Support for today, building for tomorrow

Justice Minister Kiri Allan during a media stand-up, Parliament, Wellington. 04 April, 2023. NZ Herald photograph by Mark Mitchell HBG 05Apr23 - Minister of Justice Kiri Allan. Photo / Mark Mitchell BTG 05Apr23 - Minister of Justice Kiri Allan. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Opinion

by Kiri Allan MP for East Coast

We’ve just released Budget 2023, which sets out more support for today and the next steps in our plan to build for tomorrow. I wanted to make sure that you’d heard about a few key initiatives, including a cost of living package to ease the pressure on people here in Tairāwhiti.

This Budget provides practical cost of living support across some of the core expenses facing New Zealanders — childcare, healthcare, transport and power bills. It will help to make things a bit easier for families, students and older New Zealanders by reducing or removing some of the costs they currently face. Millions of whānau will pay a little less as a result.

We’re helping parents stretch their budgets a little further, by making childcare cheaper with 20 hours free ECE for two-year-olds. This will be a major saving for families and will reduce barriers for working parents to take on more hours if they can.

We’re helping with health costs by removing prescription charges for medicines. Removing the $5 co-payment will make it easier and cheaper for New Zealanders to access the medicines they need, having a meaningful impact for many households, particularly those who have multiple prescriptions to fill on a regular basis.

We’re permanently cutting the costs of public transport for young New Zealanders, making it cheaper to get to school and tertiary study. We’re providing free fares on buses, trains and ferries for children aged 5 to 12 and half-price discounts for all passengers aged 13 to 24 from July this year. Free fares for kids under 13 could see savings of $30 a week for families with two children.

We’re also reducing power bills by making homes more energy efficient. In addition to the Winter Energy Payment, we’re helping to reduce power bills by hundreds of dollars a year through the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme. We’re nearly doubling the existing retrofit programme that has reduced electricity use by on average 16 percent over the winter months.

These initiatives help Tairāwhiti households now, while also delivering long-term education, health and climate benefits. They’re win-win.

Budget 2023 also includes a massive boost to our country’s infrastructure which has been tested during the recent flooding and cyclone. That’s why we’ve allocated significant funds to build back better with greater resilience, to protect communities from increasingly severe and unpredictable weather events.

It’s a practical Budget that does the basics well and makes investments where they are needed most. But we need to do more than just respond to the challenges of today, we also need to build for the future. That’s why we’re continuing to make targeted investments in areas that are critical to grow the economy and lift productivity.

Investing in infrastructure, skills, science and technology supports every area of the economy. It’s how we support people into work, drive higher wages for New Zealanders and build a stronger, inclusive and more resilient economy.

You can find out more about what Budget 2023 means for you and your family here: LABOUR.ORG.NZ/BUDGET2023