Radio New Zealand News
Budget 2012 News
- $6m Pacific health fund welcomed
- The country's biggest Pacific-led primary health organisation says a $6 million fund announced in the Budget will help to address the social problems that underpin the poor health of Pacific communities.
- Patent savings enable $30m drug budget cut
- The Government says it will reduce medicines funding by $30 million in the coming year but this will not restrict public access to drugs.
- Greens fear home insulation scheme may end
- The Green Party says the future of a Government scheme to help homeowners insulate their properties is in doubt.
- More elderly to pay for residential care
- Legislation has passed in Parliament under urgency which changes the asset testing regime for elderly people in residential care.
- Legislation on Budget tax changes passed
- Legislation putting into effect tax changes set out in the Budget has been passed in Parliament on Friday, with most debate focusing on the scrapping of a children's tax credit.
- KiwiSaver competes with other needs - English
- Finance Minister Bill English says one-off enrolment of all workers not already in KiwiSaver will be competing with a number of other spending areas for money from the Government's planned surpluses.
- Intermediate schools angry at technology staff cuts
- There is growing anger among intermediate schools and others with children in Years 7 and 8 over big cuts to staffing for technology teachers.
- Budget lays ground for 'sustainable growth'
- Finance Minister Bill English says the Budget will lay the foundations for a return to long-term economic health, rejecting criticism that Treasury economic forecasts are overly optimistic.
- Oxfam NZ 'shocked' at cuts to overseas aid
- The head of Oxfam New Zealand says the Budget cuts to overseas aid are shocking and deeply disappointing.
- Arrests at venue of PM's post-Budget speech
- Two protesters have been arrested outside the central Auckland venue where Prime Minister John Key has been delivering a post-Budget speech.
- Thumbs up for tobacco tax, other measures fail to impress
- Radio New Zealand reporter Ruth Hill has been gauging reaction around the country to National's second zero Budget.
- Opposition labels Budget trivial
- Opposition parties are arguing the Budget should have been bolder in its attempts to grow the economy.
- Budget pleases Fed Farmers, but not HortNZ
- Federated Farmers is supporting the general thrust of the Government's economic measures as set out in the Budget on Thursday but the horticulture industry feels let down by the lack of funding to bolster biosecurity.
- Changes to taxation modest - consultant
- A leading tax consultant says changes to taxation in the 2012 Budget were modest, and the Government could have gone a lot further.
- Government should be spending - CTU
- An economist from the Council of Trade Unions says the Government needs to needs to maintain a level of spending rather than continue with cuts.
- Government 'on track' to get books back in black
- Smokers, families with young children and holiday home owners have been hit in the pocket under Budget changes the Government says will enable a return to surplus by the 2014-15 financial year.
- Parties denounce 'zero growth, zero hope' Budget
- Opposition parties have labelled the National Government's 'zero Budget' as 'zero growth and zero hope'.
- What the Budget means for Maori
- Young Maori in education will benefit from this year's Budget, but smokers will have to pay more for cigarettes or tobacco.
- $40m boost to prepare for 'tsunami' of dementia
- The Minister of Health says extra funding for dementia will help services prepare for growing demand in future as the population ages.
- Is Bill's Budget sensible - or just drab?
- ANALYSIS: Radio New Zealand's political editor Brent Edwards analyses the 2012 Budget.
- Government forecasts on track to 2014/15 surplus
- Thursday's Budget confirms that the Government intends to return its books to surplus by the 2014/15 financial year.
- Biggest boost for health sector
- The health sector will receive the largest increase in Government spending in the 2012 Budget, with an extra $1.5 billion over the next four years.
- Tobacco taxes to increase 10% for next four years
- Tobacco excise taxes are to rise by 10% a year for the next four years.
- $6m fund to improve Pacific people's health
- A new $6 million Pacific Innovation Fund has been announced in the Budget to improve the health of Pasifika people.
- Funding for new education initiatives
- Education will get an increase of about $511 million over the next four years to fund new initiatives in Budget announcements on Thursday.
- Teaching jobs to be cut
- Schools' operations grants will rise 2%, but face a $70 million a year cut in their staffing in 2014 as a result of the Budget, delivered on Thursday.
- Benefits for research, science and engineering
- Engineering courses and research are the biggest beneficiaries from the Government's tertiary education Budget.
- No increase for early childhood subsidies
- The Budget increases spending on early childhood education by more than $110 million over the next four years, but provides no inflation-linked increase for the subsidies paid to early childhood centres.
- Protesters rally outside Parliament and in Auckland
- About 100 demonstrators gathered at Parliament on Thursday afternoon, protesting against planned increases to student loan repayments and child poverty. A group of students also protested in Auckland.
- Wellingtonians asked what Budget means for them
- Radio New Zealand reporter Teresa Cowie asked some Wellington shoppers what difference this year's Budget will make to their lives.
- Govt makes virtue of zero Budget
- ANALYSIS: Radio New Zealand's political editor Brent Edwards previews the 2012 Budget.
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