2019 New Zealand budget

Submitted by	Grant Robertson
Parliament	Parliament of New Zealand
Party	Labour
Surplus	$3.5 billion
Website	Budget 2019
‹ 2018 2020›

Budget 2019, dubbed theWellbeing Budget, was the name given to theNew Zealand budget forfiscal year 2019/20 presented to theNew ZealandHouse of Representatives byFinance MinisterGrant Robertson on 30 May 2019. This was the second budget presented by theCoalition Government. Its release was complicated by the accidental publication of budgetary documents on a test website two days prior to its official release on 30 May, attracting significant media and public attention.^[1][2][3]

In late May 2019, theLabour-ledCoalition Government announced that the 2019 New Zealand budget would be the country's first "Wellbeing Budget", reflecting its focus on addressing mental-health issues, child well-being, supportingMāori andPasifika aspirations, encouraging productivity, and transitioning to a sustainable economy.^[4] The "Wellbeing Budget" sought to address these issues by:

• breaking down agency silos and working across government to assess, develop and implement policies that improve wellbeing;
• focusing on outcomes that balance the needs of present generations with those of future generations;
• tracking progress with broader measures of success including the health of the country's finances, natural resources, people and communities.^[5]

The release of the "Wellbeing Budget" was complicated by the accidental publication two days earlier of budgetary documents on a test website which the Treasury had not intended to be publicly available. The oppositionNational Party gained access to these documents and criticized security. This leak initially raised allegations ofhacking - with the usual confusion over different definitions of "hacking" ensuing^[6] - and was referred to theNew Zealand Police before a seniorTreasury official confirmed that the leak had been accidental.Opposition LeaderSimon Bridges also criticized the Government's handling of the data leak and called for the resignations of Finance Minister Robertson and Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf.^[7][8][9]

The Coalition Government has allocated NZ$3.8 billion in operational funding and NZ$10.4 billion in capital funding for the Wellbeing Budget.^[10]

• Investing NZ$445 million into creating a new mental health frontline service.^[11][10]
• Investing NZ$40 million into expanding suicide prevention services.^[11][10]
• Stationing more nurses at secondary schools.^[11]
• Building 1,044 new homes under the Housing First programme.^[11]

• Investing $320 million into special services to address family and sexual violence.^[11][10]
• SupportingOranga Tamariki to help transition children living in state care into independent living.^[11][10]
• Increasing funding to decile 1–7 schools so that schools do not need to ask for donations from parents.^[11][10]
• Lifting incomes by indexing main benefits and removing punitive sanctions.^[11][10]

• Investing NZ$81 million inWhānau Ora to improve primary health outcomes.^[11][10]
• Investing inMāori and Pasifika language programmes.^[11][10]
• Investing NZ$10 million to increase the Pacific Provider Workforce Development Fund to support a Pacific Health workforce pipeline.^[10]
• A $12 million programme to combatrheumatic fever, which is prevalent among the Māori and Pasifika communities.^[10]

• Investing NZ$300 million into establishing a New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) to encourage start-up companies.^[11][10]
• Investing NZ$106 million into encouraging businesses to help transition New Zealand into alow-carbon economy.^[11][10]
• Investing NZ$200 million into vocational and trade training programs.^[11]

• Investing NZ$1 billion intoKiwiRail.^[10]
• Investing NZ$95 million into science and research on climate change and new energy technologies.^[10]
• Encouraging sustainable land use with a $229 million package.^[10]

• Allocating NZ$1.2 billion for a school property refurbishment programme, starting with NZ$287 million in 2019 for new buildings.^[11][10]

• $1.7 billion to purchaseBoeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.^[10]

• Investing NZ$1.7 billion into upgrading and rebuilding hospitals over the next two years including theDunedin Hospital.^[11][10]
• Extending thebowel cancer screening programme to five moredistrict health boards.^[11]
• Investing NZ$2.9 billion into district health boards.^[11]

• Investing NZ$1.4 billion to upgrade and maintain theAuckland City Rail Link.^[10]
• Allocating NZ$855 million to theProvincial Growth Fund from the multi-year capital allowance.^[10]

The Opposition Leader Simon Bridges criticized the Wellbeing Budget, claiming thatNew Zealand First "held the purse strings, with funding for rail and forestry". Bridges also claimed that the economy was in decline and business confidence were at record lows. Similarly,ACT Party leaderDavid Seymour claimed that the Wellbeing Budget failed to provide the fiscal policies needed for stronger economic growth.^[12]

The Auckland Action Against Poverty CoordinatorRicardo Menéndez March and left-wing bloggerMartyn "Bomber" Bradbury criticized the Budget for lacking new initiatives to addressing rising poverty and inequality.^[13][14] Left-wing political commentatorChris Trotter opined that the Wellbeing Budget violated the principle ofno taxation without representation.^[15]

• 2019 government budgets
• 2019 in New Zealand politics
• May 2019 in New Zealand
• New Zealand budgets