From early next year, over 100,000 more Year 1–8 students will have access to a Learning Support Coordinator to provide the support they need so they can thrive at school.
By 2028, more students will have access to this support, with almost 300,000 students expected to benefit as a result of funding announced earlier this year.
Learning Support Coordinators support both staff and students in schools, working with neurodiverse students and those with additional learning needs. This increase in support will help schools identify student needs earlier, bringing learning support closer to young people who need it most.
For too long, parents, teachers, and principals have been calling out for more support, which is why Budget 2025 delivered the largest investment in learning support in a generation.
We want every Kiwi child to get the support the need, no matter where they live – but right now, access to learning support varies across New Zealand.
We’re removing inequity, inconsistency and we’re being flexible for our rural and smaller schools who struggle to fully staff their classrooms.
Parents can be confident we are putting their child’s needs at the centre of the education system.
We want every child to thrive. This investment will raise achievement and ensure every Kiwi student has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Our main focus continues to be on growing the economy to create more jobs, higher wages and help Kiwis with the cost of living.
Kiwis received welcome news recently as the Reserve Bank again reduced the Official Cash Rate. The latest reduction means the OCR has now fallen from 5.5 per cent to 3 per cent in just a year.
If you are one of the half of mortgage holders ready to refix in the next six months, you could see savings of hundreds of dollars a fortnight. Repayments on a 25-year, $500,000 floating mortgage are about $330 less a fortnight today than they were a year ago. That is money in your back pocket.
The Reserve Bank are now looking into the capital requirements of banks. Changes to capital requirements will create more competition in the banking sector which will give you more choice and could help lower your mortgage rates even further.
We’re also working hard to increase competition in the supermarket sector, so that you and your family can save money on your weekly shop.
We will pass legislation by the end of the year to make it clear that new supermarkets which would improve grocery competition regionally or nationally can be fast-tracked.
Our food prices are around three per cent higher than the OECD average, and we still have the fifth highest grocery expenditure per capita in the OECD. New Zealanders spend more at the checkout than people in Australia or the UK.
This isn’t delivering a fair deal for Kiwis which is why we are working hard to fix it.
Competition in the energy sector will also be good for Kiwi families and businesses.
New Zealand’s four gentailers are currently able to charge small power companies more then they charge themselves for the same electricity. This reduces competition and has contributed to the high energy prices we are currently experiencing.
The Electricity Authority have agreed to a new rule which will mean gentailers have to offer their generation at the same rate to New Zealand’s other 62 power companies.
This move gives Kiwis more choices, boosts competition and puts downward pressure on power prices.
Part of our plan to grow the economy and help Kiwis get ahead is to create competitive business settings, because this gives you more choice, and puts downward pressure on prices. -Hon Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand