New Zealand / Politics

Budget 2020: What you need to know

18:17 pm on 14 May 2020

The government has unveiled a $50 billion recovery package as part of today's Budget. Here's a breakdown of where Budget 2020's money is going.

Photo: Pool / STUFF / Monique Ford

Some $13.9bn of the fund has already been spent including on the wage subsidy scheme.

Another $15.9bn worth of initiatives was revealed by Finance Minister Grant Robertson today, on the immediate response to kickstart the economy and $20.2bn put aside for future investment.

Here's where the money is going.

Covid-19 recovery package

Business support

  • An eight week extension to the wage subsidy scheme for businesses who have suffered a 50 percent reduction in turnover the 30 days prior to their application compared to last year, costing up to $3.2bn
  • $400m Tourism sector relief package
  • Targeted sector support totalling $41.4m is being spent across three years in construction, digital and agritech sectors

Trades training support

$1.1 billion environmental jobs package

  • The package is predicted to create almost 11,000 new jobs

$900 million to support Māori

  • Funding includes a $200m Māori employment package
  • $400m increase to Māori education

Housing

  • $56m increase to the government's insulation and heating programme
  • 8000 new public and transitional homes, to be delivered by Kāinga Ora, community housing providers and transitional housing providers
  • Kāinga Ora is anticipated to borrow an additional $5bn to fund its proportion of the houses

Extension of school lunch programme

  • $220.6m to be spent on expanding the free school lunch programme.
  • An additional 200,000 children will get a free lunch and is estimated to create an extra 2000 jobs

Other measures in this year's Budget

  • An extra $833m to go towards disability support services
  • An extra $3bn has been put aside to fund infrastructure projects, on top of the $12 billion dollars already announced
  • $1bn is being invested to improve transport, including $667 million for rail infrastructure including tracks and new wagons and locomotive and $400 million to replace Interislander ferries
  • $55.6m of aid spending for Pacific Island nations
  • $1.77bn boost for Defence
  • $280m for postal services, made up of $130m from the Budget and $150m from the Covid-Response and Recovery fund
  • $6.3bn is being invested in health
  • Nearly $1bn to support education services.

Read the full wrap on where the money is going here.