Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Budget 2021 live: The 10 things you need to know

Derek Cheng
By Derek Cheng
Senior Writer·NZ Herald·
20 May, 2021 02:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

NZ Herald brings you full Budget coverage as well as analysis, reaction and a look into what it all means for Kiwis. Video / NZ Herald

The Goodies:

1. WELFARE AND FAMILIES: Benefits will increase by between $32 and $55 a week, while student living support will go up $25 a week. Overall, this will cost $3.3 billion over four years.

2. MĀORI HOUSING: $380m for 1000 new homes for Māori, repairs for 700 Māori –owned homes; ring-fencing $350m of the $3.8b housing fund announced in March for at least 2700 Māori homes.

3. INFRASTRUCTURE: An extra $15.1 billion (bringing the four-year total to $57.3b from 2021 to 2025), including $810m for KiwiRail, $761m for school property, $700m for hospitals, and, in a surprise announcement, $306m for Scott Base.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

4. CLIMATE CHANGE $19.7m for future response to the Climate Change Commission's final recommendations. Recycling revenue from the ETS will also add $3b over five years for this.

5. HEALTH: Labour keeps election promises with an extra $200m for Pharmac, but back-down on free annual GP visit and eye check for Supergold cardholders as it is of "limited benefit".

6. COVID: There's $5.1b left in the $62b Covid response and recovery fund. Treasury forecasts a "significant opening" of the border on January 1 next year.

The Numbers:

7. HOUSING PRICES: Treasury forecasts annual house price growth to peak in June (17.3 per cent) this year, stalling at 0.9 per cent next year, then edging up again to 2.5 per cent in 2025.

8. JOBLESS: Unemployment is forecast to peak at 5.3 per cent in September this year, then fall to 4.4 per cent by June 2025.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Read More:
• Budget boost for beneficiaries: The Government's 'two-bird-one stone' Budget
• Live blog: Kiwis react to Budget 2021; what it means for you
• Govt expecting 'very sharp' drop in house price growth

9. GROWING THE PIE: Economic growth expected at 2.9 per cent for this year, then to 4.4 per cent for 2023. Better-than-expected books means the Government's operating allowance this year is $3.8b.

10. DEBT:The Government expects to borrow an extra $100b in the five years to 2025. Net core Crown debt peaking at 48 per cent of GDP in 2023. The next surplus is expected in 2027 - at 0.1 per cent of GDP.

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

Budget 2021: $344m for Antarctica's Scott Base redevelopment

20 May 02:00 AM
New Zealand

'Bold move': $36.6m to help Kiwis quit smoking by 2025

20 May 02:29 AM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui ChronicleUpdated

Our top Premium stories this year: Special offer for Herald, Viva, Listener

19 Jun 08:11 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui rugby: Regional rivalry returns

19 Jun 05:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

'Empower our young people': Student safe driving campaign celebrates four decades

19 Jun 05:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Our top Premium stories this year: Special offer for Herald, Viva, Listener

Our top Premium stories this year: Special offer for Herald, Viva, Listener

19 Jun 08:11 PM

School rankings, property deals, gangs, All Black line-ups, and restaurant reviews.

Whanganui rugby: Regional rivalry returns

Whanganui rugby: Regional rivalry returns

19 Jun 05:00 PM
'Empower our young people': Student safe driving campaign celebrates four decades

'Empower our young people': Student safe driving campaign celebrates four decades

19 Jun 05:00 PM
Town centres to get multimillion-dollar makeovers

Town centres to get multimillion-dollar makeovers

19 Jun 05:00 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP