Live updates: All the news from budget day

There’s always a special energy in parliament on budget day. Nervous excitement, anticipation, and dread from what will inevitably be a long and intense day for everyone involved. The halls of the press gallery usually echo with someone singing “budget day, oh budget day” to the tune of O Tannenbaum.

The budget documents are officially released at 2pm, which is when we publish our reporting. However, a select group of economists and journalists (including The Spinoff’s crack duo of political reporters, Joel MacManus and Lyric Waiwiri-Smith, who are currently writing about themselves in the third person) get an early look to prepare their stories and reactions. 

The budget lockup, in the Beehive’s banquet hall, is tightly managed, with a closed Wifi network that only allows access to a website with the budget documents. It’s not just a case of political management; significant budgets can move markets, and a savvy trader who got the details early could take advantage. 

Inside the room there were about 20 rows of tables, seating just about every single person who has ever worked at Stuff or RNZ. The vibes are like exam day at high school, but when you’re in Year 12 and your NCEA results really matter this time. When the clock hit 10:35am, Treasury staff handed out enormous stacks of documents, including a summary of Budget initiatives, Treasury’s economic and fiscal updates, and 21 government press releases.

Stay tuned for all the details of what was in those documents.

Labour has labelled the government’s budget “the austerity budget that leaves women out”.

“The government has taken $11 billion that should be lifting women’s pay and used it to make its budget add up,” said Labour leader Chris Hipkins in a press release. “After a year of job cuts, now we are on to pay cuts and stealing from our kids’ retirement funds.”

On the halving of the government’s KiwiSaver contribution, Hipkins said the move would “steal $66,000 from the retirement savings of an 18-year-old entering the scheme today”.

“With the cost-of-living pressure reaching crisis point, this government is offering some families a measly $7 a week,” he said of the cost-of-living measures announced. “That won’t even buy a block of butter.”

Nicola Willis was “choosing austerity to make up for her poor fiscal management”, said Hipkins. “More people are homeless, more children are going hungry and women are going to be paid less. That’s what Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon will be remembered for.”

Finance minister Nicola Willis finally revealed the savings to the budget made by pushing through pay equity reforms earlier this month. That total is $12.8bn over four years (including $1.8bn in capital spending that will be reprioritised), with $2.6bn in estimated savings this year. That accounts for nearly half of the $5.3bn that’s been cut from government spending in Budget 2025.

Willis has previously denied the budget was the reason for pushing through the reforms under urgency (while Act trumpeted it as Brooke Van Velden “saving the budget”). Either way, it has proven instrumental in today’s budget.

The Treasury has trimmed next year’s government bond borrowing programme to $38 billion, down $2bn from earlier forecasts. This year’s borrowing (2024/25) rises by $3bn to $43bn, with some of that cash earmarked to cover future needs. The update from Treasury, released alongside the Budget, also confirms four bond syndications are planned next year, including a new inflation-linked bond maturing in 2050. Short-term borrowing will stay flexible but is expected to track lower over time.

Despite the government adjourning debate over the suspension of three members of Te Pāti Māori so they could be present to debate the budget, not one member of the party is in the debating chamber for the start of the debate. Every other party leader was present to receive the budget from finance minister Nicola Willis.

Today’s budget represents a “significant step backwards for Aotearoa”, say the Greens.

“With cuts to KiwiSaver, housing for the ‘right people’ instead of all people and taking away money from whānau with babies, this government has well and truly put its cards of cruelty on the table,” said co-leader Marama Davidson in a press release.

“This is even worse than a BS budget, said co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. “Not only is the government shredding public services and giving up on reducing child poverty, they’re pouring oil and gas all over the climate crisis fire.

“Resilient energy supply means investing in distributed renewable energy, not burning public money to subsidise new gas fields and fossil fuel executive profits.

“Somehow even more bewildering, these very moves could compromise our Free Trade Agreements with the UK and EU. So much for ‘responsible economic managers.’”

The current maximum length for a prescription from a GP is three months. For those with chronic illnesses and conditions, this means paying prescription fees and often GP visits every quarter in order to get another prescription for their long-term medications.

Health minister Simeon Brown today revealed an increase to the maximum prescription length, to 12 months.

“From the first quarter of 2026, prescribers will be able to issue prescriptions for up to 12 months if it is clinically appropriate and safe to do so,” said Brown. Those most likely to be impacted are New Zealanders who use asthma inhalers, diabetics requiring insulin, those needing blood pressure medication. It has not been confirmed whether this will include those with conditions like ADHD, depression and anxiety.

The change is expected to cost $91m over four years, covering the cost of extra medicine that is expected to be dispensed with the longer prescriptions.

The government has announced its intention to means-test the parents of young adults wanting to go on either the jobseeker or emergency benefit. The details, such as the income threshold or whether it applies to people who no longer live at home, have yet to be ironed out, but the initiative is expected to begin in July 2027.

The concept is similar to that of student allowance, which has an income threshold for parents of students, regardless of whether or not those parents financially support their children.

As journalists and industry experts read budget 2025 for the first time, hundreds of demonstrators arrived outside parliament in protest of the government’s Pay Equity Amendment Bill, passed just two weeks earlier. While they sang and shouted, finance minister Nicola Willis revealed changes to the pay equity process have returned $12.8bn to the government.

Kelly, a member of E Tū union, said she thought the billions in savings was “bullshit”. “I’ve worked in the aged care sector for nearly 15 years, and my pay rates went from minimum wage of $14, with qualifications, up to $24,” she said. “It kept me in my job, and I think it’s crap that they’ve completely squashed that for women and the people who worked in all these sector.”

Sue, also of E Tū, said “women won’t forget” the rush to revamp pay equity in order to bring billions back to the government’s pocket. “This is going to show in the next election, because women are angry that we’re being undervalued and we’re being treated in this way,” she said. “Their excuses that they’re making for throwing it out aren’t real – we know what we’re worth, and good luck getting in next year”

The coalition government has earmarked $200 million over four years to take a 10-15% stake in new gas field developments, resources minister Shane Jones announced. The move aims to shore up domestic gas supply and reduce reliance on imported coal, with Jones calling it a “pragmatic” step to protect energy security and support industrial resilience. The final structure of the Crown’s investment is still being worked through.

In response to the announcement, Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said, “Resilient energy supply means investing in distributed renewable energy, not burning public money to subsidise new gas fields and fossil fuel executive profits… these very moves could compromise our Free Trade Agreements with the UK and EU.”

The government is injecting $246 million over four years to speed up court cases and improve access to justice, Ministers Paul Goldsmith and Nicole McKee announced. The funding will support the District, Coroners and senior courts, as well as tribunals and legal aid. Case backlogs have already dropped 9% in the past year, with trial disposals at historic highs, particularly in Auckland. The ministers say the funding will help keep pressure on delays and restore confidence in the justice system.

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has welcomed the news that the default KiwiSaver contribution will increase, and that government and employer contributions will now go to 16 and 17-year-olds.

But the decision to reduce the government contribution by half “could discourage enrolment in the scheme or a commitment to contributing during periods of low income, such as maternity leave, and particularly for the self employed”, says the FSC, which represents New Zealand’s life insurance and investment providers.

The Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) has slammed Budget 2025, welcoming some education gains but condemning the way they’ve been paid for.

“We can’t ignore the fact that any gains to education from the Budget are being largely paid for with tainted money,” said PPTA president Chris Abercrombie, referring to the government’s decision to scrap funding for pay equity settlements involving nearly 200,000 workers. “It will be a constant reminder of the depths this Government is prepared to stoop to, to pay for unaffordable promises it made to win power.”

Abercrombie praised changes to the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) and “long-overdue” increases to alternative education funding. But he criticised the cuts to kāhui ako (communities of learning), which he said play a vital role in student transition, attendance, and learning support – especially for those the Budget claims to prioritise.

“Kāhui ako provide a greatly valued career path for about 4000 skilled and experienced teachers. Many of them may well leave teaching now, exacerbating our secondary teacher shortage,” he said.

While the boost to alternative education was welcomed, Abercrombie said it still fell far short of what was needed. “We wish it was a lot more.”

Labour leader Chris Hipkins spoke to media in parliament an hour after the budget was released. Despite promising a Labour-led government would reverse recent pay equity changes, Hipkins wouldn’t commit to reversing the $12.8b price tag in the government’s budget – the estimated savings from pay equity reforms pushed through this month.

“You’re asking me whether it’s going to be a specific reversal of that dollar figure, until we’ve seen how that dollar figure has come til,” Hipkins said. “We will ensure women will get their pay equity”.

He said he didn’t know how the $3b forecast for pay equity in 2020 had ballooned out to almost $13b. “You can’t ask me to justify the government’s numbers,” Hipkins said. “I can’t give you numbers, I can give you the principle: we don’t believe that women should be paid less than men.” He suggested the inflation could have happened under the current government, rather than his previous government.

On changes to KiwiSaver, Hipkins said the government had “raided the future retirement savings of all New Zealanders who are contributing to KiwiSaver” by limiting the government’s contributions.

A former education minister, Hipkins challenged, but didn’t refute, the government’s line that this year’s budget delivered a historic investment in education. “If it’s a record amount, it’ll only be by a small margin,” he said.

After weeks of pre-Budget teasers, General Practice NZ says there were “no surprises” in today’s announcements – and little cause for celebration.

“What is hard to ignore is that the savings the government are celebrating today come at the expense of fair and equitable pay for women,” said GPNZ chief executive Maura Thompson. She criticised the sudden scrapping of the primary care nursing pay equity claim, warning it could worsen workforce retention and weaken community care.

Health minister Simeon Brown said the sector would receive a 7.4% funding increase overall – 6.2% per capita – but Thompson says that barely covers rising cost pressures. “There must be no repeat of last year’s situation, which shifted costs onto patients through increased fees,” she said.

GPNZ also noted the absence of new funding for Comprehensive Primary and Community Care Teams (CPCTs), despite earlier signals of ongoing support. “We need to retain and expand key roles like pharmacists, physios and paramedics to reduce pressure on emergency departments,” Thompson said.

Some positives include support for 111 mental health services and transition-to-aged-care pathways, but cancer drug funding remains underdelivered, with underspends returned to the Crown. “It’s disappointing to see these funds returned given the urgent needs of patients,” said Thompson.

Infrastructure New Zealand has welcomed tax incentives and targeted funding in Budget 2025 but says the overall package falls short of delivering the scale of nation-building needed to lift productivity and public services.

“This is a cautious Budget in tight fiscal times. There’s no big bang for infrastructure,” said Infrastructure NZ’s Michelle McCormick. “It signals further moves to support private sector capital investment and promises that need to be backed by future funding.”

The new Investment Boost tax incentive, which gives businesses a 20% immediate deduction on new asset purchases, was described as a win for the sector. Changes to capitalisation rules will also allow foreign-owned firms to fund more investment through debt.

Health infrastructure received the largest single line item: $1bn for facility upgrades and maintenance, including the Nelson Hospital redevelopment and Wellington’s emergency department. McCormick called it “a good start” but noted the lack of transparency with no contingency funding outlined.

Other welcomed initiatives include:

• $219m for road repairs in cyclone-affected regions
• Continued investment in commuter rail and freight upgrades
• Small-scale funding to progress regional infrastructure deals

But the overall sentiment was restrained. “New Zealanders want to see shovels in the ground,” McCormick said. “This Budget confirms a focus on fiscal restraint, but we need long-term investment to grow our economy and improve community wellbeing.”

Te Pāti Māori have slammed budget 2025 as one that is a “betrayal” of the Treaty, with Māori development only receiving 0.27% of the overall budget. It includes an $86m cut to Māori housing and a 33% cut to a Māori climate resilience fund, among other changes.

“There is no love in this Budget for Māori, for our babies, for anyone — except this government’s rich mates,” said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

“The government is systematically erasing our constitutional rights, defunding Māori-led solutions, and transferring wealth from those who need it to billionaires”.

Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa Packer claimed a Te Pāti Māori-led budget would see honour rights recognised by the Treaty, and would ensure all New Zealanders would have access to food, housing and healthcare. “For once, I agree with the prime minister — Te Pāti Māori will tax more. We will tax Chris Luxon’s rich mates and the people whose wealth he passes legislation to protect,” Ngarewa-Packer said.

Thank you for tuning in to our running coverage of Budget Day 2025. Feel free to keep reading our in-depth coverage below and look out for more tomorrow on the site:

• Gone By Lunchtime x When The Facts Change: A Budget special
• A guide to the 2025 Growth Budget for people who hate budgets
• Budget 2025: Some lollies, some scramble, and some woke sushi
• Budget 2025: The great Spinoff hot-take roundtable