More cost of living support from 1 July

Here are the details:

• 💊 Scrapping the $5 co-payment for prescription medicines. Removing this health cost will make it cheaper and easier for millions of people to access the medications they need.
• 🚌 Free public transport for kids aged 5 to 12 and half-price discounts for those aged 13 to 24, rolling out from 1 July. This could see savings of $30 a week for whānau with two children under the age of 13.
• 🚍 Permanently cutting the cost of public transport for Community Services Card holders. Around one million low-income New Zealanders can get a 50% discount on single-trip adult fares on public transport.
• 💼 Unlocking job opportunities for Kiwis with support to get a driver’s licence. Having a licence is a key requirement for up to 70% of jobs. To support more Kiwis into paid work, we’re adding more providers to help people get their driver’s licence.
• 💲 Supporting older New Zealanders to supplement retirement savings with Flexi-Wage. Flexi-Wage is now available for people aged 65+ to help them retrain for new jobs if they choose to continue working.
• 🧸 Child Support Pass On takes effect from 1 July and around 41,550 sole parent families will be better off by an average of $24 per week. It’s estimated this change will lift as many as 14,000 children out of poverty.

These steps build on the measures Labour has already put in place to lift incomes and make everyday life more affordable for New Zealanders.

These cost of living measures include:

 

• 🖍️ More than half of Kiwi families with kids are now eligible for subsidised childcare assistance. This means that more parents will be able to afford childcare and before and after school care. We’re also significantly reducing the cost of early childhood education for parents by extending 20 hours ECE to two-year-olds.
• 🏠 Reducing power bills by making homes more energy efficient, with the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme. We’re nearly doubling the existing retrofit programme that has reduced electricity use by 16% on average over the winter months.
• 🛒 Taking action on supermarkets to make sure Kiwis are paying a fair price at the checkout. We’re working hard to increase competition, including by requiring supermarkets to open up wholesale access for their competitors, at a fair price.
• 📈 Over a million New Zealanders received an income boost through our 1 April changes. Families, seniors, caregivers, students, workers and those on main benefits saw boosts to their income.
• 🥪 Rolling out a million healthy, free school lunches a week with the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme. For a family with two kids at school, this could see savings of around $62 a week and more than $2,000 a year.
•  🌡️  Helping over one million New Zealanders a year with the cost of their power bills with the Winter Energy Payment. This provides $450 for an eligible single person and $700 for a couple.
• 🩺 Supporting parents with health costs to keep Kiwi kids healthy. This includes expanding free and low-cost doctors’ visits to children under 14, introducing mental health support into schools, and expanding school-based health services across approximately 300 schools.

Chris Hipkins and Labour are focused on the bread and butter issues that matter most, and these are just some of the ways that we’re supporting New Zealanders with the cost of living.

We will keep working hard to make everyday life more affordable and build an economy that will keep New Zealand moving forward. 

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