New Zealand Government delivers new 'wellbeing' budget

The sixth budget of New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson has delivered $4.8 billion of new annual spending, with almost 80% of that figure absorbed by cost pressures in existing services.

Titled the Wellbeing Budget 2023 and following up from the New Zealand Government’s first Wellbeing Budget of 2020, the funding plan focussed on supporting New Zealanders in a transition to a climate-resilient, sustainable, and low-emissions economy.

Improved health outcomes for all New Zealanders, particularly the mental wellbeing of young people, was also high in the funding objectives.

Sport
In sport, Finance Minister Robertson’s pledges for the coming financial year covered the following:

• Nearly $75 million to support high performance sport, supplied by High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ)

• Over $71 million for a wide range of functions to benefit sport and physical recreation within New Zealand, and policy advice on sport and physical recreation matters, supplied by Sport New Zealand (SNZ)

• Nearly $5 million to support anti-doping arrangements, supplied by Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ)

• Nearly $8 million for protecting and enhancing integrity in sport and recreation, supplied by Integrity Sport and Recreation New Zealand

• Over $4 million to provide scholarships enabling talented New Zealanders to pursue tertiary study and elite-level sport development concurrently, and/or to develop skills that contribute to the quality of New Zealand's sport performance at the elite level

• 470,000 for advice on the performance of sport and recreation Crown entities, and support for board appointment processes, supplied by Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage, and

• $44,000 for miscellaneous grants supporting sport and recreation activity.

Tourism
Finance Minister Robinson’s budget also includes $18.2 million over four years for implementing the Better Work Action Plan - developed collaboratively by Government, Māori, industry and unions.

A holistic package of proposals that aims to bring about positive changes in the tourism industry, the funding also includes $8 million for NZ Māori Tourism.

Also spread over the next 48 months, the investment acknowledges the on-going challenges faced by the industry and the significant contribution Māori make to tourism.

Budget 2023 has allocated $10.7 billion of capital spending on a range of infrastructure projects.

The largest of these is a $6 billion allocation into a new National Resilience Plan which will initially support post cyclone rebuilding efforts before transforming into a vehicle addressing long-term infrastructure deficit.

Click here to read New Zealand’s 2023 budget in full online.