Naomi Gardiner and Anthony Hano (back centre) at home with their children (left to right) Mariah, 13, Khalia, 9, Riley, 14, Harlem, 12, and Trevel, 16. Photo / George Novak
Naomi Gardiner and Anthony Hano (back centre) at home with their children (left to right) Mariah, 13, Khalia, 9, Riley, 14, Harlem, 12, and Trevel, 16. Photo / George Novak
Cheaper dentistry, more money and resources for teachers, and solutions to Tauranga's housing crisis.
These are the main areas one Tauranga family hopes to see the Government investing more in when the Budget is revealed today.
There will be big announcements and allocations in the millions to important services, butwhat does that all look like when it filters down to a single family?
Naomi Gardiner, 36 and husband Anthony Hano, 37, have three generations under the roof of their modest home in Welcome Bay.
They have five children aged from 9 to 16 and also live with Naomi's mum Pauline Gardiner, 82, who had a stroke three years ago.
Both parents work: Naomi as a full-time carer for her mum and part-time for the Tauranga Pacific Island Community Trust. Anthony works full-time as an aluminium joiner.
With eight mouths to feed, the household budget was as important a part of the busy family's lives as the whiteboard that records where everyone needs to be and when.
The family in 2018. File photo
Naomi does, however, notice how Government funding impacted the family piggy bank, as well as the people she saw in her day-to-day lives.
She said Working for Families tax credit increases and free doctor visits for children under 14 were two examples of changes that had helped make things a little easier in recent years.
She said her main goals for her kids were to see them well educated, healthy and able to pursue their passions - right now, that was sport.
To that end, seeing the Government listen to teachers and increase both their pay and resourcing was one change she wanted to see in the Budget announcements.
Teachers strike in Tauranga on Wednesday. Photo / George Novak
"I support the teachers. They spend the most time with my kids of anyone.
"I hope the Government listens to them and increases their pay because they do an amazing job."
Dentistry was another big concern and she had been happy to see a push for more funding in the lead-up to the budget.
Naomi said that after ignoring her teeth in her younger years - only seeing a dentist when there was a problem - she now made looking after them a priority.
But even an appointment with a hygienist set her back more than $100.
"When I go I take money away from that week's budget."
"It's just so expensive. It's why I am so strict on sugar, I always tell the kids 'you have got to look after your teeth'."
In her role with the Pacific Island Community Trust, she saw many struggling families who had moved from Auckland or Wellington to escape high housing costs.
But many of those families - especially the big families - had found similar struggles in the Bay, and it overflowed into other areas, like paying for healthy food or school uniforms.
She believed the Government could do more to help, including by supporting those community groups working at the coal face of the issue.
