60 articles
The Government will direct $5 million from the International Visitor Levy into one-off marketing and business events programmes for the 2026/27 year to accelerate tourism's return toward pre-pandemic levels.
The Government will remove nine health and life insurers from New Zealand's mandatory climate-related disclosures regime, reducing the total number of required reporting entities to 67.
Former United Future leader Peter Dunne has called for an independent body to scrutinise opposition parties' spending commitments, arguing that New Zealand's existing fiscal transparency rules leave a critical gap ahead of elections.
The government is considering reinstating a payroll subsidy for small businesses as forecasts show tax debt reaching $10.5 billion. Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand has proposed a two-pronged approach to curb the rise.
New Zealand forestry exports totalled $6.28 billion in the year ended December 2025, forming the starting point for a government target to double primary sector export value within a decade at a required 7.2 percent compound annual growth rate.
The government will expand its AI Advisory Pilot to support 150 small businesses, up from 50, drawing on the initial $765,000 allocation from existing MBIE appropriations, Small Business and Manufacturing Minister Cameron Brewer announced on 15 May 2026.
The government is investing $59 million across six projects under the Primary Sector Growth Fund, leveraging $84 million in private contributions for a total $143 million package announced at Fieldays.
MBIE began public consultation on 9 June 2026 on a two-layer Winter Energy Reliability Obligation that shifts dry-year back-up responsibility to large electricity buyers and generators, while penalties for serious breaches rise from a $2 million cap to a maximum of $10 million, three times commercial gain or 10 per cent of turnover, whichever is greatest, effective 2027.
Cabinet has agreed to new performance reporting requirements for funds administered by public service departments and other Executive branch entities. The rules aim to lift the quality of information on how public money delivers results.
The Government has finished recommissioning 93 million litres of additional diesel storage capacity at Marsden Point in Northland, using up to $21.6 million from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to create a nine-day national diesel buffer.
Pausing, cancelling and delaying infrastructure projects has cost New Zealand an estimated $11.835 billion over the past 25 years, according to a new report by economist Shamubeel Eaqub.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spent $162 million less on foreign aid in 2024-25 than previously budgeted, according to figures in Budget 2026 estimates.
Amanda Malu, who became chief executive of Oranga Tamariki in February 2026, will direct an extra $184 million from Budget 2026 to handle reports of suspected harm and support high-needs children.
Budget 2026 allocates $57.7 million over four years to modernise Stats NZ’s Integrated Data Infrastructure after years of capacity shortfalls and outdated systems.
The Government committed $57.7 million over four years in Budget 2026 to upgrade the Integrated Data Infrastructure.
The Social Security (Mandatory Reviews) Amendment Bill received royal assent on 26 May 2025 and took effect immediately, authorising broader use of automated electronic systems for eligibility checks and payment decisions at the Ministry of Social Development.
The first of two government-procured diesel shipments, loaded on 31 May 2026, is en route to Marsden Point and due to arrive 16-18 June, adding roughly nine days of dedicated buffer under direct Crown control.
Budget 2026 confirms $4.77 billion in baseline funding over four years for the Ministry for Primary Industries. The allocation supports New Zealand's food and fibre sector as exports head for a record $62 billion this year.
Budget 2026 allocates $34.4 million over four years to expand maternity bed capacity and staffing, enabling up to three-day postnatal hospital stays for mothers and babies.
The 28 May 2026 Budget ends the fees-free tertiary policy at the close of 2026, delivering $1 billion in savings over four years while redirecting funds to vocational training and secondary education initiatives.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis closed Budget 2026 by telling Kiwis they 'just need to choose it, they just need to vote for it' as Treasury forecasts an earlier return to OBEGALx surplus.
The government will raise the income-related rent contribution for social housing tenants from 25 per cent to 30 per cent of assessable income from 1 April 2027, delivering $387.5 million in operating savings over the forecast period.
Budget 2026 allocates $400 million over four years to an Incentives for Growth Fund that pays councils directly for each new home consented, with payments starting in April 2027.
The May 2026 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update presents a more reassuring fiscal picture than December's Half Year Update, with narrower deficits and cyclically-adjusted OBEGAL returning to surplus a year earlier in 2028/29, but the recovery hinges on a series of ambitious and interconnected assumptions about growth, inflation, unemployment and government savings that must align almost perfectly.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered Budget 2026 on 28 May 2026, forecasting an OBEGALx surplus of $2.6 billion in 2028/29, a year earlier than the December 2025 HYEFU projection of a $900 million deficit.
Budget 2026 redirects $1 billion in savings from axing the final-year fees-free scheme into nearly $2 billion of new operating and capital spending on schools and early childhood education over four years.
Budget 2026 allocates $48 million over four years to Te Māngai Pāho to sustain Māori broadcasting and prevent a $16 million annual funding drop.
The Government will spend $42.9 million over four years to modernise the SuperGold Card so seniors can use it as primary photographic identification.
The Government will raise the minimum income-related rent contribution for social housing tenants from 25 percent to 30 percent of income from 1 April 2027, delivering net fiscal savings while redirecting most proceeds into higher Accommodation Supplement rates.
Government capital contributions to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund will total $3.1 billion over the next four years, $2.2 billion more than forecast at the December Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update, according to the Treasury's updated Contribution Rate Model released with BEFU 2026.
Budget 2026 allocates more than $680 million in new capital spending for hospital upgrades and capacity expansion across New Zealand.
Health Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the ratification of a new 24-month collective agreement for about 1,000 members of the Nurses Society of New Zealand, featuring a 2.5 per cent pay rise in year one and 2 per cent in year two.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon spoke with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on 27 May 2026 about the wars in Ukraine and Iran and the shared pressure global instability places on household costs ahead of New Zealand's Budget 2026.
A jobseeker who accepted voluntary redundancy in 2024 has applied for more than 130 positions without success nearly two years later.
Wellington City Council has approved an average 5.8% rates increase for the 2026/27 year, the lowest since 2020 and below Auckland's 7.9% rise.
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced Budget 2026 funding for the National Emergency Management Agency to modernise fragmented systems with a common operating picture and related tools.
Budget 2026 allocates $100 million for two new courthouses in Rotorua, one serving the Law Courts and one for the Māori Land Court.
Auckland councillors voted 14 to 7 on 26 May 2026 to approve Mayor Wayne Brown's 2026/27 annual budget, delivering an average 7.9 percent increase in residential rates.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has rejected Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick's claim that failed climate policies created a $1.4 billion hole in Emissions Trading Scheme auction revenue.
Warnings from Fitch Ratings and S&P Global that a planned cap on local council rate increases could weaken their creditworthiness have exposed the degree to which New Zealand's local government system depends on endless rates hikes to sustain ballooning debt levels.
Unison Networks has warned Napier City Council that its proposed shift to a capital-value transportation rate will raise electricity and telecommunications charges for Napier residents.
The Council of Trade Unions is pressing the government to deliver targeted relief for workers in the 28 May Budget, citing Australia's recent tax measures for low-income earners as an example.
Inland Revenue is proposing to zero-rate GST on conference and convention attendance fees supplied to non-resident businesses. The move targets a 15 percent cost handicap that has deterred international organisers from choosing New Zealand.
The government announced a Gas Transition Loan Guarantee Scheme on 25 May 2026 to support up to $1.2 billion in bank lending for businesses reducing natural gas use.
Closures on the Waioweka Gorge section of State Highway 2 disrupt $190 million in annual tradeable gross domestic product in the Tairāwhiti region, according to the Trust Tairāwhiti Waioweka Gorge Closure Impacts Report released in mid-May 2026.
The Coalition Government will allocate $48 million in Budget 2026 for a Gas Transition Loan Guarantee Scheme under which the Crown guarantees 80 percent of qualifying loans to encourage businesses to switch from natural gas to electricity or bioenergy.
New modelling shows charter schools cost taxpayers far less to establish than equivalent state schools, with savings ranging from $236,574 for a 100-student primary to $472,641 for a secondary.
Auckland Council is finalising a 7.9 percent rates increase for the average residential property in the 2026/27 Annual Plan. The rise adds roughly $320 a year to bills and stems directly from $235 million in annual operating costs for the City Rail Link.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will release its Monetary Policy Statement and OCR decision on 27 May 2026, one day before Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers Budget 2026 on 28 May. This rare back-to-back timing tests both institutions' credibility under an Iran-driven energy shock that has already altered pre-conflict fiscal optimism.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will deliver Budget 2026 on 28 May 2026 against a backdrop of a projected $13.9 billion operating deficit and fresh downside risks from the Middle East conflict.
New Zealand retail sales volumes increased 0.9 percent in the March 2026 quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis. The gain matched the December 2025 quarter and exceeded market expectations of 0.5 percent.
Budget 2026 documents go online from 2pm on Thursday 28 May, with hard-copy packs on sale for $55 through two retailers.
Business leaders report modest gains in financial positivity while overall sentiment stays near record lows, underscoring a diverging economy where export-oriented sectors gain ground and domestic-facing industries struggle under fuel-price pressures and pre-election uncertainty.
The Government will increase the minimum rent contribution for social housing tenants from 25 per cent to 30 per cent of income from April 2027, lifting weekly costs for around 84,000 households by an average of $31 while generating $387.5 million in operating savings over the forecast period.
New Zealand spends about $20 billion a year on public infrastructure yet less than a quarter of major projects receive a formal cost-benefit analysis of the preferred option.
The government's abrupt scrapping of a long-term energy strategy in April 2026 has left New Zealand businesses facing fresh uncertainty, as gas reserves continue their sharp decline and short-term fixes dominate policy.
The Ministry for Regulation now targets a permanent structure of 91 full-time staff, more than four times the headcount of the New Zealand Productivity Commission it replaced in 2024.
A median full-time worker paid $15,148 in personal income tax for the year ended June 2023. That amount more than doubled the $7,427 paid in the year ended June 2011. Real wages failed to keep pace with the increase.
Treasury forecasts a $13.9 billion OBEGALx deficit for 2025/26, equal to 3.0 percent of GDP, the largest share since the COVID period. This constrained position is forcing parties to limit 2026 election promises to low-cost measures rather than new spending.
Auckland’s City Rail Link will carry its first paying passengers in the third or fourth week of July 2026 after safety testing ends in early June.
