Better healthcare for Kiwis

We believe everyone should be able to access the healthcare they need, when and where they need it. Through Budget 2022, we’re making sure all New Zealanders get high quality healthcare no matter where they live.

Key policies include:

• Boosting funding for Pharmac, to ensure more Kiwis can get lifesaving medicines and treatments.
• Investing in specialist mental health and addiction services, to improve support for Kiwis with more serious and acute conditions.
• Delivering more paramedics, ambulances and emergency helicopters, so people can get urgent care when they need it.
• Upgrading hospitals in Whangārei, Nelson and Hillmorton, on top of our massive investments in health infrastructure.
• Delivering better mental wellbeing services and support to 195,000 children, with the expansion of Mana Ake services.
• Putting more nurses in schools so more kids can access healthcare and wellbeing support.

More support for first home buyers and renters

New Zealand’s housing issues were decades in the making and there’s no single solution, but the policies we’re putting in place are making a real difference. We’ve already taken action to speed up the pace and scale of house building, and tip the balance in favour of first home buyers. With Budget 2022, we’re helping even more New Zealanders into homes.

Key policies include:

• Lifting price caps for First Home Grants, and removing price caps entirely from the First Home Loan to help thousands more first home buyers.
• Launching a new Affordable Housing Fund, which will deliver new affordable rentals to support families in areas facing the biggest housing challenges.

More action on climate change

Addressing climate change is the right thing to do to safeguard our environment for future generations, and it’s also the smart thing to do, as taking action now will reduce cost pressures on Kiwis. A high wage, low emissions future is achievable for New Zealand, and with Budget 2022 we’re taking the next steps towards that sustainable future.

Key policies include:

• Making it cheaper for families to switch to cleaner cars, with grants for low and middle income households to replace their current vehicle with a greener option.
• Supporting even more businesses to transition to greener energy, by expanding the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry Fund.
• Backing farmers with a new Centre for Climate Action on Agricultural Emissions, focused on developing and commercialising practical tools to reduce emissions.
• Making transport greener, with more electric buses, low-carbon freight options, and more cycling networks.
• Backing community-based renewable energy projects, making it easier for communities across New Zealand to go green.

A boost for local businesses

Small businesses play an important role in in our communities, and they’ll play a key role as together, we build a strong economy and a secure future. Through Budget 2022, we’re further backing Kiwi businesses so they can get on with the job.

Key policies include:

• Making it easier for small and medium sized businesses to access finance so they can expand, with a new Business Growth Fund.
• Helping more businesses switch to greener energy and cut their operating costs with renewable and more efficient equipment.
• Making sure businesses have the skilled workers they need by extending Apprenticeship Boost, alongside recent immigration changes like our new Green List pathway to attract highly-skilled migrant workers.
• Upgrading rural broadband around the country, to ensure rural communities and businesses can stay connected.

More opportunities for New Zealanders

Through Budget 2022, we’re supporting the New Zealanders who need it most, and helping even more Kiwis into work and training.

Key policies include:

• Removing barriers to getting a driver licence, helping 64,000 Kiwis get on the road and into work.
• Extending support for trades training programmes that support tens of thousands of New Zealanders in jobs and training.
• Boosting the incomes of sole parent families by fixing outdated child support rules, meaning 41,500 families will be better off each week.

A great education for Kiwi kids

We’re committed to making New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child, and ensuring that our kids get a great education is a big part of that work. We’re already building a stronger, fairer education system, and upgrading classrooms and schools around the country. With Budget 2022, we’re taking the next steps.

Key policies include:

• Building hundreds of new classrooms in schools around the country.
• Making sure every child, no matter what their background, can get a great education, by delivering on our promise to scrap the outdated decile system, and providing extra funding to the schools they need it most.
• Boosting operating funding for all schools, to ensure they have the teachers and equipment they need.
• Supporting young people to stay in school by expanding proven programmes like Positive Behaviour 4 Learning.

Budget 2022 builds on all the work we’ve done over the last four years to grow a strong economy and support New Zealanders. You can learn more about this work here.

Stay in the loop with the latest announcements by signing up to our mailing list and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.