Finance Minister Nicola Willis unveiled the final shape of the tax cuts promised to New Zealanders in the Budget today as well as how the Government will pay for them.
The contents of the Budget were revealed by Willis in Parliament at 2pm.
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That “Nationwide Activation Day” follows a hui held earlier this year, which criticised the Government’s policies relating to Māori.
Major protests were planned in Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton and Christchurch and smaller-scale protests were planned in the rest of the country.
Willis unveiled the cover of the Budget yesterday, but stayed tight-lipped about its contents.
There have been some pre-Budget announcements in areas such as education, housing, Corrections and Pharmac, and Willis and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon have both said it would include spending boosts in health, education and law and order.
The Budget will also show the full extent of spending cuts faced by government departments, and how much of those have been redirected to frontline services.
Willis has said about 240 areas of cuts have been found to free up money to pay for tax cuts and other measures, and almost 5000 jobs would go.
However, most attention on the day will be on the tax cuts.
Willis has said those would be aimed at lower and middle-income earners, but repeatedly refused to confirm if they were the same as those promised by National during the election campaign.
The Opposition parties have attacked the planned tax cuts, questioning whether they are affordable and the cuts needed to pay for them.
Willis promised ahead of the Budget that Treasury considered the tax cuts to be fiscally neutral, meaning whatever they cost the Crown was made up for in spending cuts and revenue increases elsewhere, and that this style of tax cut would not be inflationary.
National’s campaign tax plan promised they would trigger on July 1 of this year, with middle-income New Zealanders getting between $17.50 and $25.50 a fortnight in a combination of tax cuts and tax credits.
Yesterday, Labour leader Chris Hipkins took aim at National’s approach to the Budget, saying people would find out today whether it was delivering on its promises or not.
A fired-up Luxon shot back at Hipkins in Question Time, saying Labour had presided over recessions, high inflation and soaring government spending: “And you have the audacity to ask me economic questions. Give me a break.”
Te Pāti Maori’s co-leader Rawiri Waititi described it as a “Pākehā Budget which delivered ... for its Pākehā economy”, but was hopeful it would deliver to Māori. Luxon this week has said his Budget would support Māori and non-Māori.
Much of Waititi’s focus would be on the protest set to amass outside Parliament in the afternoon, which his party has promoted extensively.
“We are looking forward to an awesome positive day of action and reaction,” he said.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said it was unlikely she would be impressed by today’s Budget.
“I think they’ve made it clear they are the most anti-Māori, anti-Tiriti Government I’ve seen in my lifetime... I’m not going to be surprised at all if there is not proper targeted funding [for Māori].
“We’ve had some pretty clear indicators they are not here to protect people, communities, those doing it tough for our planet.”
