KEY POINTS:
- Send us Your Views on Budget 2015
The Government has axed the $1000 kickstart payment for people when they sign up to Kiwisaver which is estimated to save $500 million over four years.
Another one of the Budget surprises was the introduction of a levy on travellers leaving and entering New Zealand to boost biosecurity funding by $100 million a year. The $6 for departing passengers and $16 for arriving passengers will be added to the cost of an airline ticket.
Beneficiary families and low-income working families will get a boost of up to $25 a week as part of a child hardship package. Childcare subsidies for lower-income families will also be increased from $4 an hour to $5 an hour for pre-school or after-school care for up to 50 hours week. Also, $52.2 million is to fund its new plan to partner with private developers and build thousands of lower-cost homes on Crown-owned land in Auckland.
The Budget estimates that the current year will post a $684 million deficit, and forecasts a tiny surplus of $176 million for 2015 - 16, rising to $1.47 billion in 2016 - 17, $1.99 billion the next year and $3.62 billion in 20-18 to 19. GDP growth is forecast to be an average of 2.8 per cent over four years.
Here is the latest selection of Your Views on the 2015 Budget: