Budget 2023: All the reaction as it happened

Read back as reaction flowed to Grant Robertson's financial plans for the year ahead.

The Budget was revealed at 2pm by Finance Minister Grant Robertson, against a background of high inflation and the ongoing effects of the pandemic and Cyclone Gabrielle.

Here's the basics:

The $5 charge for prescription medicine will be scrapped in most cases.

Extend 20 hours free early childhood education to two-year-olds from March 1 2024.

Free public transport fares for kids under 13, and half price for under-25s, from July 1.

Expansion of electric vehicle charging network with 23 new charging hubs.

$279m investment in state highways focusing on slips, floods and sea level rise.

$402.6m over four years to expand insulation, lighting and heating retrofits of homes.

Chatham Islands power – install renewable system to cut electricity prices in half.

$63m to allow 500 more nurses to be employed, as part of $1b, including increased pay rates.

Lift trustee tax rate from 33% to 39%, in line with top personal tax rate.

Ending minimum wage exemption for disabled, replaced with wage supplement.

7.10pm: That wraps up 1News' live updates for Budget 2023's announcement.

Scroll down the page to catch up on the day's developments.

7.02pm: The National Party says it will repeal Labour's removal of the $5 prescription fee if they're elected later this year, Stuff reports.

“I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the fact there are lower-income people for whom I don’t want prescriptions to be a barrier. Well, actually, there are already targetted ways of ensuring they don’t face prescription fees,” Finance Spokesperson Nicola Willis said.

“And you have the Chemist Warehouse offering all prescriptions for free. So, in effect, the Government ends up subsidising that and also subsidising a lot of higher-income people who are perfectly happy to pay that charge.”

7:00pm: Today's Budget has delivered hundreds of millions for Māori performing arts.

Māori ministers celebrated a total package of $825 million.

Watch the video to find out more.

6.45pm: "Disappointing" is the word used by the Post Primary Teachers Accosaition (PPTA) when describing today's Budget announcement.

“The increase to schools’ operations grants is not even half the rate of inflation, and there doesn’t seem to be any money allocated for improvements to equity funding to help ensure that students receive a quality education no matter where they live or what the economic circumstances of their families are,” Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengaru acting president said.

“The government is investing a significant amount of money in building more schools and classrooms. But who knows where the teachers are going to come from?

"We are facing a rapidly worsening shortage as teachers leave our secondary schools for either non-teaching jobs with better pay and conditions here or better-paying teaching jobs in Australia. Our secondary students deserve much better.”

Education union NZEI Te Riu Roa also said today's budget was disappointing.

“What we wanted to see was a Budget that looked at crucial issues around staffing, workload relief and decent pay. As a society we will be in bigger debt if we don’t invest in our tamariki and their teachers,” President Mark Potter said.

"We talk a lot about the goodwill of educators, and I feel that this Budget is expecting us to keep running our schools on that goodwill. I feel invisible in terms of the priorities by this government. I'm disappointed," Tute Mila said.

6.41: The Prescription Access Initiative (PAI) say they're "crying" tears of joy following the announcement $5 prescription fees will be dropped.

The group has been advocating for the removal of the fee for some time and says it will save lives.

"We are crying - we are so delighted, pleased and relieved for our communities - everyone will have better access to healthcare," said PAI spokesperson Vicky Chan.

"The positive impacts will be huge - it’s difficult to take in. We wholeheartedly congratulate and thank the Government for this fantastic move.

"This will save people pain, illness, heartbreak and distress."

They called it a "very very good day" for all New Zealanders.

6.35pm: The New Zealand Nurses Organisation said the Budget offers some relief but "fails" to respond to the "frontline crisis in health".

NZNO President Anne Daniels welcomed the $1 billion investment but said more new spending is needed.

"There was an opportunity in this Budget to commit additional funding beyond the $1.3 billion uplift announced in Budget 2022 that could have meaningfully addressed the workforce shortages and need for improved pay and conditions across the entire health system," she said.

"This is a drop in the ocean of what’s required. An additional 500 new nurses will not resolve burnout and fatigue that chronic staffing shortages brings to the workplace for nurses."

"There is a growing exodus of nurses from the New Zealand health system who need to be retained. While there are inevitable delays to growing a skilled and regulated workforce to the degree needed in the short-term, there are steps that can be taken to recruit, attract and train nurses. Nothing in this budget addresses the need for increased funding for training for example."

6.17pm:

6.00pm: Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said that he's happy with some aspects of the budget but more disappointed in others.

"There is a whole lot of things that that the budget has. There are some good things in their budget, but they are a whole lot of other things that could have made life a lot easier for our people, and those things can happen right now."

He wanted to see things like GST taken off food, as well as efforts to lift people out of homelessness and poverty.

"We've got people who are homeless 60,000 Māori are homeless one in five, tamariki are living in poverty.

"So those are the things that we need to really look at right now."

5.51pm: Watch 1News at 6pm to see how communities across the country have reacted to today's Budget announcement.

5.45pm: The Government's Budget initiative to drop $5 prescription fees has appeared to go down well for members of the public that 1News has spoken to.

As one of the centrepieces of the Budget, the new initiative appears to have attracted little criticism from the opposition this afternoon.

1News spoke to pharmacy customers in Pakuranga after the change was announced.

See their reactions here.

5.30pm:

5.16pm:

5.06pm:

4.55pm: Federated Farmers said that while they didn't ask for anything in this year's Budget, they are still frustrated by regulation.

"We made it clear last week when we released our Budget Wishlist that farmers aren’t looking for a handout and are happy to stand on our own two feet," Federated Farmers Acting President Wayne Langford says.

"But the other side of that coin was a request that the Government stop weighing us down with impractical, unpragmatic, and unfair regulations that are heaping on costs and tying us up in red tape.

"We’re still waiting for them to deliver on that second request but hope we will see some movement soon - because farmers can’t afford to wait."

4.51pm: Oxfam Aotearoa has called the Budget a "missed opportunity" to address climate change now.

“Despite the undeniable urgency of the climate crisis and the imperative to take immediate and bold action, the Government's Budget falls far short of what is required to mitigate and adapt to the escalating impacts of the climate crisis. After the year Aotearoa has had, Oxfam is shocked to see the Government still isn’t taking the climate crisis seriously," lead Nick Henry said.

"We know New Zealanders want to see our government take stronger action to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. It is crucial our government stand with our communities in Aotearoa and the Pacific."

“This Budget includes some welcome climate change initiatives. But it’s deeply disappointing that the Government’s poor planning, and failure to act on the Climate Change Commission’s recommendations, have resulted in $800m in devastating slashes to funding available for climate action – and have taken $1.9b away from another important spending to support our communities."

4.45pm: Infrastructure New Zealand says the Budget shows the country "continues to miss opportunities in its infrastructure delivery, efficiency and scale by solely relying on the Government to fund improvements to our roads, public transport, resilience and water infrastructure.”

4.40pm: Grant Robertson's sixth Budget was a pretty straight up-and-down Labour offering, but less typical for an election year, says 1News Political Editor Jessica Mutch Mckay.

One of the big ticket items was the extension of the 20 hours free early childhood education to two-year-olds

For those with young families, it will make a big difference - $130 extra a week.

That's a big deal.

Read more here.

4.36pm: The Breast Cancer Foundation isn't happy with today's budget due to its lack of funding for women's health.

“It’s hard to see how the Government is serious about its women’s health strategy when this Budget has nothing in it for women’s health – let alone breast cancer," chief executive Ah-Leen Rayner said.

“In this cost of living crisis, the continued refusal to extend the screening age shows the Government expects our older women to continue paying for a life-saving service which should be freely available to them. Extending the breast screening programme to 74 is a solution for the immediate problem of women needlessly dying from breast cancer, yet the Government still won’t see this as a priority.

“With no new money for Pharmac, New Zealand remains at the bottom of the OECD on drug funding. This Budget leaves hundreds of desperate women with incurable breast cancer unable to access medicines that could give them more years to live.”

4.30pm: General Practice New Zealand said it's "disappointed that today’s budget offers none of the urgent support needed to address New Zealand’s desperate and growing situation where people are increasingly unable to access the care they need when they need it."

Chair, and Porirua-based GP, Dr Bryan Betty said: “It’s great to see many prescriptions becoming free, but that is little help if access to your GP for your prescription isn’t first addressed.

“While we have seen some of the largest investment ever into the health system over the past years, we’re yet to feel any boost to the essential care our communities need every day from general practice and other primary care providers. We were told to expect no frills, but since when is decent access to a primary care system anything more than covering the basics?”

4.26pm: Playcenter Aotearoa has welcomed a one-off $3 million grant featured in the Budget.

“This is great news for Playcentre, with two-year-olds accounting for 19 per cent of tamariki enrolled at Playcentre,” says chief executive David Moger.

“With a heritage of over 80 years, Playcentre is modernising to ensure it remains relevant and sustainable as modern life puts increasing pressures on parents’ time, and we welcome this assistance.”

4.14pm: Speaking to the house this afternoon, Green party co-leader Marama Davidson said she supports the budget believing "it includes really important steps that will make a huge difference to people's lives."

"People are going to find it so much easier to hop on a bus or train

"Families won't have to pay through the roof to get their tamariki into early childhood education"

However, she said the Budget "falls a long way short" of what is needed.

She said it could have done better to have addressed wealth and income inequality and climate change.

"The time is now to get those decisions right."

4.05pm: Family planning has praised the removal of the $5 prescription fee, saying it will help Kiwis across the country who are doing it tough.

"For young people in particular, a prescription fee can mean the difference between picking up medication or not.

"When it comes to critical medication like contraception, we want to remove every barrier we can and we believe that removing this fee will make a difference," Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond says.

4.00pm: Kiwis across the country are reacting to the Government's "no frills" Budget 2023, which comes amid a cost of living crunch and ahead of a general election later this year.

Kaitaia resident Mary Wharemate is a solo mum of four. She said times were tough with rising prices under the cost of living crunch.

Read her story here.

3.54pm: Green Party co-leader James Shaw said there were a number of good things in the budget, happy that some Green policies that have been campaigned for over the years are included.

However, he said the Government "could have gone further and could have gone faster" on some aspects of the Budget.

"I would argue that the government has tied its hands in terms of having the resources available to face some of those big challenges."

While not elaborating on any specific changes, he said the country still isn't doing enough to combat the effects of climate change.

"This country has been very late on reducing the pollution that causes climate change, and I have argued consistently that we need to pick up the pace."

3.41pm: Speaking to 1News, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called the Budget a "balanced approach".

He said it aims to make sure "Kiwis can get through a difficult time without making that worse."

The PM also said the Government was "absolutely going to deliver" on Cyclone recovery plans to support those from Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and Auckland.

He also hopes to see inflation back under control.

"That has been an absolute focus for this year's Budget."

3.32pm: Chief executive of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and former national leader Simon Bridges has said the newest budget is very much "in the eye of the beholder".

"I think both sides it's one of those ones where it's not a clear win."

"It's very much where both sides will go: 'Well, we got that one right'," he said.

He called it a typical "Labour Party election year Budget."

3.21pm: ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner said the economic forecast included in the budget was "a little on the rosy side."

"They assume the economy is going to grow by about 1% this year, which is quite a contrast to the Reserve Bank who said back in February they expect the economy to shrink by about the same amount."

She said that in practice, it's quite likely the surplus could be pushed out by another year.

3.17pm: ACT Party leader David Seymour followed the lines of his political allies, calling the Budget a "blowout" and "irresponsible".

"It's unfair that New Zealanders across the country are having to tighten their belts when the Government can't do the same."

He said financial pressures would likely overshadow policies like the 20 hours of free child care for two-year-olds and free prescription medication.

In a statement, he said the "Build Back Broke Budget is more interested in improving the well-being of corporates than New Zealanders who are doing it tough.”

“Successive Labour and National government have used taxpayers’ money to pick winners. The decisions are always political, rather than what’s good policy.

“We would get rid of Corporate Welfare including the Provincial Growth Fund, Callaghan Innovation, the Cultural Sector Regeneration Fund, R&D Tax Credits, and domestic and international film subsidies.

“Kiwis are being squeezed from every direction, they’re tightening their belts and making tough choices, it’s time Government did the same.”

3.09pm: Grant Robertson called his Budget "balanced, practical and pragmatic" when speaking to 1News this afternoon.

He hopes it will bring New Zealand into a more fiscally sustainable environment.

The Finance Minister said the Government has tried to "strike a balance" this year, acknowledging some policies have had to be pushed back thanks to the cost of living.

"We did obviously consider a lot of different ideas, but I think we've struck a place where we can achieve the things we wanted to do.

"Support people today, but also invest in our future," he said.

3.00pm: Speaking to 1News, former Labour minister Iain Lees-Galloway said the Budget is focused on the median voter - those who could go either way.

He called it a "suite of things designed to reduce those everyday pain points that families experience."

"I think it's a deeply political budget - what budgets aren't - but I think it's smartly delivered in terms of the policies."

He said it was "clearly targeted" at the swing voters.

2.52pm: The Government will axe public transport fares for those under 13 and introduce half-price discounts for those aged 13 to 24, it was revealed in Budget 2023.

The charges will come in on July 1, and Transport Minister Michael Wood said a family with two children under 13 could save $30 a week.

Read more here.

2.50pm: Education Minister Jan Tinetti has extended the 20 hours of free early child education a week to two-year-olds as part of the 2023 Budget.

It comes at a cost of $1.2 billion over four years and will be introduced from March 1 next year.

It is currently available to three to five-year-olds.

Read more here.

2.46pm: Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer told 1News said that while she likes some aspects of the Budget, it doesn't do enough to address poverty.

"What we could have liked to have seen a capital gains tax that could've given us another $200 billion into the economy.

"We would've liked to have seen more Māori health - we've got 2% even though we have 20% of the population, so there's some real inequities in there."

They also would have liked "more commitment" to climate change and investment in adaptation.

Though, she was happy to see Te Matatini and Whānau ora get a boost in funding.

2.30pm: Grant Robertson's opposite number in the house, National Party finance Spokesperson Nicola Willis, offered similar commentary to her party leader, calling the Budget a "blowout of increased spending, bigger deficits and more debt."

"The result for working Kiwis will mean higher inflation, meaning more pressure," she told 1News.

"There's not a dollar of tax relief in sight. This is just more of Labour's big-spending, wasteful approach."

She wanted to see some relief for Kiwis who are doing it tough.

"What we have is proof that higher prices are here to stay," she said.

2.21pm: Finance Minister Grant Robertson has tried to walk a tightrope of helping the back pocket of struggling Kiwis without doing anything to increase inflation, the 1News political team says.

The scrapping of the $5 prescription fee, extension of 20 hours free early childhood education and free or cheaper public transport for young people will grab the headlines, as Robertson looked for ways to help those struggling with the cost of living.

There’s $1.2b less in extra spending than last year as New Zealand grapples with the cost of the cyclone rebuild, while not stoking inflation.

“There’s not a lot of discretionary spending here,” Political Reporter Cushla Norman said.

“80 per cent is keeping the lights on because of cost pressures and inflation. It’s quite a bit less than last year – about $1.2b overall, they are clearly tightening their belts.”

Read more here.

2.18pm: The Government will scrap the $5 fee New Zealanders pay for most prescriptions as part of changes aimed at combating the cost of living in the 2023 Budget.

It’s estimated to affect three million people and will cost the public purse more than $618 million.

Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said the $5 prescription charge could be a barrier to people getting the medicines they needed.

“Removing the $5 charge 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.”

Political Editor Jessica Mutch McKay said there were no big surprises.

“What we’ve seen the Government do is try and target areas of not pushing up inflation, try and target things for New Zealanders that they are already spending money on.”

Read more here.

2.15pm: National Party Leader Chris Luxon has called this year's Budget a "blowout".

“Finance Minister Grant Robertson promised a bread-and-butter Budget. What he delivered was a spending spree creating a massive increase in deficits and debt climbing for years to come," he said.

“This is the Blowout Budget, the culmination of Grant Robertson’s massive spending spree as Finance Minister for six years.

“Mr Robertson has blown his own spending limits for the sixth budget in a row."

He said that the deficit has "blown out" to $7.6 billion, up $7.1 billion.

“Operating spending has blown out to $137 billion this year, up $61 billion since Labour entered office," he said.

“And debt has blown out to $95 billion by 2026.

“New Zealanders hoped today for some relief from the tough conditions that Labour’s economic mismanagement has produced. What they will get is cheaper bus rides for those who qualify, but still nothing for the majority of hard-working New Zealanders."

2.10pm: Finance Minister Grant Robertson has given an outline of New Zealand's economic forecast.

Inflation to fall to the 1-3% target range by late next year:

Treasury is no longer forecasting a recession in 2023.

Economy to grow 3.2% to the year June 2023, before easing to 1% the following year.

Unemployment to peak at 5.3% in the December 2024 quarter.

A return to surplus in 2025-26.

Wages to grow 5.2% a year over the forecast period.

“We will continue to provide targeted support for New Zealanders with cost of living pressures while laying the foundations for a stronger economy in the future," Robertson said.

“We know there is more to do. We will continue to invest heavily in skills and training for New Zealanders. Our immigration settings are attracting a significant number of overseas workers, and we will continue to look at ways to respond to help fill vacancies in what is a competitive global market for workers.

“Our focus will continue to be on keeping on moving the economy in the right direction. We will continue to invest in creating the conditions to support people into work, drive higher wages for New Zealanders and build a stronger, inclusive and more resilient economy.”

2.07pm: With the Budget out, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has said this latest Budget is all about focusing on the "bread and butter" issues.

“When I became Prime Minister, I said I would focus on the bread and butter issues Kiwi households are facing. Today’s Budget does that by providing cost of living relief across key expenses families’ experience – childcare, healthcare, transport and power bills,” Hipkins said.

“Global inflationary pressures coupled with the domestic challenges of recent weather events mean a balanced and targeted approach is being taken. This means we can support New Zealanders today while building for tomorrow.

“It’s tough for families right now. This Budget builds on the cost of living support we have put in place to date by introducing a number of new targeted measures that will also deliver long-term results.

“This package addresses the immediate cost of living challenge households face without exacerbating inflation pressures, as tax cuts would."

Read more here.

1.55pm: You can follow live coverage of the Budget on TVNZ1 from 2-4pm and here, on 1News.co.nz throughout the day.

You can watch it being revealed to Parliament here.

1.50pm: Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Finance Minister Grant Robertson indulged in some sausage rolls ahead of today's Budget announcement.

Robertson also showed off his Budget Day tie.

1.40pm: The National Party takes an early jab before the Budget is announced.

1.30pm: Economists, journalists and Treasury officials remain in a briefing where they're learning the details of the Budget. They've had their phones removed and have no wifi access so details can't leak out early.

Here's a quick explainer of how it all works while we wait for the details to be made public:

Follow live coverage of the Budget on TVNZ1 from 2-4pm and on 1News.co.nz throughout the day.