KEY POINTS:
- Send us Your Views on Budget 2015
The Government has axed the $1000 kickstart payment for people when they sign up to Kiwisaver which is estimated to save $500 million over four years.
Another one of the Budget surprises was the introduction of a levy on travellers leaving and entering New Zealand to boost biosecurity funding by $100 million a year. The $6 for departing passengers and $16 for arriving passengers will be added to the cost of an airline ticket.
Beneficiary families and low-income working families will get a boost of up to $25 a week as part of a child hardship package. Childcare subsidies for lower-income families will also be increased from $4 an hour to $5 an hour for pre-school or after-school care for up to 50 hours week. Also, $52.2 million is to fund its new plan to partner with private developers and build thousands of lower-cost homes on Crown-owned land in Auckland.
