As expected, Budget 2023 is dubbed a ‘well-being’ budget, and focuses primarily on reducing cost of living expenses for Kiwis. For businesses and individuals alike, there will be boosts to the national road, power and telecommunications infrastructures.
Well-being of families and individuals
It is clear that enabling parents with young children to return to the work force has taken a front seat in this budget, with numerous provisions for Early Childhood Education. Businesses will welcome the opportunity to see more parents return to work.
The removal of the $5 prescription co-payments for all New Zealanders is set to ease the impacts of cost of medication. The removal of the fee hopes to support those individuals who are hesitant to collect their medication due to the cost.
Under current legislation, employers are able to pay some disabled employees less than the minimum wage. Budget 2023 commits to providing a wage supplement to replace the minimum wage exemption, which will ensure all disabled employees in New Zealand are paid at the minimum wage rate and at the same time protecting their jobs.
Disaster recovery
In the aftermath of the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle, the government made several urgent investments. Budget 2023 builds on these earlier investments and supports the next stage of the recovery. It invests a total of $941 million operating and $195 million capital to support the recovery and invest in regional resilience. Though it is encouraging to see the further investment, local businesses may continue to question whether this will be enough.
Economic developments
The Government claims to have "a clear plan for the future to grow our economy, invest in our people, and ensure everyone can reach their potential,” Chris Hipkins said. Your opinion on whether this budget will provide a secure future or not largely depends on your position in the political spectrum.
Particular mention was made of the gaming sector, with a 20 percent rebate for video game developers, to help grow and protect our domestic game-development sector.
Revenue and tax changes
A number of reprioritisations have been made as part of the budget, as well as bringing trustee tax rates into line with top personal tax bracket, which is estimated to contribute $1.1 billion total operating income over the forecast period.
OUR VIEW
You can read the full budget speech here. Or an
at-a-glance report here.