network and give passengers a better service.
“Reliable metro rail matters. When trains run well, more people have a real choice about how they travel, pressure comes off busy urban roads, and transport networks work more efficiently.
“With the need for fiscal responsibility, the Government is focused on getting better value from every transport dollar. That means maintaining transport assets properly and ensuring we have efficient transport networks on which New Zealanders can rely.”
Notes to editors:
Rail Network Investment Programme
- The Rail Network Investment Programme is a statutory three-year investment programme that sets out how rail infrastructure will be funded, maintained, renewed, managed and improved. It is prepared by KiwiRail and approved by the Minister of Transport in consultation with the Minister for Rail and Minister of Finance.
Metropolitan rail investment
- This investment continues to address the backlog of overdue renewals on the Auckland and Wellington metropolitan rail networks. This long-term programme (which has been running for two years so far) will improve service reliability, and network performance.
- The types of works and resources it will fund include purchase and installation of rail products (such as rail, sleepers and ballast), slope remediation, and formation works.
Hillside
Budget 2026 returns $7 million in unspent funds from the Hillside Workshop programme, reflecting improved wagon assembly efficiency. The funding was part of a wider redevelopment of the old Hillside Workshops to rebuild the precinct and build up to 1,500 wagons. The final assembly will see 1,350 wagons assembled, reflecting demand modelling and following 1,304 wagons procured prior to the assembly programme.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/rail-infrastructure-fully-funded/
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4. Chlöe Swarbrick Budget speech 2026
May 28, 2026
Source: Green Party
Mr Speaker, the Greens want every New Zealander to feel proud of our country.
Not just for our history; for granting women the vote, standing against the United States for a nuclear free Pacific and splitting the atom.
We want New Zealanders to feel proud of the country they live in today.
We want New Zealanders to be able to swim in their rivers.
To be able to grow food in healthy soil.
To catch abundant fish from the ocean to feed their families.
To be able to afford their groceries.
To be housed. To heat their homes.
To have the right to a good education and secure job.
To innovate. To create. To have fun.
We want New Zealanders to be happy, healthy and safe. Unified.
But this Government is telling us “computer says no”.
Today, they have released a Budget that tells us that they have no hope, no plan, no ambition and no vision for our country.
Unless, of course, that hope, plan, ambition and vision is just what we see here: allowing corporations to profit handsomely off the misery of regular New Zealanders. Subsidising and supporting the very fossil fuels that Treasury’s BEFU tells us are the major vulnerability in our economy.
This isn’t a cost-of-living crisis. It is a cost of greed crisis.
Christopher Luxon, Nicola Willis, aren’t you sick of pretending?
Pretending that there is no money?
‘Cause the National Party can find money when it wants to.
And I’m not just talking about their rich-lister donations.
In the past two years, they’ve found billions in their budgets in tax cuts for landlords, tobacco companies and the wealthy and sorted.
There’s been billions for fossil fuel production.
Billions and billions to meet Trump’s request to spend up large on new military equipment.
So they’ve taken billions and billions from the poorest New Zealanders, cutting access for the homeless to emergency housing and cutting access to benefits while thousands of New Zealanders are being pushed out of their jobs by this same Government to the highest number since 1994 – the year that I was born.
And the books today show us that unemployment will in fact be higher in the next few years as a result of the decisions that this Government was just clapping for than were forecast in December. That means another 6,500 New Zealanders will lose their jobs thanks to the decisions of Christopher Luxon.
These books also show us that Christopher Luxon’s ‘responsible fiscal management’ has resulted in further downward revisions of GDP growth forecasts. Treasury today has also warned that his obsession with fossil fuels will raise costs for households and businesses, which can slow spending, investment, and the very growth that they love to grow about, ultimately reshaping the economy’s structure, and lowering our output and economic performance.
It’s dressed up in a heck of a lot of fancy language, but today the Government is effectively choosing where our collective resources go, and who gets to be in charge. Who really gets to make decisions.
And this week, Christopher Luxon has shown us – albeit kicking and screaming – into broad daylight, who he sees as his job to serve.
We have seen laws stripping people’s right to hold big polluters accountable, originally drafted by the country’s largest climate polluters – Fonterra and Z Energy – were introduced by this Government with glee.
The Greens have exposed that the Government is taking on one and a half billion dollars more in debt to try and quietly cover the tracks of their failed climate policies.
This is why it’s so important to understand that every time this Government makes decisions to push more of our country’s wealth up to those at the top, they are also damaging our democracy.
Fewer and fewer people get more and more money and more and more influence, while more and more people are left with scraps they’re told to fight over – and told, don’t look up.
Let’s run through some important facts.
Because despite this Government’s best efforts to starve our economy, New Zealanders are slugging away and working hard, and we’ve been lucky with global commodity prices, so our economy is growing in size.
But more and more people are getting poorer and poorer.
And the Government is cutting away investment in our basic, collectively owned and operated public services.
So: our economy is growing, but regular people are getting poorer, and our Government is shrinking, while taking on more debt.
So, where is New Zealanders’ money going?
Well, last year, the 100 odd households on the NBR’s rich list increased their wealth by almost 8 billion dollars. In just one year.
Supermarkets are making $1m a day in excess profit. Power companies’ net profits were $557 million in the second half of last year. Banks raked in profits of almost $7b in 2025. That’s $1,248 in profit for Australian banks for every single New Zealander.
Our economy is worth $445 billion dollars. It’s bigger than it’s ever been.
But our hospitals and schools and our nurses and our doctors and our teachers who staff them are struggling. Our firefighters are striking twice a week because the fire trucks meant to save lives are falling apart.
Our public services don’t fail overnight. When we don’t invest properly in them, those services get slower, more stretched and further away for every year that passes.
There is a word for that. Austerity. It’s how you break a country in slow motion.
Luxon’s Government has boasted about new money for health and education. But once you count inflation, a growing and ageing population, and what it really costs to deliver these things, much of that ‘record investment’ is a cut in everything but name.
This Government will do anything in order to avoid taxing the mega-rich.
They’ll take school kids’ lunch money. They’ve made real terms cuts to our schools and our early childhood education – meaning higher fees for parents. They’ve cut $300,000 from programmes that help New Zealanders with energy hardship, when record numbers are struggling to pay their power bill. They’ve raided millions of dollars from food banks, and taken away almost $700m from public housing tenants.
I guess just some of us are entitled to our entitlements.
Their decisions will close down sexual violence prevention services.
Christopher Luxon promises growth means more money in our economy. And he is right about that.
What he’s not being straight up about is how he knows that growth is not shared.
He knows that under his economic rules, that wealth goes straight to the top.
But maybe I’m being too generous.
Maybe he truly still believes in trickle down economics, like some believe in the tooth fairy.
Maybe he believes his own shtick about ‘hard choices’ as he entrenches an economy that’s been designated as a speculator’s tax haven by Australians.
The same Australians from the same Australia where higher tax rates on those who can afford to pay mean there’s more Government revenue to invest in better public services and infrastructure. The same Australia that this Government is sending so many of our best and brightest to, because under this Government, New Zealanders are having a really hard time imagining a better tomorrow here at home.
I know politics is hard. I know that changing your mind and doing something differently in this environment opens you up to all kinds of attacks that you’re u-turning, or backtracking, or whatever we want to call it.
But I would like to think, if I was privileged enough to be sitting in those seats over there making the decisions about where our country’s collective resources are used, if I had spent two years making decisions that were hurting regular people, I would like to think that I would pause and re-evaluate.
That I would listen. To the chanting of our emergency service workers on strike for the longest industrial action in a generation. To the cries of babies this Government knows are being born into unnecessary, entirely preventable poverty. To the New Zealanders down at the RSA who just want some leaders with a spine.
Instead, this Government ploughs ahead with their economic doom loop.
They’ve decided to mercilessly cut back on spending without any idea of how the market they worship would fill the gap. That shocked business confidence they said they cared about and private sector investment also contracted by 2%.
They cancelled thousands of new state house builds, and hundreds of infrastructure projects, which meant the loss of 15,000 construction sector jobs.
Each job lost isn’t just devastating for that person or just for their family. It’s devastating to their local community, and their local economy, and the small businesses where they bought a morning coffee, or went on a date, or did their home renos through.
And what’s the Government’s response to the doom loop of their own creation?
It’s not to stop and think, maybe this thing isn’t working.
Because maybe, instead of a plan, they’re running on instinct. A well-documented, well-exercised National Party instinct to hand over our collective wealth and control to a few people at the top.
Former National Governments sold off state housing, which now means we hand out billions to line the pockets of private landlords.
Former National Governments sold off our state-owned power companies, despite an overwhelming referendum in opposition, and now we all pay for an energy system driven by profit at the expense of innovation and renewable generation.
Former National Governments shut down and amalgamated Ministries and Departments, closing factories and putting a wrecking ball through the regions.
This National Government is no different.
New Zealanders deserve so much better.
And the Greens have consistently shown that better is possible.
If we dared to tax multi-multi-millionaires and billionaires so they contributed fairly to the country that helped them build that wealth, we wouldn’t have to rely on charity to get new ambulances on the road.
We could use this big old economy democratically, to achieve the things that no one of us could achieve alone. Very few people have the individual wealth to build a hospital or refurbish old classrooms, but together, we have more wealth than we’ve ever had.
We can create jobs. We can build the things we need. We can protect the natural environment we rely on for life on earth as we know it. Or are we going to keep pretending that megalomaniac billionaires are going to solve our problems?
I actually agreed with the Prime Minister when two months ago, as the fossil fuel crisis was just hitting, he boldly said that hope is not a plan.
However, at exactly that same time, his Minister of Energy was quietly cancelling the long-awaited Energy Plan.
The fossil fuel crisis has put a spotlight on the ticking time bomb sitting at the centre of our economy.
And while Luxon’s Government seems intent on finding new ways to lace this timebomb into the fabric of everything we do. The Government hopes and prays for new fossil fuel shipments, and every time one is confirmed, they hope to restart the countdown timer.
But if the counter gets to zero, our entire country, our entire economy, grinds to a halt.
It’s not sensible to spend all of our resources fixated on feeding the beast in hopes to just reset the clock.
We need to defuse the time bomb.
The next step is rewiring our economy and country around something that will not blow up in our faces.
We don’t get affordable, secure energy from expensive fuels that need to be hauled in from the other side of the planet.
We get it when we tap into the abundant water, wind and sun and the geothermal activity beneath our feet. We get it when we electrify everything.
That’s what it means to build resilience.
It’s what it means to insulate ourselves against imported inflation.
It’s what it means to build our country.
But it’s not just nation building. It’s common sense.
It’s taking control over the things that we have control over.
But this Government is giving up control.
Not to regular New Zealanders –
But to corporations, off-shore shareholders and the fewer and fewer people who are getting more and more of our resources.
Funnily enough, if our country were actually the business Christopher Luxon seems to think it is, it would also be a failing business.
In business, you don’t succeed by firing all of your staff, cutting off your sources of revenue and then begging rich out-of-towners to maybe pop over because they can avoid paying tax, closing your eyes to the crumbling infrastructure.
If things aren’t going right, you get a new business plan. You find a new strategy.
But a country is not a company, and a Prime Minister is not a CEO.
Prime Minister, I’ve spent two years inviting you to come and walk the streets of Auckland Central, to meet the people, including the children, who your policies have made homeless.
I invite you to go and stand in the middle of Bendigo in Central Otago, and tell New Zealanders with a straight face that you want to poison the local waterways and churn our pristine biodiversity into a mine to make a quick buck for an Australian mining company.
I invite you to come sit with me with regular people at Mt Smart during a Warriors game, to meet the couple from Hamilton who sit next to me, who drive up every other week for the game, who tell me your Government has been a wrecking ball for small business because you’ve sucked all of the money out of customers’ pockets.
Prime Minister, I invite you to go outside.
To touch grass.
To breathe the air.
To look at New Zealanders you’re supposed to serve in the eye.
Those things are real. Those things matter.
And when your made-up economic rulebook is destroying those very real things, those silly rules have got to change.
Mr Speaker, here’s the hardest truth. And it’s not for the theatre that is this place. It’s for the New Zealanders beyond these walls.
No one is coming to save us.
New Zealanders are going to have to do this ourselves.
And on November 7th, New Zealanders can resign this Government to the history books.
But we are not going to spontaneously end up with a government that is willing to take on the well-resourced lobbyists in the country, and to work actively in the interests of regular people.
So we are going to need a new kind of coalition.
I’m not talking about the boring, circular talk-back talk of which politician will negotiate with which.
I’m talking about New Zealanders coming together with a common, intentional idea of who we are as a country, and where all of us want to go.
Because when everything feels complicated and chaotic, I believe we can agree on some basic things.
Every New Zealander is entitled to a safe home. A good education. Affordable food. A secure job. Reliable transport. Renewable energy.
These are the non-negotiables that every New Zealander is entitled to. And they can be the building blocks to help us rebuild our country for all of us.
These are the things that we should fight for not just for ourselves, not just for the people we know and love, but even for the people we don’t know, and even the people we don’t like.
To anyone and everyone listening, I’m asking you not just to believe in the Greens. I’m asking New Zealanders to believe in themselves, to believe in each other, and to believe in the country we can build if we are willing to work together to make it a reality.
And I’m asking NZers not just to believe. I’m asking you to act.
Because if New Zealanders are feeling powerless right now, it’s kind of by intent. That is exactly the strategy and the plan of this Government. To have regular people switch off so that power and wealth get concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. But I promise New Zealanders, they will find their power when they go out there and they talk to other New Zealanders about these basic things we have in common that we are willing to fight for, for each other.
New Zealanders can do more than vote this election. They can join the campaign to rebuild this country.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/chloe-swarbrick-budget-speech-2026/
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5. Budget 2026 – Prostate Cancer Foundation disappointed by continued failure to fund screening pilot
May 28, 2026
The Prostate Cancer Foundation says the Government’s failure to provide funding in Budget 2026 for a prostate cancer screening pilot is another missed opportunity to save Kiwi men’s lives.
Foundation President Danny Bedingfield said the organisation was disappointed that a relatively modest investment had again been overlooked despite years of advocacy and strong support from clinicians and health experts.
“We have now been talking to successive governments for more than three years about funding two regional pilots for the early detection screening of prostate cancer at an approximate cost of only $6.4 million over four years,” Mr Bedingfield said.
“In the context of a multi-billion-dollar health budget, this is a drop in the bucket for the Government, but a kick in the guts for Kiwi men and their families.
“And it goes against what ordinary Kiwis want. Independent polling of 1,000 eligible voters found that 84% of New Zealanders support the development of a prostate cancer screening programme. This strong level of support cuts across gender, age, region, and political affiliation.
“The Government continues to say it is committed to improving cancer outcomes, yet once again prostate cancer has been left behind. Everyone acknowledges that the earlier cancer is detected, the better the clinical outcomes and the better the survival rates.”
Mr Bedingfield said the Foundation was struggling to understand why prostate cancer screening continued to face delays when more than 4,000 New Zealand men are diagnosed with the disease every year and more than 700 die from it annually.
“These are fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, workmates and friends. Their lives matter, he says. “We have two simple questions for the Government — why does cancer specific to men continue to be overlooked, and what exactly is the barrier to finally getting a prostate cancer screening pilot underway?”
Mr Bedingfield said the case for action was overwhelming. “The clinical support is there, the need is there, and the cost is modest. What appears to be missing is the political will to act.
“If funding a pilot programme is considered a bridge too far for Health Minister Simeon Brown, then we urge the Minister to direct officials to urgently identify other practical measures that could reduce the toll prostate cancer is taking on New Zealand families.
“We cannot continue talking about improving cancer outcomes while ignoring the cancer that kills more than 700 Kiwi men every year.”
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6. More resources to combat migrant exploitation
May 28, 2026
Source: New Zealand Government
Budget 2026 funds more frontline teams to respond to migrant exploitation and immigration non-compliance
As part of Budget 2026, the Government is investing $18 million over four years to strengthen our response to migrant exploitation and immigration non-compliance, with three new frontline teams to respond to serious offending, protect people from harm and exploitation, and increase the number of cases investigated.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford says the funding responds to sustained growth in demand for labour inspectorate and immigration compliance activity since the border fully reopened in July 2022.
“In an increasingly uncertain world, we’re seeing more complex cases that require investigation or enforcement, and an increase in asylum‑related cases,” Ms Stanford says.
“We are also, for the first time, holding the line on a maximum continuous stay (MCS) that requires people on temporary work visas to depart New Zealand if they are not eligible for another visa.
“Frontline staff are making prioritisation decisions every day to identify and respond to serious offending and protect vulnerable people. However, without additional resources, that inevitably means longer delays for some cases and a reduced ability to intervene early.
“Delays in responding to migrant exploitation, bad behaviour by employers, finding people who are subject to deportation liability, or identifying people who are in breach of visa conditions have real consequences. They can prolong harm to victims, weaken deterrence, allow offending to continue, reduce the effectiveness of prosecutions, and undermine public trust and confidence in the immigration system. Without additional resources, New Zealand’s ability to enforce immigration and labour standards and hold people to account for migrant exploitation in a timely and effective way would remain significantly constrained.”
The Government has already moved to strengthen deportation settings and immigration compliance to help build trust in New Zealand’s immigration system. Under legislation that came into effect in November last year a new offence was created for knowingly seeking or receiving premiums for employment with penalties of up to seven years’ imprisonment or a $100,000 fine. The Immigration (Enhanced Risk Management) Amendment Bill currently going through Parliament will strengthen the tools available to respond to serious immigration breaches even further and increases the maximum penalty for migrant exploitation from seven to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Budget 2026 complements work already completed and underway by establishing three additional frontline teams within Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Immigration Compliance and Investigations branch, and the Labour Inspectorate, operating under a graduated compliance model that ranges from voluntary compliance and warnings through to investigation, prosecution, and deportation, where necessary.
“This investment recognises the strong work already underway, and provides the additional teams needed to make that work more effective and sustainable over time,” Ms Stanford says.
“It will strengthen the system’s ability to respond proportionately, dealing with lower‑level non‑compliance early, while ensuring serious and high‑risk cases remain prioritised.”
The funding will result in an additional 22 FTE to create:
another Immigration Investigations team, targeted at reducing complex case backlogs and responding to serious immigration offending
an additional Labour Inspectorate team, expanding capacity to detect and respond to migrant exploitation and serious breaches of employment standards.
A new Immigration Compliance team, focused on addressing lower‑level employer non‑compliance and people in New Zealand unlawfully or in breach of their visa conditions.
The new compliance team will enable approximately 70 additional infringement notices each year. The new investigations team will have capacity to close an additional 50–60 serious cases annually and undertake 10–14 additional prosecutions. The new labour inspectorate team will increase enforcement capacity by around 30 per cent.
“By increasing the number of frontline teams across compliance, investigations and the labour inspectorate, we can reduce backlogs, increase enforcement action and ensure the highest‑risk cases receive the attention they require, particularly where harm or exploitation is occurring,” Ms Stanford says.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/more-resources-to-combat-migrant-exploitation/
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7. Improving tax rules for charities
May 28, 2026
Source: New Zealand Government
The Government is improving tax rules for the charitable and not-for-profit sector to ensure fairness and resilience, Revenue Minister Simon Watts and Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston say.
Simon Watts says it’s important the tax rules ensure the system remains fair, credible and trusted for charities and not-for-profits.
“Last year, Inland Revenue released an Issues Paper on how the not-for-profit sector is taxed. The paper attracted huge public interest with submitters noting that the rules lacked clarity and could undermine credibility.
“The Government has listened to this feedback and is introducing a range of measures to ensure the charitable and not-for-profit sector is strong, fair, and has integrity.”
Key changes include:
Increasing the amount of net income a not-for-profit organisation can earn without paying tax from $1,000 to $10,000.
Ensuring the donation tax credit scheme remains financially sustainable by capping eligible donations at $100,000 per year. This will also limit tax planning risks that can arise when a donor makes a gift to a charity they control themselves.
Allowing donors to receive their donation tax credit refunds throughout the year in certain circumstances, rather than waiting until the end of the tax year.
Allowing donors to gift their donation tax credit to a charity.
Ensuring that membership subscriptions and levies received by not-for-profits remain non-taxable.
“These changes are about striking the right balance between simplification, fiscal sustainability and ensuring the system has integrity,” Simon Watts says.
Louise Upston says the charitable sector does a lot for the community, especially in tough economic times, so it is important the rules that guide it are robust and resilient.
“Over 53 per cent of adult New Zealanders volunteer, many of them through charities and not-for-profits – 89 per cent of community organisations are volunteer run. Formal volunteering is worth $6.4 billion to the economy. When you add people who volunteer directly, it’s even more – $14.4 billion.
“That makes it even more vital the tax rules relating to charities are enduring and work for New Zealand.”
The changes will take effect at various times between 2027 and 2028. Detailed information on the changes will be published by Inland Revenue when the legislation is introduced.
“In 2025, the Government examined options for limiting access to charitable tax concessions. That work is now complete,” Simon Watts says.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/improving-tax-rules-for-charities/
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8. Government miss child poverty targets
May 28, 2026
Source: Green Party
The Green Party says this year’s Budget show the Government is failing to meet child poverty targets.
“This budget does nothing to lift the 100,000’s of children now living in poverty, even as the Government’s own child poverty report confirms it is not on track to meet the targets it is legally bound to hit.”
Budget documents show the Government missing both 2027 and 2026 targets for children living in poverty adjusted for housing costs, with this number still at almost 20%.
“Behind every one of these numbers is a tamaiti going without a warm bed or a decent feed. This Budget had the power to change that for whānau, and the Government has chosen not instead to live children and their whānau struggling,” says Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson.
“The Child Poverty Reduction Act means the Government has to put a child poverty report on the table every single Budget. Today’s report confirms the every-day strain that whānau have been talking to us about, and it tells us this Government is still leaving them behind,” says Davidson.
“You don’t get to set targets in law, miss them year after year, and then act surprised when one in seven kids is still going without the basics.”
“This is a political choice. Child poverty is not a force of nature. It goes up when Governments strip support away from people, and it comes down when Governments trust whānau with what they need to raise their tamariki with dignity,” says Davidson.
“Our tamariki and mokopuna can’t wait for the economy fantasy of ‘growth’, and they can’t wait for this Government to find its conscience. This is a solvable problem. What’s missing is the will and the heart to solve it,” says Davidson.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/government-miss-child-poverty-targets/
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9. Funding to boost resilient planning system
May 28, 2026
Source: New Zealand Government
New Zealanders will benefit from better information about natural hazard risks, and faster and more consistent planning decisions under major new investment in the Government’s planning reforms, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say.
Budget 2026 invests $294 million over four years to support the rollout of the Government’s new planning and environmental management system that replaces the Resource Management Act.
“For too long, New Zealand’s planning system has been slow, fragmented, and overly complex. That has driven up costs, delayed development, and made it harder for people to understand what they can and can’t do with their own land,” Chris Bishop says.
“The current system imposes significant delays and costs on development, with at least $1.29 billion spent annually on consenting and approval processes.
“The Government’s new planning system is premised on the enjoyment of property rights with people being free to use their property unless there is a good reason to restrict them.
“To make that work in practice, people need clear, accessible, reliable information. Budget 2026 provides the first major investment in the digital foundations that will underpin the new planning system, including nationally consistent data standards, shared digital services, and a centrally managed platform for planning, consenting and monitoring.”
Chris Bishop says digitisation is a critical part of the reforms, and the proposed package has a benefit-cost ratio of 7.2.
“Independent analysis has shown that investment in better data and digital systems could unlock up to $5.3 billion in economic growth over 30 years by making planning and decision making faster and easier.
“This growth is on top of the billions in economic benefits that the new Planning and Natural Environment Bills are projected to deliver.
“Right now we have 78 councils maintaining separate planning systems that often duplicate effort, reinvent the wheel, and create confusion and inefficiencies.
“Under the new system, councils, planners, infrastructure providers, developers and communities will be able to access more consistent planning information through connected national digital tools and data systems.
“Over time, New Zealanders will be able to go to one website, look at one map, and get clear information about their property and the rules that apply to it.
“Budget 2026 invests $41 million in the first phase of this work, including development of national data standards, an e-Plan viewer, and the core system architecture needed to support the new planning system over time.
“This is a long-term transformation, and this funding is a down payment on the digital foundations needed to support a modern planning system for decades to come.”
Simon Watts says the reforms will also strengthen New Zealand’s resilience to natural hazards.
“New Zealand is vulnerable to floods, earthquakes, and severe weather events, and needs a planning system that helps communities understand and respond to those risks,” Simon Watts says.
“This investment will improve the quality and consistency of planning data across the country, giving councils, communities, and property owners better information to make smarter decisions.
“The funding will support development of the first New Zealand Flood Map. Over time, this will provide property-level flood risk information to help communities, councils, insurers, and infrastructure providers better understand and manage flood risk.
“The map will show where flooding is likely to happen, both now and in the future as a result of climate change, and will make that information much easier for New Zealanders to access and understand.”
The first iteration of the map is expected in 2027.
Simon Court says this investment is about translating good law into real results.
“The Government has tightened its belt so we can invest where it matters – implementing the most important reform for New Zealand’s productivity in a generation.
“This is mission critical for restoring certainty, consistency, and confidence for Kiwis to invest in the farms, homes, and infrastructure New Zealand needs to grow and thrive.”
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/funding-to-boost-resilient-planning-system/
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10. Government Super Fund contributions increase
May 28, 2026
Source: New Zealand Government
Government contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund are forecast to total $3.1 billion over the next four years, $2.2 billion more than expected at the Half Year Update in December, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.
“The Government’s Super Fund contributions are set by a legislated formula and rise from $562 million next financial year to just over $1 billion in 2029/30,” Nicola Willis says.
“Updated population projections, new inflation forecasts and other changes to formula inputs mean we are continuing to make contributions over the next few years, rather than drawing down from the Fund as expected in last year’s Budget.
“One significant change is the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation lowering their assumption of long-term expected returns from 7.8 to 7.2 per cent.
“This reflects their view that, with global equity markets at historically high levels, future returns will likely be weaker compared to recent years.”
These higher contributions are included in the Treasury’s fiscal forecasts. Super Fund contributions are capital investments that add to government debt but do not count against the Budget capital allowance.
“Withdrawals from the Super Fund are now expected from 2054 onwards, to help meet the future costs of New Zealand Superannuation.
“In the meantime, Budget forecasts show the cost of New Zealand Superannuation growing rapidly as the population ages, from $24.7 billion in the current financial year to $31.2 billion in 2029/30,” Nicola Willis says.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/government-super-fund-contributions-increase/
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