This week we’re delivering Budget 2025, providing more support to help Kiwis get ahead.
I know that things are not easy – New Zealand is still recovering from the economic damage inflicted by COVID and further global instability has made things tough for Kiwis.
Despite these challenges, my Government is overseeing a steady economic recovery, with export-led growth strengthening, business confidence increasing and the primary sector benefiting from higher commodity prices.
Budget 2025 will be responsible – providing a predictable, steady approach to economic and fiscal management so we can support economic growth.
Economic growth means Kiwis have more money in their pockets to help with the cost of living – and with it comes more opportunities and more jobs.
A growing economy also allows us to invest in health and education and deliver the public services that Kiwis want and deserve.
I’m excited to share with you some of the pre-Budget announcements we have already made, and I’m confident that Kiwis will see that Budget 2025 is engineered to support them to get ahead.
Budget 2025 invests in better outcomes for families through the new Social Investment Fund. Our $275m investment to back the organisations helping families stay housed, supporting kids with autism earlier, and reducing youth offending. It means fewer government hoops and more direct support for the people who need it most.
Over the weekend we also announced that Budget 2025 is investing $164 million over four years to expand urgent and after-hours healthcare services across the country.
Strengthening urgent and after-hours care is an important part of our Government’s plan to ensure all New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare.
Our investment will ensure that 98 per cent of New Zealanders will be able to receive in-person urgent care within one hour’s drive of their homes.
Around 5,000 New Zealanders visit urgent care clinics every day, but the availability of after-hours services has declined in recent years, and access remains variable across the country.
Making it easier to see a doctor or nurse is a key priority for this Government. We’re taking action to ensure Kiwis can access the care they need, when and where they need it.
Our investment will also support more timely care, reducing pressure on emergency departments, and improving outcomes for patients.
Urgent care supports patients with non-life-threatening injuries or medical problems not severe enough to require emergency department care, but who can’t wait until the following day for medical attention.
Expanding community-based urgent care will help ease pressure on hospitals and keep emergency departments wait times down for those with the most serious conditions.
Budget 2025 will also invest $604.6m in funding to upgrade and renew New Zealand’s rail network
It also gives people more choice, particularly in rural and remote areas where options have been limited.
This funding provides $461m to maintain and renew the rail freight network, and $143.6m to upgrade the Auckland and Wellington metropolitan rail networks.
Rail moves 13% of national freight and 25% of our exports. We want efficient and modern railways to back our businesses, cities and provinces.
Our investment will replace decades’ old bridges, culverts and other assets with infrastructure to last for generations.
Metro rail investment in Auckland and Wellington will make services more reliable and easier to maintain, while ease congestion on the busiest parts of the network and allowing for future demand.
This is a Government that backs Kiwis to succeed – not one that holds them back, and I’m looking forward to sharing the full Budget with you soon. –Hon Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand.