Cost of living

We're taking action to cushion the pressure on families and secure our economy.

• Brought in short-term cost of living payment for around 2 million Kiwis to help with the impact of rising prices.
• Cut 25¢ off the fuel excise duty.
• Halved public transport fares until January 2023.
• Taking action on supermarkets to boost competition and get lower prices.
• Closely monitoring the fuel market to make sure savings are being passed on.
• Tackling the soaring cost of building materials.
• Reducing our dependence on volatile global oil markets by decarbonising our transport fleet, through things like the clean car discount and investments in public transport.

Economic development & finance

We’ve taken action to build a high wage and low emissions economy that provides security in good times and bad.

• Our economy is larger than it was pre-pandemic.
• New Zealand now has the highest levels of money being invested in Research & Development expenditure in our history.
• Delivered Free Trade Agreements with the United Kingdom and European Union, and CPTPP and RCEP – 73.5% of our exports are now covered by an FTA.
• Invested in road, rail, public transport, and walking and cycling infrastructure to get our cities moving, keep New Zealanders safe, unlock housing, and boost productivity.
• Established the $200m Regional Strategic Partnership Fund.
• We’re promoting our Tourism sector as we open our borders, and working with the sector to restart and reimagine a more sustainable tourism industry.
• Established eight Industry Transformation plans.
• On a comparative measure produced by the IMF, our debt position as a percentage of GDP is roughly half the level of Australia, a quarter of the UK, and a fifth of the US.
• Established a new tax rate of 39% on incomes over $180,000 to help fund the public sector, including our COVID-19 Response.
• Contributed to the New Zealand Superfund and protected the rate and entitlement age for New Zealand Superannuation.

Comparison to the GFC

COVID caused a 1-in-100 year global economic shock, but our economy has come through the pandemic better than the Global Financial Crisis.

• The economy is 4.8 percent larger than it was pre-pandemic. It took five years to increase by the same level after the GFC.
• Unemployment has fallen by 0.8 percentage points, with record low unemployment for Māori and near record low for Pasifika. After the GFC unemployment was 3.4 percentage points higher.
• Wages are up 17% since June 2019. It took nearly six years after the GFC for median weekly earnings to increase by a similar level.
• Fewer working age New Zealanders are on a benefit now than following the GFC, as a share of New Zealand’s population.
• Building consents halved during the GFC. We’ve achieved record building levels.
• Infrastructure spending is two and a half times higher now than it was in the aftermath of the Christchurch Earthquakes and GFC.
• And all this with a similar increase in net debt, a similar amount of spending, and no cuts to core public services.

Education & skills

• Over 215,000 people in free apprenticeships and targeted trades training – a 61% increase in apprentices since the pandemic started.
• Removed school donations for around 70% of schools, and removed NCEA fees.
• Reintroduced the Training Incentive Allowance for 2,892 people in 2022 alone.
• Over 2,900 additional teachers since we took office.
• Over 1,300 more classrooms since 2018.
• First Year Fees Free for post secondary education.
• Reformed the struggling vocational education system that we inherited.
• Increased student support rates by $50 a week in 2018 and $25 a week in 2022.
• Healthy school lunches are being delivered to over 220,000 kids at 950 schools every day.
• Free period products to young people in 2,074 schools and Kura, providing assistance to 98% of those who need them.
• Working to refresh our curriculum to ensure that kids are getting the education they deserve.
• Set clear targets to ensure our kids are getting to school.
• Established Te Mahau a new regionally based education service agency.
• Reinstated the ‘100% funding band’ for ECEs from 1 January 2021.
• Made significant progress towards pay parity for education and care centre teachers.

Housing

• The largest annual increase in new homes since records began.
• 10,600 new public homes and 4,020 new transitional homes – more than 10% of all of NZ’s public homes have been added since 2017.
• Established a Progressive Home Ownership Scheme.
• Reformed planning laws to enable more affordable housing.
• Reforming New Zealand’s drinking and waste water system to enable better water infrastructure, job creation and more housing.
• 90,000 heat pumps and insulation installed through Warmer Kiwi Homes, delivering healthy homes and lower power bills to low-income families.
• Invested in the infrastructure necessary for new housing.
• Set the Healthy Home Standards.
• Reformed Tenancy laws.
• Directed the Commerce Commission to carry out a market study into building materials.

Māori

• Lowest Māori unemployment on record at 5.5% (Q2 2022).
• We’ve boosted funding for te reo Māori initiatives in schools and kōhanga reo, while growing the number of te reo Māori teachers.
• Established a fund for Māori boarding schools.
• Introduced a progressive procurement policy to encourage Māori business.
• Built more papakāinga housing.
• Established Matariki as a public holiday from 2022.

Health & disabilities

• Increased Pharmac’s funding by 43%.
• Over 500,000 free primary mental health sessions.
• 2.5 million people are now covered through primary care providers in an entirely new system set up since 2019.
• Expanded free and low-cost doctors’ visits to children under 14, and expanded school-based health services to over 96,170 students across 300 schools.
• More than 4,200 more nurses since 2017.
• Nearly 2,000 more doctors since 2017.
• Increased graduate nurse salaries by 21% since 2017.
• 713 more psychologists since 2017.
• Funded a portable paediatric retinal camera for every health district.
• Funded an extra 20 mobile dental clinics.
• Doubled the number of publicly-funded cochlear implants.
• Established Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority.
• Established Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand.
• Established a rheumatic fever register.
• Counsellors are now in 164 schools.
• Expanding Mana Ake to Northland, Counties Manukau, Bay of Plenty, Lakes, and the West Coast.
• Expanded nurse family partnerships and increased the number of respite beds.
• Expanded the Healthy Homes Initiative.
• Expanded ACC to cover maternal birth injuries benefitting approximately 28,000 birthing parents.
• Introduced an Accessibility for New Zealanders Act.

Climate change

• Tripled the number of electric vehicles coming into New Zealand.
• Reduced the emissions of newly imported cars by 15% in six months – it previously took eight years for the same decrease of CO₂.
• Helped 53 businesses save money, reduce 1m tonnes of emissions, and switch to clean energy.
• Phasing out fossil fuels in process heat by preventing installation of new low and medium temperature coal-fired boilers.
• Replaced more than 100 coal boilers from schools and hospitals.
• Required only zero-emissions buses to be purchased for the public bus fleet by 2025 and targeted decarbonising the fleet by 2035.
• Made Greenstar 6 the minimum build standard for all new state homes.
• Since December 2020 the number of purely petrol and diesel cars the Government owns has decreased by 16.8 per cent.
• Increased EECA’s Energy and Decarbonisation support for businesses.
• Increased funding for the EECA Low Emission Transport Fund.
• Created a Plastics Innovation Fund.
• Expanded the Just Transitions Unit to regions and communities beyond Taranaki.
• Launched the Climate Emergency Response Fund.

Justice

• Reversed declining Police numbers, added 1,500 more Police Officers, and invested $1.1b more for Police.
• Introduced Firearms Prohibition Orders legislation.
• Rolled out the Te Ara Oranga meth harm pilot to support more communities impacted by high meth use.
• Banned harmful conversion practices.
• Established an Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court in Hawke’s Bay.
• Repealed Three Strikes and passed the Sexual Violence Legislation Bill.
• Banned military style semi-automatic weapons.
• Cracked down on organised crime.

Primary industries

• Growing primary sector exports.
• Established a single Farm Plan process.
• $380m to help get new tools, technology, and practices to support farmers to reduce on-farm greenhouse gas emissions. This includes $339m through the establishment of a new Centre for Climate Action on Agricultural Emissions.
• Established $60m infrastructure fund to boost digital connectivity in regions.
• Enhanced protection for our most-productive land through the National Policy Statement on Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL).
• Developed the Fit for a Better World roadmap with the food and fibre sector, to add $44b to primary sector export earnings across the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs.

Small business

• Legislated to reduce Merchant Service Fees.
• Accelerated and strengthened business support, including for mental wellbeing.
• Established a Unit within MBIE to work with SMEs to minimise compliance costs.
• Established Digital Boost, a new digital training course for SMEs.
• Extended the Small Business Cash flow Scheme for a further three years and extended the interest-free period.
• Establishing the Business Growth Fund to support smaller businesses to access finance.
• Requiring Government departments to pay 95% of invoices within 10 days and legislating to require large companies to report their payment times to their smaller suppliers.