Two weeks ago, Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I delivered the first Budget of the coalition Government in Parliament.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!We were proud to deliver tax relief for the first time in 14 years, cut wasteful spending, and invest in the frontline services Kiwis expect.
The tax relief we announced will be a welcome boost to Kiwis’ back pockets. Average-income households will take home an extra $102 a fortnight, while eligible families will also get up to $150 every fortnight for childcare through our FamilyBoost package.
If you are curious to know how much better off you’ll be under our tax plan, I would encourage you to use our tax calculator which takes less than a minute to complete. All you must do is visit budget.govt.nz/taxcalculator.
More than 400,000 Kiwis have already used this calculator to work out how much better off they will be. This is a huge response and shows how enthusiastic hardworking New Zealanders are to know how much more of their earnings they’ll be taking home each week.
This has been made possible thanks to the hard work our government has done to find savings and treat taxpayers’ money with respect. Our tax plan is responsibly paid for by cutting wasteful spending that wasn’t delivering for Kiwis, coupled with new revenue initiatives. By eliminating wasteful spending, we are helping to bring down inflation and reducing the need for more borrowing.
In other good news, tax relief isn’t the only benefit to come from our savings programme. It has also allowed us to invest even more in critical frontline services. Better healthcare so that Kiwis can get the timely treatment they need. Better schools so that our children can succeed and lead the lives they want. And more money for Police and Corrections so that we can go after criminals and keep our streets safer.
Budget 2024 was also about setting New Zealand up for growth. If we want to strengthen and grow the economy, we need better infrastructure that makes it easier and safer to move around the country.
In New Zealand that means investing in better roads, because that is how most of the freight and people move around our regions.
Sadly, in recent years, the prevalence of potholes has dramatically increased. We inherited a network of 62,000 potholes that needed fixing after the election, and this has quickly become an issue that Kiwis are quick to raise with me when I travel around the country.
Our government is not mucking around when it comes to delivering infrastructure, and that is why the Minister of Transport Simeon Brown announced a Pothole Prevention Fund last week – making good on National’s campaign commitment.
We are putting a record $2.07 billion over the next three years to fix potholes on state highways and $1.9 billion to fix potholes on local roads.
Compared to the last government, this represents a 91 per cent increase in funding for pothole prevention on state highways and a 50 per cent increase in the total funding for local roads.
This funding provides councils with much-needed certainty as they finalise their long-term plans. It will also enable roading contractors to have a clear pipeline of work in our network – which will allow more investment in the people and equipment needed for maintenance.
This is not just an investment in our roads. It is an investment in the economic growth that a safe and reliable transport network contributes to and is all part of this Government’s plan to get New Zealand back on track. -by Hon Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand