Key points:
- About 1.4 million people will benefit, including pensioners, students, children and parents, and those on main benefits.
- Superannuation will increase by over $100 for a couple per fortnight and nearly $70 for individuals.
- Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children will receive an extra $40.86 a week and a sole parent will receive an extra $31.83 a week.
- Student support rates will increase in line with inflation, with single students under 24 without children getting an extra $20.21 per week.
- Package to cost over $2 billion, including $311 million over four years to tie increases to inflation rather than average wage rises.
The Government is spending $2 billion on a welfare package Prime Minister Chris Hipkins calls “bread and butter support” to take the “bite” out of the rising cost of living.
The package will see the incomes of about 1.4 million New Zealanders stay in line with inflation, supporting pensioners, students, children and parents, and those on main benefits.
It includes an extra $311m to be spent over the next four years that allows main benefits to be increased in line with inflation - 7.22 per cent - rather than the average wage rise as previously planned, which was costed at about $1.7 billion.