Local leaders hope this year's "Wellbeing Budget" will address a range of community issues. Photo / 123rf
Budget 2022 will be delivered on Thursday, May 19, at 2pm. It will be Grant Robertson's fifth since taking on the finance portfolio in 2017, and fourth under the "Wellbeing Budget" branding. Local community leaders share what they're hoping for from this year's Budget.
Whanganui Intermediate School principal Katherine Ellery said she was aware that $88 million would be spent on absenteeism, which was "really great".
"I just hope the Government is able to actually put that directly into schools so that we can deal with our own issues, rather than waiting for one of their very elongated systems around getting help."
Introducing school counsellors to at least intermediate level was another big thing, Ellery said.
"Looking at what we've got coming through in Year 7 this year, there are a lot of primary schools in need of that as well.
"There are some massively traumatised children, and the traumatised brain can't learn. We have to do something effective for the kids."
The fact that students beginning secondary school next year had experienced three years of interrupted learning should also be addressed, Ellery said.
"They haven't had that structured, non-stop classroom learning since they were nine and 10.
"I'm worried about how next year's Year 9s will be supported in that environment."
Ellery said while there were 13 learning support co-ordinators in Taranaki, Whanganui had none.
"We should have close to 20 in our city, and they would be working directly in schools.
"There are some big concerns here, I think."
Age Concern Whanganui manager Michelle Malcolm said there needed to be a focus on home care for older people.
"We know that's a huge gap within service provision," Malcolm said.
"In Whanganui you can only get home help if you get personal care. There are a whole lot of people who are missing out because they don't meet those criteria.
"They want people to age gracefully at home, but they haven't been willing to put any money behind that to help them."
Personal care includes help with eating and drinking, getting dressed and undressed, and showering and going to the toilet.
Power companies had scrapped the tariff for low users, which could affect older people, Malcolm said.
"Is there going to be provision in the budget for the pension to go up?
"It did go up on April 1 so are they going to review it again? Probably not."
Malcolm said it was important that the public knew how any money would be spent, regardless of what it was for.
"It shouldn't just be 'money is going into this pool'. There needs to be a plan in place for where it is being allocated."
Te Manu Atatū Whanganui Māori Business Network chairman Hayden Potaka said he was "holding out hope" for small and medium Māori businesses that had been heavily affected by Covid-19.
"Most of them have a big recovery on the cards at the moment," Potaka said.
"It's about making sure they are resilient for any economic shocks that might be coming in the future."
Tourism had taken a big hit in the last two years, and smaller operators hadn't been privy to the Government's Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme, Potaka said.
"Although it was good, the Resurgence Support Payment only goes so far when you're losing a lot of income, and you've still got overheads to pay. Loans and things like that.
"It's important that money doesn't get caught up in establishing a bigger entity, or goes through the establishment of a bigger entity.
"Our network is there to support our Māori businesses, whether they are already in business or they are looking to start. We want to be on the frontline helping them."
Whanganui People's Centre manager Sharon Semple said a decent amount of funding for housing would be welcome but there needed to be funding for better support services as well.
"An improvement in mental health services is imperative," she said.
"The Kiwi dream of the quarter-acre with a happy home and a family dog is basically gone. We need to have realistic housing options and support services in place."
Semple said the budget should include extra funding for mental health, family harm prevention programmes and supported living facilities.
"We can't have well-functioning communities with adequate housing until those social issues are addressed effectively. More of the right services and supports are needed and I think preventative support services are where the focus needs to go."
Ruapehu District Councillor Elijah Pue said two things he was hoping for from the Budget were a focus on wellbeing and the lives of people, and a significant boost to the housing stock.
"Really investing in the lives of people who really need a hand up from the Government," Pue said.
There was a need for housing across the Ruapehu region, as many houses were overpopulated, he said.
"The housing stock, both from the Government and generally, is significantly lower compared to other rural areas."
The housing shortage could be alleviated through government investment in housing opportunities with iwi and Māori housing programmes, Pue said.
Some small-scale projects had been launched by iwi in the region but Pue hoped the Government boosted housing programmes in the region.
"We've got some key pieces of land that would be great for social housing programmes across the district, but more particularly in Ohakune and Raetihi."
Horizons Regional Councillor Nicola Patrick said there were two areas she was hopeful for on Thursday.
"More investment in public transport is one - the three months of half-price fares [from April 1] has been really positive.
"The indications from the emissions reduction plan that was released [on Monday] makes me even more hopeful that government is going to invest more, so people have convenient options and can leave their cars at home."
Patrick was "wearing a completely different hat" for the second area of interest.
"That's me as programme director at Thrive Whanganui, and it's around how we increase support for kaupapa-driven enterprise in our country.
"We've had a government programme that produced recommendations under the impact initiative, but we don't think they are going to hit this budget.
"That's a real missed opportunity to look at how we support local, resilient enterprises that are trying to make a difference in the world. I would be very pleasantly surprised if Grant Robertson has something in his treat bag on that front."
Whanganui District Councillor Hadleigh Reid said he was looking for funding from the Government to go towards expanding Whanganui's network of cycleways and shared pathways.
Reid said he was aware that a lot of Government spending had gone towards the Covid-19 pandemic response so he was not expecting much, but welcomed any amount for the development of the pathways.
"We've got a few here and we've got a few more to go, so that's always helpful," he said.
Reid is also the deputy chair of the council's infrastructure, climate change and emergency management committee, which has been working on measures to address climate change in the Whanganui region.
He was hoping for some government funding to subsidise those measures.
Whanganui Chamber of Commerce chief executive Helen Garner said they hoped to see solid support for business to help combat the effects of rapidly rising costs and to help them through the post-Covid recovery phase.
"This is especially important for our small-medium businesses who, arguably, have been most impacted during this time," Garner said.
"Recent announcements about funding for our climate change emergency are admirable and necessary for our future. We would like to see more focus on our import/export industry; a plan to help with the supply shortages (cartage/shipping); and a budget for road/rail to also help with the supply chain."
The Chamber was not in favour of a wealth tax, she said.
"We should be encouraging businesses to do well, improving productivity, promoting higher levels of staff retention, and in turn supporting flourishing healthy communities.
"We also expect to see a commitment to attracting overseas people to help fill our declining labour market."
Garner said the sector needed "confidence that the Government hasn't relegated business to the too-hard basket", and confirmation there was a commitment to addressing the growing sense of disconnection between government and business.
Support to offset rising costs was high on the priority list, along with tax breaks; initiatives to specifically target the impact of costs of fuel, energy and wages; and investment in increasing productivity.
"Things are challenging and unpredictable at the moment, Government, please don't add to that."
Riders and spectators in Whanganui are anticipating the start of the last race.