Budget 2025 release and focusing on Health, Education and Defence
On 22 May the Budget was read by Hon Nicola Willis the Minister of Finance and this summary focuses on the topics of Health, Education and Defence.
Health
Budget 2025 will provide $7billion that will provide an operating uplift for services provided by Health NZ, targeted funding to support better GP and after-hours care and funding for additional cancer treatments and other medicines.
It will put $164 million over four years to expand urgent and after-hours healthcare services across the country.
This means 98 per cent of New Zealanders will be able to receive in-person urgent care within one hour’s drive of their homes.
Community based urgent care will get extended hours to help the 5000 Kiwis who need it daily.
Rural urgent and after-hours care will be funded to ensure a trained urgent care professional is available on call 24/7 to provide in-person care.
Strengthening Health services for the elderly will see investment of $24 million over four years for people who don’t need continued hospital treatment, to move to other care places in the community, including aged residential care.
As part of Budget 2025, the Government will increase Disability Support Services (DSS) funding for residential care by $60 million each year over the next four years, starting from 1 July 2025.
DSS provides essential services and supports more than 52,000 disabled people, including about 7,200 people in residential care facilities.
Budget 2025 invests $28 million over four years to fund the transition from a Police-led response to a mental health response to 111 mental distress calls.
The new multi-agency mental health response service will involve 10 new co-response teams and a significant boost to the capacity of mental health telehealth services. There will be increased funding for training new psychologists and psychiatrists.
The Budget also invests $50 million in improving the safety, privacy and dignity of mentally distressed people at mental health facilities.
A new hospital is promised for Nelson by 2029 and emergency department improvements to facilities and staffing in Wellington, Auckland and other centres, are to be funded.
Education
With the goal of Strengthening Education, the Budget will provide $1.5 billion to improve student achievement, including an historic investment in learning support with $646 million of initiatives to ensure earlier identification of and better help for children with additional physical, learning and behavioural needs, which will change lives.
It will also benefit their classmates, whose teachers will now be better supported to meet diverse learning needs.
The extra Budget funding will provide more teacher aide hours, more specialist support, learning support coordinators, an expansion of early intervention services, and new learning support classrooms.
Financial education will become a core element of the social sciences curriculum for Year 1-10 students from 2026 and will extend to year 11-13 students when required.
Extra maths help will be available for students who need it, with $100 million of new funding for early intervention and support.
There is a $140 million package of services to lift school attendance, and this delivers on an ACT and National coalition commitment.
The subsidy available to independent schools will increase to $15.7million over four years.
New funding in Budget 2025 of $646 million operating, and $101 million capital, is the largest boost to learning support in a generation.
Finally, more than $700 million has been set aside to deliver new schools, purchase sites, expand some schools and build new classrooms.
Defence
Budget 2025 provides Defence Force and Foreign Affairs with greater capability, with $1.9 billion total operating and $1.1 billion total capital investments to be provided that recognises the fast-changing geostrategic context and the critical role New Zealand plays in supporting peace and prosperity in the Pacific. An additional $1.6 billion total capital is pre-committed against Budget 2026 for further strengthening our Defence Force.
Budget 2025 allows investments in critical tools that support our national and economic security. This ranges from updated and interoperable missile systems to counter uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to protect our people and assets, through to planes that are essential for deploying troops and equipment and supporting international trade and diplomatic missions.
We will be looking to use New Zealand businesses to supply products and technology where it makes sense to do so, further demonstrating the Government’s commitment to supporting those who are innovative and capable of developing the tools and capability that Defence needs.
The funding of $2.7 billion in capital and $563 million in the Budget will allow the previously announced Defence Capability Plan to
- replace the two Boeing 757s to support military operations and deployments, humanitarian and disaster relief support, and trade and diplomatic missions;
- replace the Seasprite maritime helicopters operating from Navy ships;
- replace the Javelin anti-armour missile system launch units with new interoperable units will allow support to partner militaries and longer ranges to be targeted;
- supply encrypted radios to provide deployed Army units with secure voice communication;
- supply counter-UAS that can be set up in fixed locations and that will be able to disable drones/UAS that could pose a threat to personnel, aircraft/vehicles and infrastructure;
- progress detailed design work for the future of Devonport Naval Base; and
- invest in homes for Defence families, Defence infrastructure, modernise the
Defence vehicle fleet and digital and information management projects.
The total planned spend in Budget 2025 brings the total investment in Defence to $4.2 billion for the year.
Ultimately, spending on Defence will result in economic benefits to everyday New Zealanders and New Zealand businesses and it will allow us to protect what is ours.
The Budget for growth
The Prime Minister says that Budget 2025 is about growing the economy to help Kiwis get ahead and the Budget includes detailed plans from the Finance Minister about how this will be done.
We have had a tough few years, but inflation is down, and wages are growing and so are the number of jobs. NZ’s economy is starting to recover and growth of 2.7 per cent per year is expected on average, thanks to National’s careful management.
We cannot take this recovery for granted, which is why a responsible Budget has been delivered that firmly focuses on growing the economy to help Kiwis get ahead.
All the best,
Judith
Hon Judith Collins KC
MP for Papakura
