The Government doesn’t wait for one big Budget Day reveal to announce all its spending — here’s what we know has been earmarked already for the coming months and years.
If you feel a sense of déjà vu when Finance Minister Nicola Willis releases her first Budget, that might be because parts of that spending have already been announced.
While Willis is still promising some “nice” surprises in the Budget (as opposed to the “nasty” ones she said the previous Labour government left for her), this is what we know for certain about tomorrow's big reveal.
1News spoke to the trio ahead of Thursday's Budget as the Government has vowed to boost some frontline services. (Source: 1News)
Education
The education sector has already had several of its spending plans revealed for Budget 2024, courtesy of National’s plans to rewrite the school curriculum and a couple of Associate Education Minister David Seymour’s pet projects.
Those pet projects include $153 million in new funding over four years for up to 50 charter schools and another $478 million for a revamped school lunches programme, including a new service for up to 10,000 preschoolers.
Education Minister Erica Stanford has also been busy revealing spending plans within her portfolio.
The Budget will include nearly $53 million over four years to help boost teacher numbers by 1,500.
Another $67 million has been allocated to support the rollout of structured literacy in schools from next year.
Early childcare education (ECE) costs are also being tackled in the Budget. The Government’s FamilyBoost scheme will kick in from July 1, with parents able to claim up to $75 a week for their ECE fees. Further details about the scheme are due tomorrow.
Health
The Government has revealed little about its health spending plans prior to the Budget.
While it wasn’t labelled as a pre-Budget announcement, David Seymour did confirm a boost to Pharmac’s budget last month, in his capacity as Associate Health Minister this time. The medicine buying agency is due to get nearly $6.3 billion over four years.
In other health-related funding, the Government recently announced $24 million in funding over four years for mental health initiative Gumboot Friday.
That funding formed part of National’s coalition agreement with NZ First.
Transport
While the Government is yet to confirm its transport spend, Minister Simeon Brown offered some clues with the release of the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport earlier this year.
Brown revealed investment of around $7 billion a year over the next three years, with part of that funded through proposed increases in the Motor Vehicle Licencing Fee (rego).
While spending plans for land transport are yet to be confirmed, Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey have already revealed a Budget boost for transport on the water.
Surf Life Saving and the Coastguard are due to receive more than $63 million between them over the next four years. The funding has been earmarked for training, equipment, and safety initiatives.
Corrections
More questions than answers were raised after the Prime Minister and Corrections Minister repeatedly provided incorrect information about the planned $1.9b Corrections spend. (Source: 1News)
The Government has already made announcements about $1.9 billion in funding for more prison capacity and more frontline Corrections officers, albeit with some confusion at the time over the exact numbers.
Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell said the Budget will also allocate $78 million to extend rehabilitation programmes for prisoners who are on remand.
Housing
Housing Minister Chris Bishop revealed last week that the First Home Grant scheme is being cut, with the Budget allocating $140 million to fund 1500 new social homes instead.
Bishop said the funding would be available from July next year.
Defence
The Defence Force is in line for new funding of $571 million in the Budget.
Defence Minister Judith Collins outlined a range of spending plans earlier this month — including pay increases for personnel, upgraded equipment, and the leasing of 35 homes for navy staff.
Foreign Affairs
The Budget is allocating $60 million towards renewing New Zealand’s diplomatic infrastructure in the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said last week.
He said the funding had come from “back-office efficiencies” of $15 million a year.
Social investment
Nicola Willis has already revealed $50.5 million is being set aside in the Budget for a Social Investment Agency.
This new standalone agency will be effective from July 1 and will replace the Social Wellbeing Agency, which is currently part of the Public Service Commission.
The agency’s remit includes setting standards for social investment practice across government departments, helping other agencies apply that social investment approach, and holding an ongoing review of social sector spending.
What else can we expect?
Obviously, much more detail about the Government’s spending plans will be revealed to the public at 2pm tomorrow.
Willis has said those plans will be “consistent with the [election] campaigns” of the three coalition parties.
People will also finally find out what tax cuts the Government has in store for them. National’s election campaign tax calculator is no longer online – but Willis said an official version of it will be launched on Budget Day.
Live coverage of the Budget on 1News.co.nz from 2pm on Thursday, with a Q+A Special on TVNZ1 from 2-4pm, and full detail and analysis on 1News at 6pm.
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