2024 New Zealand budget

2024 (2024) New Zealand budget

Submitted by	Nicola Willis
Presented	30 May 2024
Parliament	54th
Party	National
Website	https://budget.govt.nz/
‹ 2023 half-year 2025›

Budget 2024 is the New Zealand budget for fiscal year 2024/25 presented to the House of Representatives by Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, on 30 May 2024 as the first budget presented by the Sixth National Government, ignoring the mini-budget they presented in December 2023.

Background

On 20 December 2023, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis had released a mini-budget as part of the Sixth National Government's plan to address the cost of living, deliver income tax relief, and reduce the tax burden. The Government's mini-budget had delivered NZ$7.47 billion in operational savings by repealing or stopping 15 programmes launched by the previous Labour Government including 20 hours of free child care for two-year olds, eliminating depreciation for commercial buildings and dissolving the Climate Emergency Response Fund. Following the release of the mini-budget, the Government confirmed that it would announce its budget policy statement and allowances for the 2024 budget in March 2024.

Major announcements

Defence, justice, police and corrections

• $226.1m over four years for an extra 500 police.
• $424.9m over four years to support frontline policing ($242.2m for police pay and $62.7m for vehicles and maritime capability).
• $78m over three years to extend rehabilitation programmes to remand prisoners.
• $812.8m over five years for Corrections to respond to the increase in prisoners numbers.
• Savings of $43.4m over four years from increasing court filing, enforcement and fine collection fees.

Announced before the Budget:

• $571m for Defence.
• Corrections prison bed boost.

Education

• $1.48b over four years for school and kura kaupapa property.
• $199.5m over four years for school operating grants.
• $191m over four years for ECE subsidies.
• $163m over four years to maintain school IT infrastructure.
• $256m over four years to increase tertiary tuition and training subsidies to providers by 2.5%.
• Student loan interest rates for overseas borrowers to increase from 3.9% to 4.9% from 1 April 2025.

Announced before the Budget:

• $153m to set up Charter Schools.
• Structured literacy.
• $53m for teacher training and recruitment.

Health

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora is set to receive $16.68b in new funding over three Budgets:

• $3.44b over four years for Health NZ hospital and specialist services.
• $2.12b over four years for primary, community and public health.
• $1.77b over four years to maintain Pharmac funding.
• $1.1b over five years to address demand and cost pressures for the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha.
• $31.2m over four years to extend free breast screening.
• $30.84m over four years to increase ED security.
• $22m over four years to train 25 more doctors each year.
• $9.7m over four years to set up a National Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund.

Announced before the Budget:

• $24m for Gumboot Friday charity I Am Hope.

Transport

• $1b over four years to accelerate Roads of National Significance.
• $939.3 over four years to repair roads damaged during Cyclone Gabrielle, the Auckland floods and other North Island weather events.
• $266.9m over four years to upgrade and maintain Auckland and Wellington rail networks, including $159.2m over two years to complete Auckland's rail network rebuild.
• $200m over four years for KiwiRail national rail network maintenance and renewals.
• $10m over four years for Airways NZ to complete minimum operating network of Ground Based Navigation Aids used to safely recover aircraft.
• $44m to support Civil Aviation Authority to carry out core functions while fee, levy rates are reviewed.
• $23.1m over four years for critical frontline rescue services to respond to severe weather events and emergencies.
• Extra $1b over four years for the National Land Transport Fund.

Announced before the Budget:

• $63.6m for Surf Life Saving, Coastguard.

Tax and economy

• $2.57b on tax cuts through bracket adjustments unchanged from what National set out in the election campaign.
• $155m on Independent Earner Tax Credit eligibility changes in line with National's election campaign.
• $182m on In-Work Working For Families Tax credit by $25 a week, in line with National's election campaign (the change to abatement thresholds was abandoned during coalition negotiations).
• $729m on restoring interest deductibility for residential rental property.
• $45m on adjusting the brightline test.

Announced before the Budget:

• $723m over four years for $75 a week childcare subsidies.

Saving and new funding

Note that the climate funding and closure of Labour programmes includes savings found in the mini-Budget in December.

• $1.215b in total baseline savings from government departments and agencies not reprioritised.
• $775m on closing previous programmes.
• $597 of funding from the Climate Emergency Response Fund paid for through the ETS.
• $578m from commercial buildings depreciation.
• $1.195b over four years from expanding the Waste Disposal Levy to cover a wider range of projects (with half of revenue still going to local government).
• $462.8m over four years from scrapping the Wellington Science City project.
• $133m from immigration levies including $261.9m over four years from increased International Visitors levies.
• $47m from taxing online casino operators.
• $178m over four years in savings from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, including discontinuing new Warmer Kiwi Homes subsidies or hot water heaters, energy-efficiency measures, an LED lighting scheme, and community-focused outreach for hard-to-reach households.
• $220m from switching fees-free from first year to final year of university.
• $147m from tax evasion crackdown.
• $116.1m over four years from reinstating the $5 prescription fee for ages 14-64, made up of $269m over four years in total savings and $153.5m over four years due to increased uptake from the policy.
• $164.5m over four years returned from contingency funding for pricing an agricultural emissions scheme.
• $5.55m over four years less spent on NZ Film Commission, NZ Symphony Orchestra, and Nga Taonga Sound and Vision.
• $5.72m over four years from scrapping the Consumer Advocacy Council, and $38.27m over four years from scaling down other energy programmes like the Community Renewable Energy Fund.
• $300,000 for scrapping the Circular Economy and Biosecurity Strategy.

Announced before the Budget:

• Revised Free School Lunches, now costing $477.55 from 2024 to 2027.

Other

• $48.7m over three years from 2025/26 for Te Matatini.
• $1.2b for a Regional Infrastructure Fund, including $200m for flood infrastructure upgrades.
• $5m for the creation of the National Infrastructure Agency.
• $106.9m over four years operational funding for GeoNet and the National Seismic Hazard Model.
• $92.2m for National's replacement for the RMA reforms.

Announced before the Budget:

• First Home Grants scrapped, 1500 new social housing places.

External links

Official website