- By Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister and MP for Botany
Two weeks ago Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered the first Budget of the coalition Government in Parliament.
We were proud to deliver tax relief for the first time in 14 years, cut wasteful spending, and invest in the frontline services Kiwis depend on.
Since our tax calculator went live on Budget Day, over 400,000 Kiwis have used it to find out how much better off they will be thanks to the tax relief plan we’re delivering – the same plan we campaigned on during last year’s election.
This huge response shows how eager hardworking New Zealanders are to know what benefits are on the way for them. Our Budget will make a welcome difference to Kiwis’ back pockets.
Average-income households will get up to an extra $102 a fortnight, and eligible families will also get up to $150 in addition every fortnight for childcare through our FamilyBoost package.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, visit www.budget.govt.nz/taxcalculator to find out how much relief you’ll get.
Our tax plan is responsibly paid for by savings and new ways to raise revenue meaning it won’t need additional borrowing to fund and it won’t add to inflationary pressures.
We have worked hard to save billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money by stopping wasteful spending and ensuring new investment is going to frontline services like health, education and law and order.
Budget 2024 sets the stage for New Zealand’s growth and is a key part of our plan to rebuild the economy, lower living costs, improve education and health, and deliver the infrastructure we need.
One of the key frontline investments we are making is a significant increase in preventing and fixing potholes all over the country.
We are putting a record $2.07 billion over the next three years to fix potholes on state highways and $1.9b to fix potholes on local roads.
This represents a substantial investment in roading maintenance.
The Pothole Prevention Fund is what we campaigned on and in Government, it’s what we’re delivering, because New Zealanders deserve to get around quickly and safely on our roads.
It’s good news for us in Botany, as Auckland will receive $478,000,000 over the next three years to repair and prevent potholes, which is an increase of 74 per cent from what was funded under the previous government.
Investing in important maintenance is another way this Government is getting our country back on track.
