For the first time in 14 years Government will be changing the country’s tax threshold.

This was the major theme in Finance Minister Nicola Willis’s inaugural Budget speech. Willis prioritised tax relief in her speech and said the relief would “put $3.7 billion a year back into the pockets of New Zealanders”.

While many have said Willis mostly delivered what she promised, some in Northland have mixed feelings about the Budget. Those speaking on Māori issues, education, health and transport, among other topics, have cautiously welcomed it.

Tax cuts

By Denise Piper

Campbell Norman said a tax relief of up to $145 a fortnight for his Whangārei family will be a bit of relief to the cost-of-living pressures.

He works full-time as a youth worker and educator, while wife Shania works part-time. Their two children – Harper-Gene, aged 3, and Kyroh, 8 months – are both in early childhood education.

“It’s good to know that we’re getting something … It helps with the nappies and formula.”

Norman said he will have to apply for the FamilyBoost rebate every three months, but he thought that should be all right as long as the process is streamlined.

He admitted to closely watching the family’s spending each week and having to cut down on groceries and any luxuries to make ends meet.

While the family are living within their means, it is a struggle to put aside anything for a rainy day or save a deposit for a house, he said.

Norman said while the tax cut is good, the family would have benefited more from the Labour policy of 20 hours of free ECE being extended to 2-year-olds.

Whangārei MP Dr Shane Reti said Northlanders will benefit from the tax cuts and he urged them to have a look at the tax calculators to work out what they will get.

Child Poverty Action Group Whangārei member Dr Clair Mills said it was good to see tax cuts being delivered to families with children, but she did not think it would be adequate to cover all the cost pressures families were facing.

She also thought giving tax cuts to those on higher incomes meant there was less money to spend on things like education and primary health care.

Health

Reti, who is also the Health Minister, said the $16.68b increase in funding for health is the biggest investment in health cost pressures of any Budget.

While the $5 co-payment on scripts will be reintroduced, medicines will still be free for those under 14, over 64 and Community Services Card holders, which includes many Northlanders, he said.

New cancer medicines will be funded as the money becomes available and Reti hoped this would start next year.

Northlanders will also benefit from the increase in breast cancer screening, as the area used to have the highest incidence of breast cancer in the country, Reti said.

A doctor in Whangārei Hospital’s ED, Dr Gary Payinda, said the $16.68b funding is a commitment beyond the coalition Government’s term and it has already proven it can’t keep its promises.

The key example of this is the reintroduction of $5 co-payments on scripts with patients not getting the 13 cancer drugs National promised in the lead-up to the election, he said.

The co-payment will make a big difference to the affordability of medicines, especially in a recession, with studies showing it leads to more hospitalisations, with those patients in hospital for longer, Payinda said.

The cancer drugs could be funded if the Government was not giving a $3b tax relief to landlords in mortgage interest deductibility, he said.

Payinda said he was concerned the funding for ED security would not be enough to keep workers safe, with nurses and healthcare workers regularly being assaulted and exposed to violence more often than police officers.

“It’s just a drop in the ocean in terms of what’s needed … I would like some honesty of the scope of the problem,” he said.

“There needs to be help for nurses when they are getting assaulted – if we can’t provide that we really need to rethink the entire Budget.”

Māori issues

By Mike Dinsdale

Northland Māori leaders have given Budget 2024 announcements variously a cautious welcome and a big thumbs down.

Ngati Kuri Trust Board chair and former Northland District Health Board chairman Harry Burkhardt cautiously welcomed the health funding announced in the Budget – $16.68b across three Budgets – but wondered if it would be enough to overcome some of the disparities in health care that have been built up over decades.

Ngati Hine leader Pita Tipene gave it a thumbs down, saying it gave nothing to addressing inequities for Māori that have built up over decades.

Tipene said apart from funding for Te Matatini, there is nothing that is specifically for Māori, despite all the statistics showing that Māori face major inequity in health, education and other sectors.

Burkhardt said: ‘’It’s a sizeable contribution to health over the next three years, and a great contribution to infrastructure [$1.2b over three years with some tagged for Northland to upgrade stopbanks on Wairoa River between Dargaville and Te Kōpuru and upgrading the Quarry Rd bridge in Kaitāia that leads to the airport].

‘’The bit we’re not sure about is that we’ve got a health system that’s been underinvested in for many decades. And I’m not sure if that level of funding is going to be enough to allow us to improve our overall health and invest in people . . . We are probably investing 30-50 per cent less than what we need.’’

Burkhardt said despite that it was still a significant investment in health and congratulated Reti – “who is from Tai Tokerau” for securing and delivering the funding.

‘’It’s a good start.’’

He welcomed the Budget’s funding to ensure the future of Te Matatini – the pinnacle event for Māori performing arts, held every two years.

Tama Potaka, Minister for Māori Development, announced long-term funding of $48.7m from 2025 will ensure the future of Te Matatini prospers.

‘’The significance of kapa haka to Te Ao Māori is something we value deeply, especially since the rise of the waiata-ā-ringa form with Tā Apirana Ngata. The contribution Te Matatini makes to our culture in Aotearoa, New Zealand, is without a doubt an important aspect of that. It also contributes positively to intergenerational learning among whānau,’’ Potaka said.

Burkhardt said the funding was welcome and Labour had committed $30m for Te Matatini in the last Budget.

‘’That allows us to ensure the future and wellbeing of this cultural celebration. It’s a good thing,’’ he said.

Tipene said the Budget would not be welcomed by Māori, and many other Kiwis, as it failed to address decades of underfunding.

‘’If you look at the decision to disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora [the Māori Health Authority] after just one year, and not even giving it enough time to work, that shows that this coalition Government is only pandering to middle New Zealand and is not interested in lifting Māori aspirations at all, not interested in addressing years of health inequity for Māori,’’ he said.

‘’This is a Budget that looks only at middle New Zealand because this coalition Government knows that’s where the most votes are, and in doing so ignores the negative impacts that have been imposed on Māori for many decades.’’

He said the release of the Census results this week showed Māori made up almost 20 per cent of the population, but almost 35 per cent in Northland, and if those years of inequity were not addressed, all the negative statistics associated with Māori would get even worse.

‘’I also think that the average New Zealander would rather have the meagre tax relief put into providing good public services, to provide even more for health, education and the other important areas – not to give more money to landlords and the wealthy.’’

Tipene said one of the big ironies of the Budget was that the coalition parties all campaigned on cutting Government spending – but the Budget spends $12.7b more than Grant Robertson’s last Budget.

‘’From this Government it’s a big spend up, so the parties that said they’d cut spending are spending more.’’

Coalition parties Act (8.64 per cent) and NZ First (6.08) together got only a few more votes than the Greens (11.6) and Te Pāti Māori (3.08) yet had such a big say in the Government’s direction.

Tipene said with Māori now making up 20 per cent of the population they could form a big voting bloc at the next election and they would not forget this Budget.

Education

By Brodie Stone

Northland educators have offered mixed reviews on the Government’s education budget, with some areas of need met and others falling to the wayside.

Education in New Zealand will receive a $2.93b boost over the coming years, a total taken from pre- and post-Budget announcements.

Focus areas included property, cyber security and equipment replacement, cost adjustments for ECE (early childhood education) subsidies, 20 hours free for ECE and equity funding, school operating grants, students with health needs and more.

Thursday’s announcement followed several pre-Budget announcements over the past few weeks such as funding for recruiting and training more teachers, the structured literacy mandate, the re-establishment of charter schools and two more years of lunch in schools which now includes up to 10,000 2–5-year-olds in low equity, not-for-profit community-based centres.

Tai Tokerau Principals’ Association president and Kaitāia Primary School principal Brendon Morrissey described feeling “sad” to see a lack of funding for learners with diverse learning and behavioural needs.

“These areas are woefully underfunded,” he said.

However, he was pleased to see $199 m in funding for the School’s Equity and Isolation Index (which reduces the impact of socioeconomic factors on student achievement).

“This is a great step in the right direction because the funding goes directly to schools, not via a third-party provider where expenses mean the funding is much more watered-down and schools get far less for their students.”

Tikipunga High School principal Alec Solomon was also disappointed to see no funding for targeted learning support as principals were “collectively hopeful” for some.

However, during a teacher supply “crisis” he was happy to see money allocated for training and praised the allocation of $163m for cyber security and digital support.

“Everything we do is based on servers; we can’t allow schools to have old gear that is more easily targeted.”

Both Solomon and Morrissey were unsure whether the $1.48 billion put aside for education property would target the massive need.

Solomon said it seemed counterproductive to allocate $153m over four years to establish charter schools which do not have to subscribe to the state curriculum, while also investing $67m over four years for mandating structured literacy in all state primary schools.

Morrissey believed investing in charter schools would create more inequity in the schooling system.

They were both pleased to see more investment in the early childhood sector which would benefit families.

“I’m in the secondary space but I’m the first to acknowledge it is a much smarter and far better investment [long term],” Solomon said.

“The earlier we can invest in our learners the better.”

Transport and infrastructure

By Jenny Ling

Northland leaders had mixed reactions about what the 2024 Budget means for the future of the region’s roads and state highways.

While some are underwhelmed at the lack of detail in Budget 2024, others praised the extra funding boost for the Roads of National Significance programme.

The Budget confirmed a $2.68b investment in roads, rail, and public transport including $1b to accelerate the delivery of the Roads of National Significance and major public transport projects.

It also includes $939.3m to repair roads damaged by last year’s severe weather events in the North Island.

”This funding includes a billion-dollar increase over that signalled during the consultation on the GPS [Government Policy Statement] on land transport,” Transport Minister Simeon Brown said.

”We want construction firms to know that this Government will get on and build roads and we have prioritised funding in place to make this happen.”

Northland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Darryn Fisher said setting aside funding wasn’t the same as getting the work done.

“When they say accelerate, all that’s going to do is get a route identified for Northland and get a bunch of geotechnical studies done.

”But you won’t get anything started for that kind of money.”

We know the delivery of the road from Warkworth to Kaikohe is around $10b, he said. ”If inflation keeps going it can turn into $11b pretty quick.”

Under the Government’s draft GPS released in March, the Roads of National Significance includes a four-lane highway from Whangārei to Auckland. Stages that will be prioritised are an alternative to the Brynderwyns, Whangārei to Port Marsden, and Warkworth to Wellsford.

AA Northland District Council chairwoman Tracey Rissetto was optimistic about the announcement.

”An extra $1 billion on top of the GPS is fantastic news for Northland because we know the Brynderwyns is one of their top priorities.” So that would enable work to start earlier, she said.

Northland Mayoral Forum chairman Vince Cocurullo said he needed to know more detail on what the funding would provide for Northland.

”It’s good to see a Budget showing $2.68b over four years, but I need more detail to say how good that is for Northland.

”Last November the Government committed to building a four-lane highway alternative to the slip-prone Brynderwyn Hills which has been closed for over three months for urgent repairs. During a site visit in March, [minister] Brown said planning was in the early stages and work would begin within 10 years.”

Law and order

By Avneesh Vincent

Former Whangārei MP and academic Dr Emily Henderson described the Government’s Budget approach to law and order as “frustrating” and “knee-jerk reactionary”.

The only positive investment, she believed, was the addition of 500 police officers, but the rest didn’t seem to make much sense.

“They talk about taking a tough stance on crime and yet they ignore … evidence-based work to reduce crime.”

Henderson pointed out that National’s “lack of focus” in resolving youth crimes seemed appalling.

“Bootcamps are a notorious waste of public money and time. While kids may appear to come right after their time in the camp, they unfortunately have to go back to their unhealthy homes.”

She recalled the last time National tried out the camps under Prime Minister John Key and, unsurprisingly, Aotearoa saw 82 per cent recidivism in crime.

That figure was brought down to 26 per cent after Labour listened to the advice of social workers and reached out to suffering families to help them.

Henderson said Labour once conducted a survey on many youth ram raiders and every one of them confessed to being a witness and a victim in multiple family violence episodes.

“They don’t have much money to spend on family wellbeing but can spend a billion on building prison beds. It might not be sexy in stopping family violence, but that’s what will stop the criminality.”

Other problems she felt the Budget did not address in full were the repercussions of the Government’s decisions to have police backroom staff cuts and the laying off of 447 staff in Oranga Tamariki, who stop youth offending where it starts.

And cutting money from the tax evasion unit at the Serious Fraud Office when white-collar crime costs Kiwis billions.

“We also have a situation where communities are crying out for help because we don’t have enough legal aid lawyers. Money is being cut from our duty solicitors.

“Well, good luck running a court system without them,” said Henderson, who once served as a lawyer.

Social advocate Carol Peters also felt the funding boost to frontline officers was a plus. But she couldn’t say the same for other investments.

Although Whangārei’s boot camp started by Rawene Tupuna about 20 years ago was a resounding success, she didn’t have high hopes for government-run bootcamps, which proved to be a failure.

“I wonder, moving on, if they are going to provide funding to locally run programmes which have a good track record of reducing crime.”

Climate change

By Sarah Curtis

Conservationists have condemned the Budget as “anti-environment”, citing cuts that will derail carbon-busting forest projects that were just starting to gain traction.

Forest and Bird Northland conservation manager Dean Baigent-Mercer said the Government had “clearly taken a chainsaw to all environmental spending”.

“What we can see from this Budget is that there’s been another $45m cut to DoC [the Department of Conservation] and it’s unclear which threatened species will head closer to extinction because of it and which important carbon sinks will also be sacrificed.”

There had also been a $55m cut to Jobs for Nature, an initiative that had been “so important to Northland”, Baigent-Mercer said.

“We were just starting to bring back some of Northland’s forests from collapse – really starting to get some traction …”

“Because native forests that don’t have consistent pest control end up bleeding carbon as they collapse, and that carbon adds to climate change.”

It was “gutting” that those forests, which had been getting the attention they need, were now at the mercy of an “anti-environment Budget” that would send them back into collapse.

Given that in 2030 New Zealand had to pay for all its climate pollution, a “sensible” Budget would have looked after the country’s native forests and all its other native habitats to lock in carbon, Baigent-Mercer said.

Meanwhile, AA Northland District Council chair and national councillor Tracey Rissetto said today’s Budget announcements included some “great news” for funding to mitigate climate change caused by transport.

“We all appreciate the challenge with climate change and that transport is one of the biggest contributors to it.”

While revenue raised through the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and previously ring-fenced into a Climate Emergency Response Fund (Cerf) would cease, about $2.6b in work earlier funded through the Cerf would continue, including:

Rissetto said it was good to see a continued focus on the establishment of a nationwide electric-vehicle charging network and a grant scheme for heavy vehicles, given a lot of work had been done around hydrogen technology.

It was also good to see increased investment in KiwiRail, Rissetto said. Although not specifically related to Northland, improved rail services would reduce the weight on the country’s roads, making them more emissions and road-user friendly.

There was also some “really pleasing” news about network resilience projects that would be happening under the newly announced Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF), particularly that the need to upgrade stop banks on State Highway 12 between Dargaville to Te Kōpuru was identified.

However, a disappointing aspect of the Budget announcements was the continued focus on public transport in Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland.

“I know Northland is very rural but having an effective public transport service in Whangārei would have a positive impact on roads, time spent in private vehicles, and emissions.”