National's Health Cuts Leave NZ Exposed

New Zealand finds itself woefully unprepared for another Covid-19 outbreak, with the coalition government's systematic dismantling of healthcare capacity, cavalier approach to public health messaging, and ideological opposition to evidence-based policy leaving the nation vulnerable to future health crisis.

The warning signs are unmistakable. While the incidence of Covid-19 decreased in 2024 compared with the previous two years, partly driven by the lack of an expected wave over the 2024-25 summer, experts caution this pattern may not continue. But rather than using this respite to strengthen our defences, the current administration has pursued policies that actively undermine public health preparedness.

Perhaps most concerning is the government's abdication of responsibility for coherent public health messaging. Where previous administrations maintained clear communication strategies, the coalition of chaos has offered a vacuum of leadership that has been filled by misinformation and conspiracy theories, conspiracy theories that are sometimes promoted by government MPs and their associates. This messaging crisis has precipitated a dangerous decline in vaccination rates, leaving vulnerable people exposed as new variants emerge.
 

Today, Stuff reported:

 

Five deaths a week and dozens of hospitalisations show Covid hasn’t gone away

A new strain of Covid-19 is making itself known in New Zealand.

XFG, or Stratus as it is nicknamed, was classified by the World Health Organisation as a “variant under monitoring” in June, one month after first showing up in wastewater testing here.

According to wastewater analysis from PHF Science (formerly ESR), Stratus has been on the rise for the past two months. In the week ending August 3, it was the second-most detected strain of Covid, after NB.1.8.1, or Nimbus.

“I've seen in other countries that XFG has out-competed the NB.1.8.1 variant and sort of taken over,” said University of Canterbury professor and expert modeller Michael Plank.

“We haven’t seen that happen in New Zealand so far, which is maybe a little bit surprising. And it could happen, you know, in the months ahead. But at the moment, it's the NB.1.8.1 that appears to be dominating.”

 

The human cost of this negligence extends far beyond acute infections. Risk of long COVID remains high, yet the government has no coherent policy framework to address this growing health burden. Long COVID sufferers, already marginalised by a healthcare system struggling to understand their condition amidst chronic staff shortages, face an uncertain future with diminishing support and recognition.

However, most damaging is the government's systematic defunding of healthcare infrastructure, with the health sector underfunded by approximately NZ$1.5–1.9 billion annually. Nearly 10,000 public sector jobs have been axed as Finance Minister Nicola Willis imposes annual spending cuts as part of the government’s 6.5–7.5% cost-saving mandate, which has had a significant impact on our health sector.

Approximately 2,165 health sector roles have been eliminated, particularly in data, digital, and public health teams. Critics, including the Public Service Association, argue these cuts weaken COVID-19 preparedness and health system resilience.

The coalition's health policies, or lack thereof, demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of pandemic preparedness. Funding has been woefully inadequate creating or worsening conditions of severe under-staffing. In fact Budget 2024 committed more new money to funding security guards for A&E departments compared to training new medical staff. This speaks volumes about a neoliberal government who are more concerned with managing system failure rather than addressing its root causes.

Furthermore, the dysfunction within the coalition itself raises serious questions about its capacity to manage health crisis. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters's inflammatory rhetoric and apparent sympathy for anti-vaccination sentiment, reflected in his choice of press secretary, sends dangerous mixed messages at a time when clear, science-based communication is still essential. It doesn't bode well when government minister's are consistently undermining public health measures that actually worked and whose offices often struggle with basic media relations.

The current coalition of chaos campaign against the previous Labour led government for its Covid response is also endemic of an administration with no clear plan for the future. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, flanked by his sanctimonious coalition cronies, have unleashed a venomous tirade against former Labour leaders Jacinda Ardern, Chris Hipkins, and Grant Robertson for opting out of the second, non-mandatory phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand’s COVID-19 response, smugly accusing them of shirking accountability.

There was no rational reason to have a 2nd phase of the #NZ Royal Commission on #COVID_19 when the original Commission brought down a comprehensive & objective report. It seems even clearer now that phase 2 was always intended to be a witch-hunt. #nzpol https://t.co/2cW8GRA2pw pic.twitter.com/5wJjo0dJSZ

— Helen Clark (@HelenClarkNZ) August 14, 2025

Luxon, in a blatant display of political grandstanding, even falsely claimed the Labour leaders defied a summons to appear in person, a lie swiftly debunked by the inquiry chair, Grant Illingworth KC, who confirmed that no such requirement existed and that private testimony, like Ardern’s three-hour interview, was entirely sufficient.

This disingenuous attack by the Prime Minister and others, with Seymour sneering at Labour’s absence, reeks of a calculated campaign to vilify the previous administration’s world-leading response, which saved an estimated 20,000 lives. The National-led government’s relentless and expensive pursuit of political point-scoring undermines the inquiry’s purpose and makes a mockery of their claim that the second Covid inquiry wouldn't be used as a political weapon.

Can we get a better Prime Minister? One who understands plain english?https://t.co/nvNpMiNWqv

— Greg Presland (@GregPresland) August 14, 2025

The coalition government's retrospective criticism of Labour's pandemic spending, which was recently misrepresented by Treasury, reveals another profound misunderstanding of both epidemiology and economics. Those early investments in health infrastructure, wage subsidies, and public health measures prevented a catastrophic loss of life and economic collapse, economic collapse that the current government's archaic policies appear to be trying to initiate.

Despite the success of New Zealand's Covid response and recovery, the coalition has fervently criticised the previous administration while systematically dismantling the capacity within our health system, which is currently struggling to even deal with things like the current flu season, while offering no alternative strategy for future outbreaks.

The healthcare system is already under severe strain, with thousands of New Zealanders still waiting unreasonable amounts of time for treatment. When the next pandemic arrives, these same hospitals will be expected to manage surge capacity while operating with reduced staff and constrained budgets, potentially reducing the effectiveness of whatever response measures the National-led government can cobble together.

New Zealand's COVID response was once the envy of the world, built on scientific rigour, clear communication, and decisive action. Today, we face the prospect of another wave with a fragmented government that seems ideologically opposed to the very measures that once protected us. The question isn't whether we will face another COVID surge, but whether the current government will make that surge far more devastating than it needed to be.

The coalition's approach represents not just policy failure, but a fundamental abandonment of the government's duty to protect public health. As epidemiologists keep watch, New Zealanders deserve leaders who will listen to science rather than pander to conspiracy theorists, invest in healthcare rather than cut it, and prepare for the challenges ahead rather than pretend they don't exist.

NZ Must Implement a Four-day Work Week

New Zealand finds itself at a critical juncture. With productivity growth stagnating and our brightest minds departing for greener pastures abroad, the time has come for bold shift in policy direction. The solution may be counterintuitive: working less to achieve more through the implementation of a four-day working week.

Today, RNZ reported:

 

Four-day work week reduces burnout and improves job satisfaction - study

Working a four day week reduces burnout and improves job satisfaction, a new study has found.

The research out of Boston College in the United States tested the effect of reducing employees hours to a four-day week with no reduction in pay.

The study held six-month trials reducing the working hours for 2896 employees across 141 organisations in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the USA.

The outcomes of the trials were then compared with 12 control companies that did not transition to the shorter work week.

The researchers found that employees with a reduction of eight hours or more per work week self-reported experiencing larger reductions in burnout and improvements in job satisfaction and mental health, as compared with those at companies that maintained a five-day work week.

A small change in physical health was also seen, but the researchers said they expected this was less significant because changes in physical health take time to manifest.

 

The international evidence is compelling and mounting. Belgium became the first country in Europe to legislate for a four-day week in 2022, with Belgian employees winning the right to perform a full workweek in four days instead of the usual five without loss of salary. Microsoft Japan's pioneering trial delivered remarkable results, with overall employee productivity boosted by 40%. Across multiple studies, almost half of respondents said productivity improved either slightly or significantly, with the vast majority of organisations expressing strong interest in continuing such arrangements.

These overseas cases demonstrate a fundamental truth that traditional workplace orthodoxy has long resisted: productivity is not merely a function of hours worked but of focused, engaged, and well-rested human capital. Countries from Spain, Iceland and South Africa to the United States, Germany and Italy are implementing trials and witnessing tangible benefits including reduced healthcare costs, lower employee turnover, and enhanced recruitment capabilities.

New Zealand's productivity crisis demands urgent attention. The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt, and this matters because sustainable improvements in our living standards depend upon our productivity. Recent Treasury analysis reveals the stark reality facing our nation: when an economy fails to become more productive, real wages stagnate and living standards suffer.

New Zealand Productivity

The National-led government's approach to addressing this challenge has been fundamentally misguided. Rather than investing in innovative workplace policies that could enhance both productivity and worker wellbeing, we've witnessed a regression towards policies that actively undermine both. The dismantling of fair pay agreements, weakening of worker protections, and pursuit of austerity measures that reduce public investment in productivity-enhancing infrastructure represent a backwards step that will inevitably worsen our competitive position.

These regressive policies have created a demoralising environment for New Zealand workers. Employment law changes that strip away hard-won rights, combined with wage policies that fail to keep pace with inflation, send a clear message: that worker wellbeing and prosperity are secondary considerations to short-term cost-cutting measures. This approach is economically self-defeating, as it not only means less revenue circulating within the economy, it also drives our most talented individuals offshore where they can access better working conditions, higher wages, and more progressive employment practices.

The brain drain accelerating under current policies represents not merely individual career decisions but a national crisis of human capital flight. When our best and brightest seek opportunities in jurisdictions that value work-life balance, offer competitive remuneration, provide better housing opportunities, and implement forward-thinking workplace innovations like four-day working weeks, New Zealand loses the very talent we've trained and need to drive productivity improvements and economic growth here in Aotearoa.

A four-day working week represents more than workplace reform; it constitutes a strategic economic intervention. By reducing working hours while maintaining productivity levels, we create conditions for enhanced innovation, reduced stress-related health costs (particularly relevant as our workforce ages) and improved retention of skilled workers. The model offers particular appeal to younger generations who increasingly prioritise workplace flexibility and well-being alongside traditional career advancement.

The path forward requires political courage to challenge conventional wisdom about workplace organisation. Rather than pursuing policies that treat workers as expendable and a cost to be minimised, we must embrace approaches that recognise human potential as our nation's greatest asset. A four-day working week pilot programme, implemented across selected public and private sector organisations, could demonstrate the productivity gains and wellbeing improvements that international evidence suggests are achievable.

New Zealand cannot afford to persist with outdated workplace models whilst competing nations embrace innovative approaches to human capital management. The choice is stark: continue with regressive policies that drive talent offshore and suppress productivity growth, or adopt progressive workplace reforms that enhance both economic performance and citizen wellbeing. The four-day working week offers a tangible pathway towards reversing our current trajectory and building a more prosperous, equitable future for all New Zealanders.

National Claims Credit for Labour’s Infrastructure Legacy

In a brazen display of political opportunism, the National-led government, under Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, has attempted to claim credit for a $6 billion infrastructure package that is little more than a re-announcement of projects meticulously planned and funded for by the previous Labour government. Far from showcasing bold leadership, Luxon’s coalition has delayed critical projects and, in some cases, slashed their budgets, all while spinning a narrative of fiscal prudence. This Coalition of Chaos isn't only riding on Labour’s coattails, but also undermining New Zealand’s infrastructure progress through cuts, cancellations and misrepresentations.

 

Today, 1 News reported:

 

Govt trumpets billions being spent on infrastructure in coming months

The Government has released an infrastructure update showing $6 billion of state-funded construction is due to start between now and Christmas.

The ministers who were visiting a construction site in Drury spoke to media this morning. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also took part in the briefing.

Minister for Economic Growth Nicola Willis and Minister for Infrastructure Chris Bishop said in a media release that the projects would drive economic activity and create thousands of jobs across the country.

"The projects getting underway include new roads, hospitals, schools, high-tech laboratories and other government buildings," Willis said.

Consider the Ōtaki to Levin expressway, a vital roading project to ease congestion and boost regional connectivity. Labour’s Upgrade Programme in 2020 allocated $817 million for this project, with construction initially slated for 2022, but delayed due to planning and consenting processes. Under National, however, the project completely stalled, with start dates pushed out to late 2025 inflating costs by aproximately $783 million. Luxon’s government now touts this project as part of their $6 billion “new” infrastructure plan, conveniently glossing over Labour’s original funding and their own role in stalling progress.

The Dunedin Hospital redevelopment, another cornerstone of Labour’s health infrastructure investment, was budgeted for with $1.4 billion allocated in 2021, with construction underway by 2022. National’s coalition, however, delayed key phases, pushing full completion beyond 2028, cutting $200 million from the project’s budget in 2024, citing “cost efficiencies.” Yet, Chris Luxon, Chris Bishop, and Nicola Willis’ recent announcement framed the hospital as a new National Party achievement, completely ignoring their funding reductions that have strained its delivery.

School upgrades, including roll-growth classrooms, modular buildings designed to accommodate growing student numbers due to population increases, were part of Labour’s $3.9 billion education infrastructure package in 2020, with $400 million for the National Education Growth Plan to add 6,600 student places. National trimmed $150 million from this programme in Budget 2024, redirecting funds to charter schools that aren't going to be required to report student numbers. For anybody who's paying attention, National re-announcing these classroom projects as their own looks pretty damn stupid.

National’s cuts to infrastructure, particularly the cancellation of 3,500 Kāinga Ora state house builds, have triggered a severe downturn in the construction sector, exacerbating unemployment and driving thousands of skilled workers overseas. Labour’s $1.5 billion public housing investment was designed to deliver 18,000 homes by 2024, sustaining thousands of construction jobs. National’s decision to halt these builds (selling partially completed state houses and bare land to their mates at a loss), alongside $2 billion in school building cuts and cancelled hospital upgrades, has led to an estimated 15,000 job losses in the sector. A whopping 13,000 construction workers left New Zealand in 2024 alone, many to Australia, where demand remains strong. This exodus threatens the industry’s capacity to deliver future projects, as skilled tradespeople, including carpenters and electricians, are unlikely to return to New Zealand for lower wages and a higher cost of living, leaving the sector in a precarious state.

JUST ANNOUNCED: $6 billion worth of infrastructure projects are getting underway in the next few months, which will grow NZ’s economy and create thousands of jobs across the country. pic.twitter.com/yY3PLCUKkd

— NZ National Party (@NZNationalParty) July 19, 2025

National’s policy changes since taking power in late 2023 have significantly contributed to a surge in company liquidations, particularly in the construction sector, as funding cuts and economic pressures have squeezed businesses to breaking point. According to data from the New Zealand Companies Office, 2,500 businesses were liquidated in 2024, a 35% increase from 2023, with construction firms accounting for 25% of these. These figures reflect the fallout from National’s cancellation of $1.5 billion in Kāinga Ora state house builds and $2 billion in infrastructure projects, which starved the sector of work and exacerbated cashflow issues. Rising interest rates and inflation, unmitigated by National’s policies, have further strained small and medium enterprises, with the Building Industry Federation noting a 72% jump in construction liquidations in early 2023 compared to the prior year. This wave of insolvencies underscores the devastating impact of National’s austerity measures on an already fragile industry.

But what makes the National Parties credit-grabbing particularly galling is their hypocrisy in criticising Labour for policies they inherited from John Key’s National government. Open-plan classrooms, once championed by Key’s administration with $1.2 billion invested between 2011 and 2016, are now derided by National Minister's who imply that they were Labour’s misstep, despite National’s policy changes requiring their rollout, at great cost to already stretched budgets. Similarly, biking infrastructure, funded with $390 million under Key to promote sustainable transport, is now mocked as wasteful “woke” spending by a coalition desperate to rewrite its own history.

Here's National's Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, stupidly implying that open-plan classrooms were Labour's idea:

"So multiple govt's over multiple years who've been flip-flopping around without any evidence, but the evidence is clear that these classrooms are not optimal."

Not to be outdone, Luxon’s standout moments of mendacity shine through in his rhetoric. In his State of the Nation address, he claimed Labour left a $200 billion “hole” in transport commitments, a figure easily debunked and described by Labour leader Chris Hipkins as “absolute nonsense,” noting it equates to half of New Zealand’s GDP. Labour’s transport plans, funded at $2.68 billion annually through three-year cycles, were sustainable, with tools like value capture in development. National, however, cut rail funding from $1.2 billion in 2023 to $466 million in 2024, undermining projects like the Auckland Strategic Rail Programme, only for Winston Peters to re-announce select rail investments to try and save face.

The Coalition of Chaos, fractured by tensions between National, ACT, and New Zealand First, seems united only in its desperation to obscure Labour’s legacy. By delaying projects, cutting budgets ($200 million from Dunedin Hospital, $150 million from education infrastructure, and $734 million from rail) and re-announcing them as their own, Luxon’s government reveals a stark lack of original vision or planning ability, which they continuously try to obscure by blaming Labour for their own failures.

New Zealanders deserve better than a dishonest government that lies to claim credit while dismantling the foundations laid by the previous Labour led government. If Luxon truly wants to “get New Zealand back on track,” he might start by acknowledging the tracks Labour funded and the cuts his coalition continues to make to our vital infrastructure.

Health NZ Caught Faking Wait Times

In a nation that prides itself on fairness and transparency, the National-led coalition’s handling of New Zealand’s health system is nothing short of a scandalous betrayal. Reports emerging from Nelson Hospital suggest Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) may have instructed hospitals to concoct “ghost appointments”, non-existent bookings designed to artificially deflate wait time statistics.

This grubby tactic is a desperate attempt to prop up the coalition’s pre-election promise of slashing hospital wait times, a pledge now crumbling under the weight of their own incompetence, uncovered manipulations and chronic under-funding.

Yesterday, 1 News reported:

 

Nelson Hospital accused of making 'ghost' appointments for patients

Documents released to 1News by the senior doctors union and Nurses Union show an email exchange between a clinician at Nelson Hospital and a manager.

In late June the clinician wrote that they had noticed some "unusual activity" with patient bookings. "It looks like there are 23 long wait patients listed as booked for a clinic scheduled for tomorrow under (redacted). However, the clinic doesn't exist as she is on leave."

A copy of the booking system for June 24, with the patient's details redacted, shows the patients were booked in for five minute slots with the note "DO NOT CONTACT PATIENT".

After the clinician again raised concerns, the manager emailed back: "We have received clear messaging from the commissioner that no patients are to be waiting longer than two years for an FSA by [June 30] and need to have a plan to be seen".

"So by creating the virtual clinic I was able to create a space for those patients to be held until booked." The email ends with: "please be assured as clumsy as this may seem, I am trying to do the right thing by everyone".

The public deserves better than such patronising deceit. The allegations are as insidious as they are unsurprising. Senior doctors and the Nurses Union have sounded the alarm, reporting “unusual activity” in Nelson Hospital’s booking system, where patients were “parked” in fictitious clinics only to be shuffled to real appointments later.

Health NZ’s Dr Derek Sherwood had the gall to call this a mere “administrative workaround,” as if fudging data to make wait times appear shorter is just another day at the office. Unfortunately for him, this is clearly a manipulation and cynical ploy to mask the coalition’s failure to deliver on their grandiose health promises. The Health and Disability Commissioner is now watching, but one wonders if Simeon Brown and his cronies will wriggle free with their usual bluster, particularly as there's very little mainstream media attention being given to this issue.

However, it's not hard to see the government’s fingerprints all over this scandal. While overseeing a health system in crisis, their obsession with optics over outcomes is painfully clear. The coalition’s outsourcing of 10,579 elective procedures to private hospitals by June 2025, at a cost of $50 million, is another sleight of hand. As RNZ reported, senior doctors slammed this move for creating a “false impression” of reduced wait times. Private providers cherry-pick straightforward cases, leaving complex patients languishing in under-resourced public hospitals.

On March 25, RNZ reported:

 

Outsourcing being used to pretend hospital wait times are being fixed - doctor

According to Health NZ Te Whatu Ora, there were 222 patients waiting for gynaecology surgery in Northland, of whom nearly half (101) had waited longer than the target of 120 days, 64 more than six months and eight more than a year.

Bailey said the backlog had been building for several years, partly driven by population increases - Northland is one of the fastest growing regions in the country - workforce shortages, industrial action by nurses, junior doctors and anaesthetic technicians, and then finally the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We've never caught up since."

He and his team had offered to do extra surgery sessions to help clear the backlog - but Health NZ would not pay for it.

"We can't actually run weekend lists because they are nitpicking about pay for theatre nurses."

When surgery was outsourced, those most in need of treatment tended to miss out, he said.

The last time Northland referred patients to a private hospital in Auckland - about a year ago - many were declined because they were "too complex".

It’s a numbers game, not a solution, and it reeks of the same dishonesty as the “ghost appointments” fiasco. Meanwhile, over 74,000 patients wait beyond four months for specialist assessments, and 37,000 for treatment. These figures expose the coalition’s hollow rhetoric for what it is: a cruel mirage that is impacting New Zealanders lives.

The government's refusal to properly fund Health, while funnelling millions to private providers, ensures overall wait times will only worsen, no matter how many “ghost appointments” they conjure up.

At the heart of this mess is the coalition’s belief in austerity and deliberate underfunding of public health. Hospitals are stretched to breaking point, with staffing shortages so dire that nurses, driven by desperation, are once again striking. The Nurses Union has been unequivocal: underfunding has created unsafe working conditions, compromising patient care. But instead of addressing this crisis, Brown and Reti prattle on about “steady progress” and “health targets,” as if words alone can bandage a haemorrhaging system.

This isn’t the first time the National-led government has played fast and loose with the truth when it comes to wait times. Historical data, like the 2012 study on elective surgery booking systems, points to “gaming” practices under previous National governments, such as raising clinical thresholds to exclude eligible patients from wait lists. Sound familiar? The coalition’s current tactics are just a rehash of this playbook, dressed up in new jargon but no less dishonest.

Kiwis deserve a health system that prioritises patients, not political point-scoring. The coalition’s reliance on data manipulation and privatisation by stealth is an insult to every New Zealander waiting in pain. Minister Brown, it’s time to stop hiding behind “workarounds” and face the music: your underfunded, mismanaged health system is failing us yet again.

Stable Housing a Key to Suicide Reduction

New Zealand’s Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2025–2029, part of the Every Life Matters strategy, hasn't been implemented properly, promising much but risking little real change. While the plan boasts 21 health-led and 13 cross-agency actions, it’s riddled with faults that could doom it to repeat the failures of past strategies. 

With suicide rates in New Zealand remaining high, 617 suspected suicides in 2024, at 11.2 per 100,000, the National-led government’s austerity-driven approach, coupled with a watered-down suicide prevention plan, threatens to exacerbate the crisis rather than curb it.

First, the plan’s funding is a sticking plaster on a gaping wound. The $20 million annual baseline, plus an extra $16 million from 2025/26, sounds substantial, but it’s a drop in the bucket for a mental health system already buckling under cuts to frontline staff and gutted community services. The dissolution of the standalone Suicide Prevention Office, now a mere function within the Ministry of Health, signals a lack of seriousness about suicide prevention. How can we expect coordinated, impactful action when the government’s gutting the very structures tasked with reducing suicides?

Last year, RNZ reported:

Ministry of Health apologises for confusion over Suicide Prevention Office's future

The Ministry of Health said it did not sufficiently brief the Minister of Mental Health on their restructuring plans and is committed to working on suicide prevention.

RNZ understands the ministry is proposing to cut 134 jobs to meet the government's demands to reduce costs.

The Public Servants Association (PSA) released a press release on Thursday that claimed this also included shutting the Suicide Prevention Office.

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey has since stepped in and told the Director-General of Health he expected the office to stay open.

 

But what is perhaps worse than this undermining, the government's replacement plan’s health-centric focus sidesteps the social determinants fuelling suicide, like poverty, unemployment, and housing instability. A 2022 University of Auckland study, backed up by a recently released Otago University study, has found stable housing significantly reduces youth offending, showing how secure homes foster resilience in young people. It’s no leap to see how stable housing could also lower youth suicide rates by providing safety and reducing stress.

Yesterday, RNZ reported:

Youth offending drops with safe, stable housing - study

An Otago University study has found a link between safe, stable housing and a reduction in youth offending rates.

The study looked at the relationship between different types of housing assistance, including emergency housing, public housing, and the accommodation supplement.

Lead author Chang Yu said researchers found clear links between housing deprivation and alleged youth offending.

"We found offending decreased significantly among young people living in public housing or receiving the accommodation supplement, compared with the general population.

The National-led government's austerity measures, destroying emergency housing, cancelling state home builds, slashing public services and tightening welfare, have deepened housing insecurity and economic hardship, particularly for young people and Māori, who face suicide rates 1.8 times higher than non-Māori. These policies aren’t just indifferent; they’re actively worsening the social conditions that drive despair.

Yesterday, Stuff reported:

 

‘Heartbreaking’: Pensioners, children sleeping rough in Christchurch’s red zone

Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said the large scale use of emergency housing was one of “the biggest public policy failures in New Zealand history”.

“Since National came into office, households in emergency housing have dropped from 3,342 to 516– that’s a drop of 84.5%.

“The vast majority are now into better, safer, proper homes.”

He said the Government was focused on making it easier to build proper housing and ensuring Government investment was “creating the right houses in the right places for those in genuine need“.

But Fire didn’t see it that way.

“You empty all the motels and there’s a lot of children still sleeping in cars,” she said. “That really gets to me."

The National-led government’s failure to track where former emergency housing residents end up is a glaring oversight that compounds the Suicide Prevention Action Plan’s weaknesses. The Ministry of Social Development lacks data on these households by design, because this type of data would make the government's emergency housing reduction plan look bad.

Many of the people affected by the coalitions austerity, including young children and the elderly, are slipping into rough sleeping, overcrowding, or other precarious situations. Clearly secure homes could also reduce suicide by alleviating stress and fostering resilience. Yet, National’s austerity-driven cuts to frontline services and community support, alongside the gutting of emergency housing, risk driving more vulnerable Kiwis, especially youth and Māori, into despair, undermining any hope of meaningful progress.

The Suicide Prevention Action Plan’s nod to Māori-led actions and community funds is welcome, but it feels tokenistic when broader government moves, like gutting the Suicide Prevention Office, cuts to emergency housing and reviewing Treaty-based provisions, undermine cultural and overall responsiveness. High-risk groups like the Rainbow community and rural New Zealanders also risk being short-changed when resources are spread too thin. And let’s not ignore the measly focus on postvention, support for those bereaved by suicide, who are at heightened risk themselves.

Adding insult to injury is the government's funding of unproven initiatives like Gumboot Friday, and changes to suicide reporting protocols, which have tightened what qualifies as a “confirmed” suicide, potentially masking the true scale of the current crisis in New Zealand. This sleight of hand lets the government downplay the numbers while avoiding accountability for the consequences of their policy decisions. Without robust short-term indicators or a reinstated Suicide Prevention Office, evaluating the plan’s impact will be like navigating around icebergs in the dark.

In short, this plan is a half-measure, dressed up with milestones but starved of ambition and resources. National’s austerity is exacerbating the social conditions, unstable housing, economic strain, cultural disconnection, that drive people to suicide, particularly among youth and Māori. If we want to save lives, we need bold investment, a dedicated and properly staffed prevention office, and policies that tackle the root causes of despair, not just its symptoms. Anything less clearly shows that the government simply does not care.

Places to get help:

• Lifeline (open 24/7) - 0800 543 354
• Depression Helpline (open 24/7) - 0800 111 757
• Healthline (open 24/7) - 0800 611 116
• Samaritans (open 24/7) - 0800 726 666
• Suicide Crisis Helpline (open 24/7) - 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO). This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
• Youthline (open 24/7) - 0800 376 633. You can also text 234 for free between 8am and midnight, or email talk@youthline.co.nz
• 0800 WHATSUP children's helpline - phone 0800 9428 787 between 1pm and 10pm on weekdays and from 3pm to 10pm on weekends. Online chat is available from 7pm to 10pm every day at www.whatsup.co.nz.
• Kidsline (open 24/7) - 0800 543 754. This service is for children aged 5 to 18. Those who ring between 4pm and 9pm on weekdays will speak to a Kidsline buddy. These are specially trained teenage telephone counsellors.
• Your local Rural Support Trust - 0800 787 254 (0800 RURAL HELP)
• Alcohol Drug Helpline (open 24/7) - 0800 787 797. You can also text 8691 for free.

Treasury’s Austerity Advice Should Be Ignored

The National-led government, under Christopher Luxon’s watch, is steering New Zealand toward a grim horizon, guided by Treasury’s cold, austerity-obsessed hand. It’s a betrayal of ordinary Kiwis, workers, families, small businesses, who are being financially crushed to pad the pockets of the ultra-wealthy.

The 2025 NBR Rich List exposes the stark divide: 119 individuals, including 18 billionaires, hoard $102.1 billion, over 40% of our GDP, while Treasury’s advice slashes vital infrastructure, health, education, climate initiatives, and public services.

This isn’t fiscal discipline; it’s a rigged game funnelling taxpayer money to the elite, leaving Aotearoa’s future in tatters. Worse, these brutal cuts, totalling roughly $6.1 billion, coexist with rising government debt, raising the question: how can Luxon’s government gut services while borrowing even more?


On Monday, the NZ Herald reported:

 

Simeon Brown challenges Treasury over plans to cut health spending

Health Minister Simeon Brown has attacked Treasury officials over their analysis of his Health Delivery Plan, which said Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora will need to double its spending-cut target in the coming year and limit health workforce pay increases to an “unprecedented” degree.

Health cuts, another Treasury-driven disaster, spell misery for the vulnerable. Treasury’s insistence that Health NZ scrape by within its 2025/26 baselines, with Budget 2025’s $1.3 billion operating allowance the leanest in a decade, will mean longer waitlists, burnt-out staff, and worse outcomes, hitting Māori, Pacific, and rural communities hardest.

The NZ Herald reports $5.3 billion in total savings, including $2.7 billion from pay equity cuts, reflecting Treasury’s fixation on a 2028/29 surplus. These cuts aren’t savings—they’re a death sentence for equity, forcing the poorest to suffer without access to private care while future costs pile up from untreated illnesses and emergency care. It’s cruel and economically shortsighted, betraying those who need the system most.

The cancellation of the iRex project, meant to replace ageing Interislander ferries with modern, rail-enabled vessels, a short-sighted decision driven by Treasury’s idiotic advice. Citing cost blowouts to $3 billion, Treasury pushed for its scrapping, leaving KiwiRail with a $500 million write-off and 60 jobs lost. Smaller likely non-rail enabled ferries will clog supply chains, spike freight costs, and hammer exporters, farmers, and consumers with higher prices. Treasury’s own documents admit this avoids immediate costs but risks billions in future fixes for the Cook Strait link, strangling regions like the South Island. It’s a gut-punch to the working Kiwis who keep our economy humming, sacrificing long-term stability for budget optics.

 

In May, RNZ reported:

Kiwirail reveals $500 million spent on axed Cook Strait ferry project

Labour Party transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere told RNZ additional costs associated with the cancellation of iReX would cost $1.16b when including the cancellation of the deal and ongoing maintenance of the current ferries.

Education has also been bled dry under the secretive Treasury’s fiscal knife. Budget 2025 saw $614 million reprioritised from “underperforming” initiatives, with total education spending set to drop from $19.85 billion in 2025/26 to $19 billion by 2026/27. The Kāhui Ako scheme, costing $118 million annually, faces disestablishment, a move Treasury championed to trim fat. These cuts, totalling $732 million, threaten teacher support, student outcomes, and equity in schools, particularly for disadvantaged communities. Starving education to meet fiscal targets undermines the next generation’s potential, leaving schools scrambling and kids short-changed.

Climate and conservation initiatives haven’t escaped the chopping block. Treasury’s push for baseline savings led to $3 million annually cut from the Department of Conservation, gutting funds like the Mātauranga Kura Taiao and Nature Heritage Fund. Budget 2024’s $35.5 million cut over four years from climate schemes, like the Climate Change Development Fund, persists into 2025, equating to roughly $8.9 million annually. Total climate and conservation cuts for 2025 hit $11.9 million, weakening our response to the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. Treasury’s penny-pinching here risks our environment and global commitments, leaving future generations to clean up the mess.

Public sector budgets have also been gutted, with Treasury’s 2024 advice to slash $1.5 billion carrying into Budget 2025’s broader $5.3 billion savings push. Beyond health’s $2.7 billion, I estimate $2 billion in additional public sector cuts, covering areas like social services and infrastructure, are tied to Treasury’s fiscal restraint. The Auckland Light Rail project, axed with $131 million cut (including $98 million in capital funding), exemplifies this approach. These cuts, totalling roughly $6.1 billion across sectors, reflect Treasury’s obsession with short-term savings, even as they erode the public services Kiwis rely on.

However, while Treasury’s advice drives these $6.1 billion in cuts, government debt is climbing. Treasury’s May 2025 Economic and Fiscal Update projects net core Crown debt at $180.8 billion (40.7% of GDP) for 2024/25, rising to $196.9 billion by 2028/29. Operating balance deficits, excluding gains and losses (OBEGAL), hit $8.7 billion in 2024/25, with surpluses not expected until 2028/29. 

Always worth posting this for me rnthe history too. Ruth and her fellow ghouls reduced the debt side of the Govt balance sheet by underinvesting in the country and liberating private credit so that we could furiously bid up the price of land and houses. pic.twitter.com/bEUtfpR0OO

— Musical Chairs (@MusicalChairs14) June 15, 2025

How can Luxon’s government justify slashing services while borrowing more? The answer lies in National’s $3.7 billion annual tax cuts that mainly benefited the wealthy and $2.9 billion landlord interest deductibility restoration, costing $13.3 billion over the forecast period. These handouts, backed by Treasury’s models, drain revenue, forcing borrowing to plug the gap. The Council of Trade Unions notes “mega-landlords” could pocket $1.3 million each, while workers face suppressed wages and higher costs. It’s a grotesque transfer of wealth to the elite, funded by debt that future Kiwis will repay.

The real scandal is the wealth hoarding. The top 10% hold over 51% of the nation’s wealth. Graeme Hart ($12.1 billion) and the Mowbray family ($20 billion) exemplify a system rigged for the few. This inequality tanks consumer spending, starves businesses, and fuels resentment, risking social unrest. Treasury’s failure to address the long-term costs, delayed infrastructure, sicker populations, underfunded schools, and a degraded environment, is negligence. Their forecasts admit tax cuts restrain revenue, delaying the surplus and strangling services. A fairer Aotearoa demands investment in public goods, not even more handouts to the Rich. Luxon must reject this elitist scam. The government must ignore Treasury's advice for even more austerity.

Adrian Orr Resigned Because of Nicola Willis’ Austerity

The abrupt resignation of Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr is a blaring siren that New Zealand’s economic foundations are being relentlessly jackhammered by Nicola Willis’ unyielding austerity obsession. 

Orr was effectively ousted after a fierce funding dispute with the Finance Minister, who appears determined to gut budgets left, right, and centre while cloaking it as “responsible” governance. 

Willis' relentless cost-cutting zeal risks destabilising the Reserve Bank’s independence, raising alarms about whether her agenda prioritises fiscal optics over the nation’s long-term economic resilience.

 

In April, RNZ reported:

Reserve Bank's budget to be slashed by 25%

The Reserve Bank's operating budget for the coming year has been slashed by about 25 per cent.

The reduction in spending, which appears to be driven by increased staffing levels, has been agreed to by both the central bank and the government.

It follows Adrian Orr's abrupt resignation as the Reserve Bank's governor last month.

Unlike most other agencies, which receive annual funding through the Budget process, the Reserve Bank's board negotiates five-year funding agreements with the Minister of Finance, who receives advice from the Treasury.

 

Documents released under the Official Information Act lay bare the truth: Orr wanted $1.031 billion to keep the Reserve Bank humming; Willis offered a measly $775.6 million, a 25% cut to operating expenses over five years.

 

Yesterday, RNZ reported:

Documents reveal why Adrian Orr suddenly quit as Reserve Bank Governor

The Reserve Bank has revealed a dispute over funding was behind Adrian Orr's abrupt resignation as governor.

A raft of documents - released by the central bank under the Official Information Act - reveal an "impasse" as Orr argued Finance Minister Nicola Willis was not providing enough funding for the next five years.

In an accompanying statement, an RBNZ spokesperson said it became clear in late February that the board - chaired by Neil Quigley - was willing to agree to a "considerably" smaller sum that Orr thought was needed.

"This caused distress to Mr Orr and the impasse risked damaging necessary working relationships, and led to Mr Orr's personal decision that he had achieved all he could as Governor of the Reserve Bank and could not continue in that role with sufficiently less funding than he thought was viable for the organisation."

 

Willis’ austerity isn’t just a numbers game; it’s a deliberate assault on New Zealand’s future. The coalition’s 2025 Budget, dressed up as a “Growth Budget,” is full of sleight of hand and doublespeak. While Willis and Luxon crow about fiscal prudence, their cuts are gutting essential services and much needed infrastructure projects. Health funding for Māori providers? Flatlined, forcing providers to “just keep going” with no new money. Education? Starved, with schools scrambling to cover basics. Public transport and infrastructure? Slashed.

Stats NZ data paints a grim picture: real per-capita health spending has dropped 3.2% since 2022, and infrastructure investment as a share of GDP is at its lowest in a decade, down to 2.1% in 2024. Meanwhile, 61,000 families are $43 worse off per fortnight thanks to cuts like the halving of KiwiSaver contributions.

The coalition’s propaganda machine is working overtime to paper over this mess. Luxon parrots the same “tight but responsible” line, claiming the Budget “gets the basics right.” But it’s a lie as transparent as gladwrap. $11 billion has been stripped from women’s pay equity, $66,000 shaved off young people’s retirement savings, with NZ$51 billion borrowed in 2025/26, all to funnel more tax cuts to landlords and corporates. The coalition’s spin is straight out of the Tory playbook. Slash public services, widen inequality, then blame the victims.

This isn’t just financial mismanagement and bad policy; it’s economic vandalism. Austerity has a track record of failure. Just look at the UK, where a decade of cuts led to 330,000 avoidable deaths and stagnant growth. New Zealand’s productivity needs investment in education, health, and resilient infrastructure, not penny pinching or another fire sale of public goods. Willis’ approach risks a death spiral: underfunded services collapse, inequality spikes, and the economy stalls. The Reserve Bank’s own forecasts warn of sluggish 1.2% GDP growth in 2025, hampered by these cuts.

Orr’s exit should be viewed as a canary in the coal mine. He stood up for a properly funded central bank, knowing its role was required in shielding New Zealand from global shocks. Willis’ refusal to budge wasn’t just a snub…it appears to be a power play to bend the bank to the government's and Treasury's agenda. Nikki No Boats is playing hardball, leaning on the Reserve Bank to soften those capital rules that have the big Australian-owned banks, who extracted $7.22 billion from Kiwis in 2024, grumbling. Her push smells like a calculated move to cozy up to these financial giants.

The coalition’s priorities are clear: corporates over people, spin over substance. New Zealanders deserve better than the National-led governments misleading propaganda. It’s time to call out Willis’ austerity for what it is…a wrecking ball that is destroying New Zealand’s future.

Majority of Voters Think Budget 2025 is Terrible

The latest Talbot Mills Research poll has dropped a bombshell on the National-led coalition’s Budget 2025, and it’s not pretty. According to the NZ Herald, only 22% of Kiwis think this budget is good for New Zealand, while 33% reckon it’s outright bad. On a personal level, it’s even grimmer, only 9% believe it’ll benefit them, with 34% saying it’ll make things worse. 

David Talbot, the poll’s director, didn’t mince words: this is the worst budget reception in nearly 30 years of tracking. For a government that campaigned on economic competence, this is a slap in the face from voters who are clearly unimpressed with Nicola Willis’ fiscal fanfare.

On Saturday, the NZ Herald reported:

Budget 2025 tests poorly with voters, according to Talbot Mills Research poll.

The Government’s recent Budget has tested poorly with voters, according to the results of a new Talbot Mills Research poll.

Asked whether they thought the Budget delivered on May 22 will be good for New Zealand overall, bad, or would not make much of a difference, 33% said it would be bad and just 22% thought it would be good.

“We’ve been measuring New Zealanders’ reception of government budgets for nearly 30 years. This is the worst we’ve ever recorded,” said David Talbot, director of Talbot Mills Research.

“Across all three dimensions: overall, economic, and personal, it was judged by Kiwis to be net negative, and in each case the worst since our tracking began in 1996.”

Participants were also asked whether they thought the Budget would be good for the New Zealand economy, bad or would not make much of a difference.

The results showed 30% believed it would be bad for the economy and 27% thought it would be good. In terms of whether they thought the Budget would be good for them personally, bad or make not much of a difference, 34% of respondents said it would be bad and just 9% thought it would be good.

Nicola Willis called Budget 2025 “responsible,” claiming it’s steering New Zealand toward recovery. The people polled, representing a majority of New Zealanders, say otherwise. With 30% of respondents saying it’s bad for the economy and only 27% seeing it as a positive, the coalition’s big plan, centred on tax breaks for businesses and slashing public spending, is nothing more than a corporate handout dressed up as progress. The $6.6 billion “Investment Boost” for businesses, allowing a 20% immediate tax deduction on new assets, might thrill the boardrooms, but it’s left ordinary Kiwis cold.

The gutting of KiwiSaver contributions, now halved to about $260 annually, is another kick in the teeth for workers trying to save for their future. Willis’ claim that this will somehow help first-home buyers is laughable when employers are expected to offset higher contributions with lower wage increases. So much for “making New Zealanders better off.”

The coalition’s obsession with austerity and tax cuts for the wealthy reeks of trickle-down economics, a tired playbook that’s failed time and again. Meanwhile, means-testing Best Start and projecting a measly $200 million surplus by 2029 (using their cherry-picked Obegalx measure) shows a government more interested in micro-management and balancing books than addressing the cost-of-living crisis hammering households.

The poll’s damning verdict reflects a public that’s not buying the spin. With 78% of Kiwis in other Talbot Mills polls saying economic conditions are “poor” or “not so good,” it’s clear the coalition’s priorities are misaligned with what the country requires.

This budget’s failure isn’t just a policy misstep; it’s a political disaster for Christopher Luxon’s government. The coalition’s rhetoric of “strong fiscal management” is crumbling under the weight of public discontent. Talbot Mills’ data suggests a deeper malaise, voters aren’t just skeptical; they’re angry. If Luxon and Willis think they can coast to 2026 on corporate tax breaks and road cone hotlines, they’re in for a rude awakening.

The left must seize this moment. Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori need to hammer home the coalition’s disconnect, offering a vision that puts people over profits. Budget 2025’s polling debacle is a clear signal: Kiwis want a government that fights for them, not one that leaves more Kiwi families further behind.

Coalition Cuts Education Budget by 2.2%

The National-led coalition’s Budget 2025 is a performance in sleight of hand, dressing up austerity as progress while our schools crumble under the weight of underfunding. Education Minister Erica Stanford boasts of a “seismic shift” in education spending, but the numbers tell a different story, a grim tale of slashed budgets, neglected infrastructure, and a growing population left to fend for itself.

Budget 2025 allocates $2.5 billion over four years for education, with $613.5 million reprioritised from “underperforming” initiatives like the Kāhui Ako scheme, which supported teacher collaboration across schools. Sounds strategic, until you realise this “reprioritisation” is a fancy word for cuts.

The coalition’s total spend on early childhood and school education creeps up to $19.85 billion in 2025-26, but drops to $19 billion and $18.9 billion in subsequent years. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s population is growing at 1.5-2% annually, and inflation is hovering around 2.5%. A nominal increase of just 1.12% in education spending for 2024-25 translates to a real-terms cut of 1.09% when adjusted for inflation. Add population growth, and the per-student funding is effectively gutted. Schools are once again being asked to do more with less.

Last Friday, RNZ reported:

Budget 2025: 'Underperforming' areas cut to pay for 'seismic shift' in education

The Budget included a myriad of cuts to redirect funding to other education initiatives.

"We have assessed underspends and reprioritised initiatives that are underperforming or lack clear evidence that they're delivering intended outcomes," Stanford said.

The biggest cut was ending the Kahui Ako scheme, which paid about 4000 teachers extra to lead improvements in groups of schools, resulting in a reprioritisation of $375m over four years.

The 2025 education budget, when adjusted for inflation and 0.8% child population growth, reflects a 2.18% real-terms cut per student. This shortfall, alongside declining capital funding, leaves schools and early childhood providers struggling to maintain standards in a growing, inflation-pressured environment.

Our schools are already on their knees. Decades of underinvestment have left classrooms leaking, heating systems failing, and resources stretched thin. The National Education Growth Plan, meant to address roll growth, is a band-aid on a broken system. Budget 2025 throws $711.9 million at school property, but this barely scratches the surface when you consider the $455.39 million allocated in 2023 was already insufficient for new classrooms and repairs. With student numbers rising, schools in high-growth areas like Auckland and Tauranga are bursting at the seams, yet the coalition’s capital funding drops by $600 million by 2027-28. This isn’t investment; it’s managed decline.

The coalition’s priorities are telling. While they scrounge $5.3 billion in savings across the public sector, they’ve found $15.7 million to subsidise private schools, because apparently, elite institutions need the cash more than state schools with mouldy walls. The Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch programme, vital for kids facing food insecurity, is only funded until 2026, leaving its future uncertain. Meanwhile, $12.8 billion is slashed from pay equity negotiations, hitting teachers and support staff hard. These are the people holding our education system together, yet they’re being told to tighten their belts. The $2.9 billion for landlords and $6.6 billion for business owners alone totals $9.5 billion, dwarfing the $2.5 billion over four years for education.

The coalition’s rhetoric about “economic growth” and “fiscal discipline” rings hollow when our kids are crammed into dilapidated classrooms with overworked teachers. Inflation and population growth demand at least a 4-5% funding increase just to maintain current service levels, yet they're getting crumbs. This budget isn’t about building a brighter future; it’s about short-changing our tamariki while dressing it up as reform. If National thinks this will go unnoticed, they’re in for a rude awakening come the next election.

UPDATED: Health Crisis Looms as Budget 2025 Cuts Billions

The National-led government’s 2025 Budget has been underwhelming to say the least. But it’s an especially grim read for anyone who values a functioning public health system. Despite the glossy spin from Health Minister Simeon Brown, the numbers don’t lie: New Zealand’s health sector is being short-changed. The much-touted $1.783 billion in new health spending sounds impressive until you scratch the surface and realise it’s barely enough to keep the lights on, let alone deliver the world-class care New Zealanders deserve. Once again, National’s obsession with fiscal restraint is strangling our hospitals, General Practitioners, and other frontline health workers.


Last week, the NZCTU reported:

Billions missing from health budget

“We have examined the spending decisions and announcements of the Minister of Health over the past few months. These demonstrate a pattern of making a new service promise but not providing any new funding for that new service,” said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney.

“That means the commitments have to be paid out of the existing budget, which is already under huge pressure. These sneaky cuts add up to $1.2bn across 4 years.

“At Budget 2024 the government provided $1.370bn for cost pressures. This has been calculated by the Treasury as simply covering the cost of existing services. The $1.2bn of new spending are all new services on top. If they come from the ‘cost pressure’ payment above, that acts as a direct cut to existing health services.

“Assuming the Treasury cost pressure costs are right, health needs $1.713bn just to stand still at Budget 2025 in direct new funding – and likely a figure closer to $2bn once the unknown costs are added.

Let’s break down the funding shortfalls even further. Budget 2025 boasts a 4.8% increase in Vote Health, bringing the total to $31.052 billion. Sounds decent, right? Wrong! When you factor in inflation and population growth (driven by immigration and an ageing demographic), the real per capita health funding is declining by around 1% each year over the forecast period.

 

Health NZ’s cost pressure uplift of 6.2% might outpace CPI inflation, but it’s nowhere near enough to cover the actual costs of delivering services in a country where demand is skyrocketing. The NZCTU estimates a shortfall of $1.2 to $2 billion just to maintain existing services, let alone address the backlog from COVID-19 or workforce shortages.

Despite these obvious funding shortfalls, Simeon Brown has gone on the attack:

Ginny Andersen tried rewriting history on ZB this morning, claiming there was no new health funding in the Budget. We already know Labour is economically illiterate, but for Ginny to think Kiwis are too is an insult. 🧵

— Simeon Brown (@SimeonBrownMP) May 27, 2025

 

National’s track record on health funding is a masterclass in deceptive cost-cutting. During their 2008–2017 tenure, per capita health funding eroded as they consistently failed to match inflation and immigration-driven demand, resulting in a real per capita spending drop of around 3%. The fallout was brutal: overworked nurses, understaffed hospitals, and patients languishing on wait lists for months. Fast forward to 2025, and National’s back at it, dressing up a bare-bones budget as “record investment” while frontline services buckle under the pressure.

The kicker? National’s priorities are wildly out of touch. While they’ve funnelled $164 million into after-hours care, a move Labour’s Ayesha Verrall rightly calls a drop in the bucket, they’ve slashed $381 million from digital health infrastructure and $35 million from Primary Care teams. Along with the Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) cuts in Budget 2024 of over NZ$100 million, these represent significant cuts to frontline services that are not being replaced. Instead of investing in training doctors and Nurses or modernising systems, they’re pouring billions into tax cuts for the wealthy and subsidies for tech giants and landlords. It’s a slap in the face to health workers and patients alike.

National’s failure to invest in the sevices that are required while claiming there's “no lolly scramble” in Budget 2025 is laughable when you see where the money’s actually going. Health NZ is still $1.1 billion in the red, and this budget does nothing to plug that gap.

Today, RNZ reported:

 

 

Government's health boost less than claimed, expert says

However, Auckland University health policy Professor Tim Tenbensel said, according to his calculations, the $31 billion allocated for health in the Budget was only 3.6 percent more than what was actually spent last year.

"So, we're pretty much treading water at best, or rather sinking a little, in this budget," Prof Tenbensel said.

Furthermore, operational funding last year only increased about 1.2 percent in real terms.

…

The trick was to keep adding on the previous year's increase as "new money", ignoring the fact that it would have been eaten up by inflation.

"It's a very creative ploy that one, so I think we need to see it for what it is," he said.

"All governments do this sort of thing, but in the scheme of things, this one is pretty brazen."

 

Kiwis deserve better than this neoliberal penny-pinching. National’s refusal to properly fund health isn’t just a budget failure...it’s a betrayal of every New Zealander waiting for a hospital bed or a specialist appointment. If they keep robbing Peter to pay Paul, our health system won’t just stagnate; it’ll collapse. Time to call it what it is: a deliberate choice to prioritise profits over people.

Cutting Budgets Won’t Fix New Zealand’s Economy

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has sold New Zealand a shiny austerity package, wrapped in promises of fiscal prudence and surplus dreams. Her latest move, a $1.1 billion budget cut for 2025, which has been spun as the tough medicine needed to cure our economic woes. But let’s cut through the spin: this isn’t a cure; it’s a poison pill. Willis’ austerity obsession is dragging New Zealand deeper into recession, and the evidence is stacking up like unpaid bills. Treasury’s downgraded GDP growth forecasts and a $6 billion borrowing hike expose the cracks in her strategy, while her government’s mismanagement, like the Kiwirail ferry debacle, makes you wonder if the coalition of chaos even has a calculator at all?

Willis’ budget cuts, announced in April 2025, slashed the operating allowance from $2.4 billion to $1.3 billion, one of the tightest budgets in a decade. She claims this will deliver a surplus by 2029, despite Treasury warning that global trade turmoil, particularly Trump’s tariffs, will slow growth. Treasury’s Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) in December 2024 already painted a grim picture: a deeper recession than expected, with nominal GDP $19.8 billion lower over the forecast period, leading to $13 billion less in tax revenue. Net core Crown debt is now projected to hit $234 billion by 2029, a whopping 46% of GDP. Willis’ response? Hack away at public spending while borrowing even more. So much for fiscal restraint.

Economic analyses shows that austerity is a wrecking ball for growth. The Kaka points out that Willis’ cuts risk an “austerity doom loop,” where reduced government spending chokes demand, stalls private sector recovery, and deepens the downturn. IMF research supports this: a 1% GDP increase in public investment boosts output by 0.2% in the same year and 1.2% over four years. Yet Willis prioritises cuts over investments in productivity, education, or infrastructure...sectors that could lift New Zealand out of its economic slump.

Contrast this with past governments. During the Global Financial Crisis, National under John Key invested in infrastructure to cushion the blow. The COVID-19 response saw Labour borrow heavily to fund wage subsidies, keeping businesses afloat. Willis, however, seems to think austerity is a one-size-fits-all fix, ignoring how it amplifies unemployment (forecast to peak at 5.4% in 2025) and stifles recovery. Her cuts target “non-essential” spending, but as Bernard Hickey at the Kaka warns, defunding public services to failure often leads to privatisation, shifting even more costs onto ordinary Kiwis.

Then there’s the Kiwirail ferry debacle, an example of the coalition government overreacting without a proper replacement plan. The Interislander ferry project, meant to modernise transport infrastructure, spiraled into an additional $1.5 billion mess under Willis’ watch. The government scrapped plans for new ferries, opting for a cheaper, smaller version, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for delays and cancellations. Mountain Tūī called it a “fiscal own-goal,” highlighting how Willis’ penny-pinching undermined a critical economic lifeline. If this is her idea of competence, we’re in for a very bumpy ride.

Willis’ austerity myth assumes cutting budgets magically balances the books, but it’s a gamble that’s backfiring. The Conversation correctly argues that New Zealand needs productivity-focused investments, not a “rush towards austerity” that risks our long-term prosperity. It's questionable whether the $6.6 billion business tax incentive will spark any growth, but it’s dwarfed by $21.4 billion in cuts, including $12.8 billion from pay equity reforms, a move that most economists have slammed as short-sighted. Meanwhile, her refusal to transparently detail these cuts and the Kiwisaver mistake fuels even more distrust in her ability to manage the books.

Kiwis deserve better than Willis’ austerity experiment. The economy isn’t a spreadsheet to be trimmed into submission; it’s people, businesses, and communities needing support to thrive. Readers, it’s time to demand transparency on where these cuts hit hardest and why. If Willis wants to play fiscal hero, she needs to show her work...not just wave a red pen and hope for applause. Write to your MP, question their priorities, and let’s hold this government accountable before austerity and it's economic aftermath puts us in a debt cycle that we may never escape from.