3.30pm: More than $370 million will be spent on school infrastructure, the Government has unveiled as part of Budget 2015.

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye say of the $373.9 million this includes $130.1m operating funding over four years and the $243.8m capital expenditure the Prime Minister announced last month for new schools, kura and classrooms.

Finance Minister Bill English.

'This spending is about securing and ensuring the safety of property and improving school infrastructure and services,” says Hekia.

'It is over and above the $1.14 billion of capital funding already committed to rebuilding and repairing schools in greater Christchurch and $450 million of existing capital funding to supporting the annual maintenance, development and modernisation of New Zealand's 2,100 state schools.”

Of the $130.1m operating, $4.9m will be invested in 2015/16 to accelerate a national programme of earthquake resilience assessments of state school buildings.

'The Government is committed to providing safe schools for children and teachers and we already spend $80 million a year assessing school property and strengthening buildings or addressing leaky buildings.

'Buildings at greatest risk have already been assessed, but it's important to assess other buildings as quickly as we can so that earthquake strengthening can be prioritised in planned property work.”

Nikki says $34 million of the spending is to meet increased insurance costs for state school property.

'These costs increased after the Canterbury earthquakes. It's important that our $22.67 billion state school property network is properly covered, and this funding will help make this happen,” says Nikki.

The Government will also reprioritise $3m over four years towards improving the school transport system.

'We want improved school transport services and to do that we need to use the best technology available to understand the needs of families who access the service, and then deliver the best possible service to those families.

She adds: 'The remaining $88.2 million of operating spending on infrastructure is associated with the $243.8 million of new capital funding the Prime Minister announced last month for new schools, kura and classrooms, which includes funding for the first two schools of the accelerated Auckland growth package.”

3.28pm: Money for the broadband initiative is coming from an extension of the Telecommunications Development Levy will provide $150 million for major improvements in rural broadband and to fill mobile black spots, says Communications Minister Amy Evans.

This is in addition to the $210m in capital funding from the Future Investment Fund. The contingency of up to $210 million in capital funding from the Future Investment Fund secures the next stage of the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) in extending it to 80 per cent of New Zealanders. This will be finalised following a business case, says Amy.

These investments take the Government's total funding across the two programmes to $2 billion.

'Better connectivity is critical to building a stronger economy and creating more jobs and higher wages,” says Amy. 'New Zealand's digital economy is undergoing a transformation as we roll out Ultra-Fast Broadband and Rural Broadband Initiative throughout the country.

'Fast and reliable connectivity is critical to New Zealand's economic growth. Like running water and electricity, connectivity has become a vital service for homes and businesses.”

The UFB and RBI projects make up one of New Zealand's most ambitious infrastructure programmes. With 46 per cent of the first stage of the UFB programme completed, it is ahead of schedule and within budget. The first stage of RBI is already more than 73 per cent complete.

3.19pm: With 'education the passport to the future” the Government is investing a further $686.7 million taking total spending on early childhood, primary and secondary education in the coming year to $10.8 billion.

This includes $442.9 million of operating funding over the next four years for education and $243.8 million of capital, reflecting the Government's determination to help young New Zealanders achieve their potential, says Education Minister Hekia Parata.

'Since this Government took office in 2008, the proportion of 18-year-olds achieving Level 2 NCEA has risen from 68 per cent to an estimated 81 per cent.

'Over the past four years, the number of children participating in early childhood education has risen almost 7 per cent to just over 58,000.

'Level 2 achievement rates and ECE participation are both key indicators of future success. But there is more to be done to lift those lagging behind, especially Maori and Pasifika, those from poorer families and those with special needs.

For this reason, the Government is continuing to invest in initiatives that have been proven to make a difference, says Hekia.

The Budget's extra investment in education also includes $74.9 million for early childhood education over the next four years to enable more children to attend ECE from an earlier age and for more hours.

'This is great news, as it's well known that high-quality early learning helps set up children for a lifetime of educational achievement – especially children who are vulnerable or from poorer families,” Ms Parata says.

The Budget includes an extra $62.9m for special education. This will continue the additional in-class teacher aide support for 1500 students with special needs which started in February, and increase Ongoing Resource Scheme funding to assist more students with high needs.

There is an additional $53.3 million over four years for Education Payroll (Novopay) to complete the process of delivering an efficient and cost effective payroll system for schools.

Payroll performance continues to improve, with all pay periods in the past year recording an error rate of less than 0.25 per cent, well below the 0.5 per cent acceptable error rate as defined by the Novopay technical review.

Schools' operational grants, typically spent on support staff, resources and day-to-day operations, will increase by one per cent, at a cost of $42.3 million.

'This new funding, along with new funding for roll growth, will bring the total amount spent on school operational grants to $1.32 billion during 2015/16,” Ms Parata says. Inflation for the year to March 2015 was 0.1 per cent.

In addition, as announced previously, the Budget provides capital expenditure of $243.8 million to build seven new schools and kura kaupapa, expand four existing schools and build an additional 241 classrooms at existing schools.

Given the success of Trades Academies, about 300 extra places will be added to support students to achieve NCEA Level 2 while also gaining industry-specific skills. There is also a package of initiatives for vulnerable children to ensure they receive the health and education services they need.

The new investment of $686.7 million over four years is in part funded by savings within the Ministry of Education of $64.9 million.

'Education is the passport to the future,” says Hekia. 'The more kids we can engage in education the better.”

3.14pm: The 2015 budget will invest an additional $20.4 million over four years to provide greater national direction and support to councils in implementing the resource management reforms.

A further $4 million will go towards supporting the Environmental Protection Authority's role to implement the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) legislation in 2015/16. An additional $16.8 million is allocated to support the Government's programme of improving the management of freshwater.

A key priority in 2015/16 is progressing the Government's second phase of Resource Management Act reforms,” says environment minister Dr Nick Smith.

The reforms involve stronger national direction and greater use of National Policy Standards and National Environment Standards.

'The funding will also support the development of planning templates to enable a more standardised and simplified approach to resource management,” says Nick.

'The additional funding for freshwater work will enable the Government to progress the next steps in lifting New Zealand's management of our rivers, lakes and aquifers.”

It will help enable implementation of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management and the 2014 National Objectives Framework. Key issues to resolve include policy on exceptions, coastal lagoons, Māori rights and interests, and supporting a new collaborative approach to resolving managing freshwater within councils.

'Budget 2015 will also support the Government's work in improving New Zealand's ocean management. Prior to this Government, there was no system of environmental assessment for activities in New Zealand's huge EEZ.

'The next step in implementing this new law is the transfer and improvement of regulations relating to the release of pollutants into the ocean environment, and developing a new Marine Protected Areas Act.”

3.07pm: The government says it will spend up to $25 million over three years to support the establishment of new privately led Regional Research Institutes, says Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce.

The Government will work with regional stakeholders to identify where the best opportunities are to develop new institutes, and has allocated funding from 2016/17 to support best case proposals.

The proposed new research institutes will support innovation in regional areas outside Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch by maximising the unique business, technology, and economic growth opportunities in a region.

'They would be funded from a mixture of public and private sources and modelled along the lines of Nelson's Cawthron Institute, which is a specialist not-for-profit institute for aquaculture, marine biosecurity, and coastal and freshwater ecology,” says Stephen.

'We envisage funding the launch of between one and three new institutes over the next four to five years depending on demand.”

Regional Research Institutes will focus on scientific research relevant to a particular region, with a strong emphasis on the effective transfer of research into new technologies, new firms, and new products and services, says Steven.

Other new science and innovation initiatives in Budget 2015 include:

• An $80 million operating boost over four years to R&D growth grants administered by Callaghan Innovation – announced in April, this will support innovative Kiwi businesses carrying out research and development by contributing 20 per cent of their R&D programme costs.

• The science and innovation system performance report and data collection programme – the first in a series of annual reports on the performance of New Zealand's science and innovation system which will be published later this year. Funding of around $3 million over four years will be met by reprioritisation within the science and innovation portfolio.

• An international investment attraction programme – a new $1 million programme to attract multinational companies to undertake R&D in New Zealand will start in 2015/16, funded by reprioritisation within the science and innovation portfolio.

• Science in Society – lifting New Zealanders' engagement with science and technology is the key focus of the national strategic plan for Science in Society: A Nation of Curious Minds – He Whenua Hihiri I Te Mahara. An additional $2.2 million in 2015/16 will support the plan's implementation, funded by reprioritisation within the science and innovation portfolio.

3.01pm: The Government's commitment to tackling serious fraud through the Serious Fraud Office will receive an extra $8.1 million of operating funding over the next four years, says SFO Minister Michael Woodhouse.

'The work of the SFO is important to New Zealand's economy because it protects New Zealand's reputation as a safe place to invest and do business, which in turn contributes to growth in our economy,” says Michael.

The new funding acknowledges the ever-present threat of serious financial crime and provides the SFO with the capacity to respond, says Michael.

It will enable the SFO to continue its fight against bribery and corruption, protecting New Zealand's reputation and ensuring we meet our international obligations in this area.

'It will also support initiatives to deal with the growing use of technology in financial crime and cross-border offending, and enable the SFO to respond to international expectations,” says Michael.

'New Zealand enjoys a reputation as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, and maintaining this reputation is of immense value to our economy.”

2.59pm: More than $112million will be poured into tertiary education in the next four years, including Maori and Pasifika trades training, as the Government looks to grow New Zealand's economy.

Budget 2015 will provide a further $112.3 million of operating funding over four years and $1 million of capital funding to invest in knowledge and skills, says Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce.

'We are continuing to address the relative underfunding of higher-cost disciplines such as science and agriculture to ensure that these economically important and research-rich areas attract more investment from providers to deliver more of the skills and knowledge New Zealand needs to drive economic growth.

'We are also investing more in manifesto priorities such as engineering and Māori and Pasifika trades training.

The Government is utilising funding that would otherwise remain unused to invest in higher per-student EFTS rates, and in manifesto priorities such as engineering and Maori and Pasifika trades training.

Broken down the funding sees $85.8m over four years for significant targeted increases in tuition rates at degree level and above, including a 7.5 per cent increase for science, a 20 per cent increase for agriculture, and increases for optometry, pharmacy and physiotherapy.

A further $11.4 million will increase the number of engineering graduates, including $5.2 million for more engineering places, and funding for activities to raise the profile of engineering and support more people to become engineers.

Maori and Pasifika trades training gets $8.4m contingency to add up to 500 new learners per annum from 2016.

To support an increase in demand for Trainee Medical Intern Grants an extra $5.9m has been allocated.

There will also be $900,000 in operating funding and $1m of reprioritised capital funding to expand the Youth Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Tool.

Baseline funding to introduce Rate My Qualification, which allows employers to provide direct feedback to tertiary providers, and students to see what qualifications employers value.

The investment will come from funding made available by the reducing demand for tertiary education, reprioritisation within Vote Tertiary Education, continuing to target student support to those who most need it, and some additional money from the Crown.

A stronger economy with more people in paid work and a decline in the size of the population aged 18-25 are reducing demand for tertiary education over the next few years, says Steven.

'Normally when demand for tertiary education reduces, the per-student funding model means the amount of spending also reduces. However, the Government is retaining existing funding levels for tertiary education overall and reallocating some money to priority areas in this year's Budget.”

The parental income threshold, which affects eligibility for student allowance for students aged under 24, will remain fixed at the current level until 2019. Continuing to maintain this threshold will better target assistance to those who need it most, in particular students from low-income families.

An annual maximum fee movement (AMFM) of three per cent for 2016 will be subject to public consultation in June. This regulates the amount by which tertiary education providers can increase their fees each year, and has previously been set at four per cent.

A lower AMFM will reduce fee increases for students and respond to historically low inflation, which has slowed cost increases for tertiary providers, Mr Joyce says.

Budget 2015 provides:

$85.8 million over four years for significant targeted increases in tuition rates at degree level and above, including a 7.5 per cent increase for science, a 20 per cent increase for agriculture, and increases for optometry, pharmacy and physiotherapy.

• $11.4 million over four years to increase the number of engineering graduates, including $5.2 million for more engineering places, and funding for activities to raise the profile of engineering and support more people to become engineers.
• An $8.4 million contingency to grow Māori and Pasifika Trades Training (up to 500 new learners per annum from 2016).
• $5.9 million over four years to support an increase in demand for Trainee Medical Intern Grants.
• $900,000 in operating funding over four years and $1 million of reprioritised capital funding to expand the Youth Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Tool.

• Baseline funding to introduce Rate My Qualification, which allows employers to provide direct feedback to tertiary providers, and students to see what qualifications employers value.

2.55pm: The Crown's books are in good shape and on track to surplus as the Government maintains its careful and responsible management of public spending, says Finance Minister Bill English.

'The Government has focused on controlling its spending and getting better results from public services. This approach is succeeding. Core Crown expenditure has fallen from 34.1 per cent of GDP in 2008/09 to an expected 30 per cent in 2015/16.”

'We're making good progress on the Government's fiscal priorities and the outlook is positive,” says Bill.

Treasury is predicting solid growth, growing employment and real wage increases. Lower inflation means tax revenue is not rising as quickly as expected.

The Budget forecasts for 2015/16 show a modest OBEGAL surplus of $176 million, increasing to $1.5 billion the following year, and $3.6 billion in 2018/19.

The forecasts show a deficit of $684 million for 2014/15, which is $2.2 billion less than last year's deficit.

'The overall fiscal trajectory has not changed,” says Bill. 'The surplus target has helped to turn around the Government's books. We've come from an $18.4 billion deficit four years ago to seeing steadily rising surpluses into the future.”

The forecasts also show the Government meeting its other major fiscal target of reducing net government debt to 20 per cent of GDP by 2020, says Bill.

The Government has no intention of making cuts to services, programmes or income support in response to lower tax revenue simply to chase a surplus.

'We have a track record of sticking to our spending plans to protect the most vulnerable and to provide certainty for users of public services. We won't change that approach just to turn a small forecast deficit into a small forecast surplus,” says Bill.

Budget 2016 also has an allowance of $1 billion. A one-off higher Budget allowance of $2.5 billion in 2017 provides options for future income tax reductions should fiscal and economic conditions allow. The allowance for Budget 2018 then falls to $1.5 billion.

These allowances are much smaller than the amount spent by the previous Government, which averaged over $3.3 billion in each of their last six Budgets.

As in previous years, Budget 2015 includes reprioritisation of lower-value spending. For example, removing the $1,000 KiwiSaver kick-start saves over $500 million over four years. Introducing a border security levy means taxpayers will no longer have to meet the cost of passenger border clearance, which is around $100 million a year.

'We are committed to delivering ongoing spending restraint. In part this will be achieved by actively investing in better public services,” Mr English says. 'By addressing the long-term drivers of social dysfunction, we can deliver results for the community and results for the Government's books.

'Last year, we reduced the expected cost of supporting current beneficiaries over their lifetime by $7.5 billion. A key part of this was getting more sole parents into work.”

The forecasts also include provision for annual ACC levy cuts of $375 million in 2016 and a further $120 million in 2017, depending on the outcome of public consultation. This is in addition to the $1.5 billion reduction in annual ACC levies since 2012.

New capital spending in this Budget is funded by reprioritisation, drawing on a further $939 million in proceeds from the Government's share offers through the Future Investment Fund.

2.52pm: An additional $248.9 million is to be spent on key transport projects over the next four years, says Transport Minister Simon Bridges.

This brings the Government's total spending on transport in 2015/16 to $4.27 billion, including $3.01 billion from the National Land Transport Fund.

KiwiRail receives $209.8 million capital in 2015/16 from the Future Investment Fund. A further $190 million will be funded in next year's budget.

The funding will allow KiwiRail to deliver services and maintain the national network to a safe and reliable standard, says Simon.

'The Government is committed to supporting the company's progress towards meeting operational and performance targets over the next two years. KiwiRail must continue to drive significant efficiency and productivity improvements to reduce the ongoing level of Crown funding required.”

An additional $6.5 million will be available over the next three years for KiwiRail to complete signals upgrades on the Wellington Metro Rail network.

The SuperGold Card off-peak public transport concession scheme will receive an additional $10.2 million of operating funding for the 2015/16 financial year, bringing the total funding for 2015/16 to $28.1 million.

The number of eligible card holders has grown by over 150,000 since the scheme was introduced in 2008, and they made 11 million trips last year alone, says Simon.

Budget 2015 also provides additional operating funding of $6.5 million over the next four years for the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC).

'Recent experience shows TAIC needs a boost to help with its increased workload, complexity of investigations and growing public expectation. This will ensure the ongoing effectiveness of its investigations,” says Simon.

Additional funding of $15.9 million over the next four years will allow MetService to replace its meteorological forecasting system, establish a new disaster recovery backup facility and provide free weather forecasting services for the recreational aviation sector.

2.49pm: $790m for child poverty

This year's Budget has the Government putting a strong focus on social development measures with a $790 million child hardship package.

The package includes a balanced mix of greater work expectations for sole parents and more financial support for parents on a benefit, says Prime Minister John Key.

Benefit rates for families with children will increase by $25 a week after tax, from 1 April next year. This is the first increase outside inflation adjustments since 1972.

'After the last election, I said children in hardship were a Government priority and by building a strong economy we can provide more support for them,” says the Prime Minister.

'Increasing the weekly payment for beneficiary families and lifting Working for Families payments to low-income households will make a real difference by allowing parents to better provide for their children.

'Two-thirds of children in more severe material hardship have a parent on a benefit, with nine out of 10 of those being sole parents, so it's important to focus attention on this group of families.”

Lower-income working families that are not on a benefit also get an increase in their Working for Families payments and there is more childcare support to help low-income parents in work.

'Billions of dollars are already invested every year in supporting low-income families and we're also addressing the long-term drivers of material hardship like poor educational achievement.

'But there is still a group of children who, through no fault of their own, are in families where there is considerable hardship. We are firmly focused on helping these children out of the cycle of hardship.”

Finance Minister Bill English says the package strikes a balance that offers more support to low-income families with children, while ensuring there remains a strong incentive for parents to move from welfare to work

'Moving to paid work is the best way to lift more families out of poverty, while an increase in benefit rates will help address our concern about children whose family's resources have been falling behind other households,” says Bill.

'Over many years, beneficiary family incomes have hardly changed in real terms, while those for working families have increased. Two-thirds of children in more severe hardship have a parent on a benefit, and nine out of 10 of those are sole parents.”

Minister for Social Development Anne Tolley says there has been widespread reform of the welfare system over recent years aimed at increasing people's independence where possible.

She is confident that these changes being outlined will not contribute to further dependency, and will have a positive impact on the lives of beneficiary families and their children.

It is expected that around 110,000 families, with 190,000 children, will receive the higher benefit rates.

'While two-thirds of children in more severe material hardship live in beneficiary families, the remaining third have working parents on low incomes, and the Government thinks those families could also do with extra support,” says Anne.

'That's why we are also making changes to Working for Families to give more financial support to lower-income families not on a benefit.”

Low-income working families earning $36,350 a year or less, before tax, will get $12.50 extra a week from Working for Families, and some very low-income families will get $24.50 extra.

Working families earning more than $36,350 will get extra from Working for Families but it will be less than $12.50 a week, with the exact amount dependent on their family income.

Some higher-income families earning more than $88,000 a year will get slightly less from Working for Families, with the average reduction being around $3 a week.

Anne says the tax credit changes will benefit around 200,000 working families with 380,000 children. Around 50,000 of those families earn $36,350 or less a year and will therefore get the full $12.50 a week increase.

Recognising that lower-income working parents need affordable childcare, the package also increases childcare subsidies for pre-schoolers and the OSCAR subsidy for out-of-school and school holiday programmes.

'From April next year, the Childcare Assistance rate for low-income families will increase from $4 an hour to $5 an hour for up to 50 hours of childcare a week per child. This will lower the cost of childcare for around 40,000 low-income working families, and reduce barriers for those parents moving off welfare and into work.”

The child hardship package will cost $240 million a year once fully implemented and $790 million over the next four years.

Anne says the exact impact of the package on any given family will depend on their individual circumstances and there will also be flow-on effects to supplementary assistance such as the Accommodation Supplement.

'This package is consistent with the Government's extensive welfare reforms to support people into work, and also with the significant support we have provided to vulnerable families and children since we were elected in 2008.

'For example, Budget 2014 provided a $500 million package which included free doctors' visits and prescriptions for children under 13, extra paid parental leave and an increase in the parental tax credit.

She adds: 'Over time we have maintained a focus on paid work, invested in better case management and strengthened work obligations for people on a benefit. We have also introduced initiatives such as 90-day trials to encourage employers to give prospective employees a chance.

'We are seeing promising results, with the number of children in benefit-dependent households falling by 42,000 over the past three years.

She is confident that when implemented, the measures announced today will help ease the depth of hardship experienced by families and children in New Zealand's lowest-income households.

Child Hardship Package, from 1 April next year:

• Most sole parents, and partners of beneficiaries, will have to be available for part-time work once their youngest child turns three, rather than five as now.
• All beneficiaries with part-time work obligations will be expected to find work for 20 hours a week, rather than 15 hours a week as now.
• Benefit rates for families with children will rise by $25 a week after tax - the first time since 1972 that core benefit rates have been increased by more than inflation.
• Beneficiaries receiving Sole Parent Support will have to re-apply for their benefit every year – as people receiving Jobseeker Support already do.

2.45pm: Canterbury rebuild

The Government has pledged a further $107.8million to the Canterbury rebuild over the next four years.

The multi-million dollar operating funding takes the Government's total contribution to the Canterbury rebuild since 2010 to about $16.5 billion.

More than four years after the first earthquake, the recovery is progressing well, but much work will need to continue even after the special earthquake legislation expires, says Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says.

'This new operating funding will support land clearances to make way for Anchor Projects, preparation of land before those constructions begin and ensure the planned recovery work is implemented over the next four years.

'With the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act expiring next April we will need to transition to a new structure for continuation of recovery work, and soon we will have a better idea of what that will look like.

'This Budget enables recovery to progress with certainty.”

The new funding also covers the operational cost of owning and developing assets purchased by the Crown as part of Christchurch's redevelopment, and the cost of preparing these assets for future sale or vesting.

Of the additional $107.8 million, $10 million is allocated for the removal of buildings that currently sit on land designated for Anchor Projects.

'We still have areas to clear for some projects, so putting this aside in Budget 2015 means the work is able to progress as required in the coming years.”

2.43pm: Billion dollar injection in health

The health sector will get a $1.7 billion booster thanks to the Budget 2015.

The extra cash injection will take the country's largest spending area to $15.9 billion.

In his seventh Budge, Finance Minister Bill English layed out an extra $320 million per year for District Health Boards (DHBs) over the next four years.

Fulfilling an election-campaign promise, the Government was also dedicating $76.1m to help hospices expand palliative care services with 60 new nurse specialists and care educators.

A further $98 million for more elective surgeries had already been announced ahead of today's Budget.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says the spend showed a "commitment to supporting and growing" health services.

"Despite our economic challenges, we have focused on delivering better, more convenient healthcare sooner.

"We have also streamlined health sector services to make each dollar go further," he said.

The funds for Bowel Screening would extend the $24m pilot in New Zealand's largest DHB, which has been running since January 2012.

"The Government is considering the next steps for a national bowel screening programme.

"The largest constraint is having the workforce to do the colonoscopies and there are a number of initiatives under way to address this," says Jonathan.

More than 35,800 people received a colonoscopy last year, up from 29,000 in 2013. But bowel cancer remained one of New Zealand biggest killers.

And as New Zealand's population continued to age, more investment was needed in caring for those who were terminally ill.

"In 2013, more than 15,000 people received care and support from hospice services throughout New Zealand, and hospice staff made more than 145,000 home visits.

Just over 20 per cent of people requiring palliative care were under the age of 60.

The funding for 60 new palliative care nurses would allow them to "train, mentor and support" staff across aged residential care, GP practices and home-based support services.

2.40pm: More than $3M to aid law

Funding of $164 million over four years will help New Zealand Police reduce crime. The funding boost was announced as part of Budget 2015.

Police Minister Michael Woodhouse says this demonstrates the Government's commitment to maintaining visible, active and hard-working Police that deliver more effective frontline policing and crime prevention to keep our communities safe.

'Police's focus on the Prevention First strategy is continuing to show excellent results for New Zealanders, with fewer victims and a 22 per cent drop in recorded crimes over the past five years.

'Police are focused on meeting the needs of victims. By using the latest technology they can deploy resources in the right places at the right times, build valuable partnerships with communities and partner agencies to address the causes of crime.”

Michael says increased foot patrols in communities, combined with frontline staff being equipped with the latest mobile technology, have allowed the Police to be more visible and deliver over half a million additional frontline hours each year.

'Budget 2015 enables the Police to continue efforts to ensure that New Zealanders feel safe and stay safe wherever they live.”

The new funding will also enable Police to develop the next phase of Policing Excellence, focusing on continued improvements in the way the service operates to provide more effective frontline policing and crime prevention.

Budget 2015 provides an additional $218.6 million investment in the justice sector over the next four years, Justice Minister Amy Adams says.

The increase in operating funding enables the sector to continue working to further reduce the impact of crime on New Zealand families.

Reducing the causes and impact of crime is a key priority for the Government, Ms Adams says.

'The justice sector has made outstanding strides in meeting two of its four Better Public Services targets faster than expected and in reducing crime to a 35-year low. But there is still more we can do to improve public safety and help ensure New Zealand families feel safe in their homes and communities,” she says.

The $218.6 million funding over four years across the justice sector includes:

*Justice and Courts: $40 million.

*Police: $164 million.

*Serious Fraud Office: $8.1 million.

*Corrections: $6.5 million from the Justice Sector Fund.

The $40 million in Justice and Courts will fund targeted areas to improve services and drive efficiencies to deliver better outcomes for New Zealanders.

In 2015/16, $10 million of this has been allocated to the Investing in Justice programme, initiatives relating to the Harmful Digital Communications Bill, establishing a Chief Victims Advisor and helping build the Christchurch Justice and Emergency Services Precinct.

'This is a significant investment in these agencies, which are continuing to work hard to deliver value for money for taxpayers, including reinvesting and reprioritising spending within baselines,” says Amy.

'The justice sector is an excellent example of government agencies working closely together to coordinate policies and drive better public services for New Zealanders and their families.”

2.36pm: Proceeds from the Government's share offer programme provide $939 million of new capital investment in Budget 2015 without the need to borrow more from overseas lenders, says Finance Minister Bill English.

'Share sale proceeds provided $4.7 billion to the Future Investment Fund for spending on new public assets without having to borrow,” says Bill.

Future Investment Fund allocations in Budget 2015 include up to $210 million to extend the roll-out of Ultra-Fast Broadband taking the total investment in UFB and the Rural Broadband Initiative to around $2 billion.

Education receives $244 million for new schools, kura kaupapa and new classrooms. This allows an additional seven new schools to be built, with the first expected to open in 2017.

Up to $100 million has been set aside for Lincoln University to rebuild its earthquake-damaged science facilities, as part of the Lincoln Hub development.

KiwiRail receives $210 million in 2015/16 and a further $190 million as a pre-commitment against Budget 2016 for its freight rail services and to maintain the national rail network to a safe and reliable standard.

'Rail is an important part of New Zealand's transport landscape. However KiwiRail's current operations require around $200 million a year in ongoing Crown support just to break even,” says Bill.

'The Government is committed to a national rail network, but ongoing subsidies at this level are unsustainable. The funding provides the KiwiRail board with a two-year window to identify savings and reduce the level of ongoing Crown funding.”

Budget 2015 also provides $97 million from the Fund for regional highways, as well as $40 million for investigation, design and construction of urban cycleways.

Other initiatives within the Future Investment Fund in Budget 2015 include:

• Up to $52 million in contingency to replace the Waitangi Wharf on the Chatham Islands.

• $40 million of investments into Te Papa for capital works on its Wellington buildings.

• $35 million to further extend Immigration New Zealand's new ICT systems to deliver greater border security and more efficient visa services.

• $13 million to relocate the Archives New Zealand Christchurch regional office.

'There is a further $726 million remaining in the Fund to spend on new assets in Budget 2016 without having to borrow,” says Bill.

'KiwiSaver has been successful in attracting members, with 2.5 million New Zealanders having a KiwiSaver account and together receiving $2.5 billion in kick-start payments since the scheme started in 2007,” says Bill.

'However, it also has considerable costs for taxpayers. The Government will spend more than $850 million this year on two subsidies – the ongoing government subsidy of up to $521 a year per member and the $1,000 kick-start.

'Because of these costs, the Government has decided to remove the $1,000 kick-start payment from today.”

Contributing KiwiSaver members aged 18 or over or under 65 will continue to receive an annual Member Tax Credit from the Government of up to $521.

Employers in general are still required to contribute at least three per cent of an employee's gross wage or salary and employees will continue to make their own contributions.

'Removing the kick-start payment for future enrolments will save over $500 million over the next four years,” Mr English says. 'This money is being reinvested in this Budget into priority public services.”

In 2015/16, the Government is forecast to spend $705 million on the KiwiSaver Member Tax Credit plus $12.3 billion on New Zealand Superannuation.

'Auto-enrolment when starting a new job, the three per cent employer contribution and the member tax credit of up to $521 each year means people still have an incentive to sign-up to KiwiSaver and to keep saving for their retirement.

An in-depth evaluation of KiwiSaver is available at: www.ird.govt.nz

2.19pm: A package of measures aimed at reducing hardship among children in New Zealand's lowest-income households is at the heart of new spending announced in the Budget, says Finance Minister Bill English.

The package, costing $790 million over four years, includes increased work obligations for sole parents on a benefit, more childcare support for low-income families, a $25 a week increase in benefit rates for families with children, and an increase in Working for Families payments to low-income families not on a benefit.

These measures are part of Budget 2015 which was delivered today against a backdrop of sustained economic growth, rising wages, more jobs, low inflation and low interest rates.

'In our previous six Budgets, careful management of public spending has gone hand-in-hand with investment in public services,” says Bill.

'Budget 2015 builds on that. This is the type of Budget that a responsible Government can deliver when it's following a plan that's working.”

Budget 2015 outlines the Government's investment across a wide range of areas including health, education, welfare, housing, innovation, Ultra-Fast Broadband, defence, police and the Canterbury earthquake recovery.

As previously announced, the Budget allows for nearly $500 million of cuts to ACC levies on workers, businesses and motor vehicle owners.

In addition, the Budget includes measures outlined last weekend by the Prime Minister to bolster the tax rules on property investment.

Housing

As announced by Prime Minister John Key, Budget 2015 contains steps to bolster the tax rules on property transactions and strengthen enforcement. These measures will improve compliance with tax rules and are also expected to take some of the heat out of Auckland's housing market.

The Budget also provides Inland Revenue with a further $74 million for additional enforcement of tax obligations, including $29 million for property tax compliance.

However, the Government's main focus in housing remains on increasing the number of houses being built. The Budget sets aside a $52 million capital contingency for housing development on under-utilised Crown-owned land in Auckland.

Child hardship package

The Government believes that the primary responsibility for the welfare of children lies with their parents. However, it also knows that government actions can help children whose home lives are challenging.

In reaction the Government is addressing the long-term drivers of hardship, and already the number of children in benefit-dependent households has fallen by 42,000 over the past three years, says Bill.

Two-thirds of New Zealand children in more severe hardship have a parent on a benefit, with nine out of 10 being sole parents. Bill says the best thing the Government can do for those children is to get their parents into sustainable, full-time work, where that is possible.

From April 1, 2016 most sole parents, and partners of beneficiaries, will be expected to be available for part-time work once their youngest child turns three. In addition, all beneficiaries with part-time work obligations will be expected to find work for 20 hours a week.

'At the same time, because we are concerned about children whose family resources have been falling behind other households, from 1 April next year benefit rates for families with children will rise by $25 a week after tax.

'It will be the first increase in core benefit rates – apart from inflation adjustments – since 1972. Around 110,000 families with 190,000 children will be better off as a result.”

Lower-income working families not on a benefit also get a boost from the Budget. Working families earning $36,350 a year or less before tax will get $12.50 extra a week from Working for Families, and some very low-income families will get $24.50 extra.

Working families earning more than $36,350 will get extra from Working for Families, but it will be less than $12.50, with the exact amount dependent on their family income. Some higher-income families will get slightly less from Working for Families.

Around 200,000 working families will benefit from these changes, with about 50,000 of them being families earning $36,350 or less.

Childcare Assistance for low-income families will also be increased, from $4 an hour to $5 an hour for up to 50 hours of childcare a week per child.

Overall, it will have a meaningful impact for recipient families, particularly for those on very low incomes, and reduce the depth of hardship these families and their children experience.

This child hardship package will cost around $240 million in each full year, and $790 million in total over the four-year Budget forecast period.

The Budget also provides an additional $36 million over the next four years to support the Children's Action Plan for at-risk children, an extra $23 million to bolster the work of Child, Youth and Family, and an extra $8 million to help vulnerable students participate more in education and training.

The Budget also includes measures to encourage liable parents to meet their obligations for child support. Currently, large penalties are discouraging many parents from making payments, so the Budget provides that some or all of the penalty payments may be forgiven in certain circumstances. However, there will be no tolerance for parents who are deliberately avoiding responsibility.

Health and Education

In Budget 2015 Vote Health gets a total of $1.7 billion in operating funding over four years for new initiatives, and to meet cost pressures and population growth, taking health spending in 2015/16 to $15.9 billion.

New initiatives include $98 million to increase elective surgery volumes, as previously announced. There is an additional $76 million for hospices over four years.

Education receives an additional $443 million in operating funding over four years, taking education spending in 2015/16 to $10.8 billion.

This includes $75 million for early childhood education and $63 million to continue providing teacher aides to children with special needs. This is in addition to the previously announced capital funding of $244 million for new schools and classrooms.

2pm: Budget 2015 delivers careful management of public spending, hand in hand with investment in public services.

(All figures for four years to 2018/19 unless otherwise stated).

Looking ahead to the results of responsible economic management

• Economic growth forecast to average 2.8 per cent over the next four years.
• Average wages expected to rise by $7,000 to $63,000 a year by mid-2019.
• Unemployment forecast to fall below 5 per cent in 2016.
• In line with the allowance set in December, Budget 2015 has a net operating cost of $1 billion per year. This is made up of $6.1 billion of new operating spending over the next four years, of which $2 billion is funded through reprioritisation and increased revenue.
• Deficit of $684 million forecast for 2014/15, moving to a surplus of $176 million in 2015/16 and growing to $3.6 billion in 2018/19.
• Net core Crown debt is forecast to peak at 26.3 per cent of GDP in 2015/16, and then fall to 19.7 per cent of GDP in 2020/21.
• Government remains committed to $1 billion new operating allowance in Budget 2016, increasing to $2.5 billion in Budget 2017 to allow for modest tax cuts before returning to $1.5 billion a year in Budget 2018 and growing thereafter at 2 per cent per Budget.
• Core Crown expenses have fallen from 34.1 per cent of GDP in 2008/09 to an expected 30 per cent in 2015/16 and are expected to continue to fall.

Provision for annual ACC levy cuts of $375 million in 2016 and a further $120 million in 2017, depending on the outcome of public consultation.

Child hardship package

A $790 million package to reduce hardship among children in New Zealand's poorest families includes:

• Most sole parents, and partners of beneficiaries, will have to be available for part-time work once their youngest child turns three, rather than five as now.
• All beneficiaries with part-time work obligations will be expected to find work for 20 hours a week, rather than 15 hours as now.
• Benefit rates for families with children will rise by $25 a week after tax, which is first time since 1972 that core benefit rates have been increased by more than inflation.
• Student Allowance rates for families with children will also increase by $25 a week.
• Beneficiaries receiving Sole Parent Support will have to reapply for their benefit every year – as people receiving Jobseeker Support already do.
• Low-income working families earning $36,350 or less a year, before tax, will get $12.50 extra a week from Working For Families (WFF), and some very low-income families will get $24.50 extra.
• Working families earning more than $36,350 will get extra from WFF, but it will be less than $12.50 a week, with the exact amount dependent on their family income.
• Families earning more than $88,000 a year will get slightly lower WFF payments, with the average reduction being around $3 a week.
• The Childcare Assistance rate for low-income families will increase from $4 an hour to $5 an hour for up to 50 hours of childcare a week per child.

• The exact impact of the child hardship package on any given family will depend on their individual circumstances, including the types of supplementary assistance they receive.

Vulnerable children

In addition to the child hardship package, the Budget also includes:

• $36 million to support the Children's Action Plan, including funding for new and existing Children's Teams.
• $23 million to bolster the work of Child, Youth and Family.
• $8 million to help vulnerable students participate more in education or training, and lift achievement.

Early childhood education and schools

Total spending of $10.8 billion in 2015/16 on early childhood, primary and secondary education. New operating spending of $442.9 million includes:

• $74.9 million for early childhood education to enable more children to attend early childhood education from an earlier age, and for more hours.
• $62.9 million over four years for special education.
• Schools' operation grants will be boosted by 1 per cent, at a cost of $42.3 million.
• 300 extra Trades Academies places will be added to support students to achieve NCEA Level 2.

In addition, the Budget provides $244 million from the Future Investment Fund to build seven new schools and kura kaupapa, expand four existing schools and build an additional 241 classrooms at existing schools.

Tertiary Education

Budget 2015 provides a $112.3 million operating and $1 million of capital to invest in tertiary education. This includes:

• $85.8 million for targeted increases in tuition rates at degree level and above.
• $11.4 million for more engineering places and for activities to raise the profile of engineering.
• An $8.4 million contingency to grow Māori and Pasifika Trades Training (up to 500 new learners per annum from 2016).
• $5.9 million to support an increase in Trainee Medical Intern Grants.
• $900,000 in operating funding and $1 million of reprioritised capital to expand the Youth Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Tool.

Welfare

In addition to the $790 million for the child hardship, new measures include:

• $8.5 million to help reduce long-term welfare dependency - providing up to 10,000 extra places for intensive case management, prioritised for people with health conditions and disabilities, and an extension of the 3K to Christchurch scheme.
• $15.4 million will be invested in the Limited Services Volunteer programme, run by the New Zealand Defence Force.
• $8.6 million over the next four years, and $1.5 million in 2014/15, for the OSCAR subsidy for out-of-school care and school holiday programmes.

Health

An additional $1.7 billion for New Zealand's public health services over the next four years, increasing the Government's total health investment to $15.9 billion in 2015/16.

• $320 million per year for DHBs ($1.3 billion over four years) for extra services and to help meet cost pressures and population changes.
• $98 million to provide more New Zealanders with timely elective surgery, and to improve the prevention and treatment of orthopaedic conditions.
• $12.4 million to extend the bowel cancer screening pilot.
• $76.1 million to help hospices expand palliative care services.

Rebuilding Christchurch

An additional $107.8 million in operational funding for Canterbury's earthquake recovery takes the Government's total contribution to the Canterbury rebuild to $16.5 billion.

This will support land clearances to make way for Anchor Projects and preparation of land before those constructions begin. It also covers the operational cost of owning and developing assets that have been purchased by the Crown, and the cost of preparing these assets for future sale or vesting.

Housing

The Government is taking extra steps to bolster and enforce the tax rules on property. Subject to consultation, from 1 October this year:

• All non-residents and New Zealanders buying and selling any property other than their main home must provide a New Zealand IRD number.
• All non-resident buyers and sellers must provide their tax identification number from their home country, along with current identification requirements such as a passport.
• To ensure our full anti-money laundering rules apply to non-residents before they buy a property, non-residents must have a New Zealand bank account before they can get a New Zealand IRD number.
• A new 'bright line” test will be introduced for non-residents and New Zealanders buying residential property. Under this new test, gains from residential property purchased on or after 1 October and sold within two years will be taxed unless the property is the seller's main home, inherited from a deceased estate or sold as part of a relationship property settlement.

The Government will also investigate introducing a withholding tax for non-residents selling residential property, to be introduced mid-2016 sfter consultation.

The Budget provides Inland Revenue with a further $74 million for additional enforcement of tax obligations, including $29 million for property tax compliance.

Budget 2015 also includes the additional housing initiatives:

• $52 million capital contingency fund to facilitate housing development on Crown-owned land in Auckland.
• $35 million for social housing, plus around $30 million previously earmarked for capital grants through the Social Housing Fund.
• $35.3 million to improve housing outcomes for whānau Māori.

· $12.8 million for the new Te Ture Whenua Māori Network which will help Māori land owners improve the productivity of their land.

Law and order

• $164 million over four years for Police to continue delivering more effective frontline policing and crime prevention.
• $8 million for the Serious Fraud Office.
• $6.5 million for programmes to reduce reoffending, funded from the Justice Sector Fund.
• $40 million for other Justice and Courts initiatives, including the Investing in Justice programme, the Harmful Digital Communications Bill and helping build the Christchurch Justice and Emergency Services Precinct.

KiwiSaver

• People enrolling into KiwiSaver no longer receive a $1,000 kick-start payment, saving the Government more than $500 million.
• Contributing KiwiSaver members aged 18 or over or under 65 will continue to receive an annual ‘member tax credit' from the Government of up to $521.
• In 2015/16, the Government is forecast to spend $705 million on the KiwiSaver Member Tax Credit plus $12.3 billion on New Zealand Superannuation.

Business innovation

• $12.1 million for the New Zealand Business Number, providing a unique identifier for businesses to use when interacting with government.
• Up to $25 million over three years to support the establishment of new,privately-led Regional Research Institutes.
• $80 million extra for R&D growth grants. This will bring the Government's total investment in science and innovation to over $1.5 billion in 2015/16.

Immigration and border security

• A new border clearance levyto fund passenger-related biosecurity and customs activities at the border is expected to take effect from 1 January 2016. Subject to consultation, it will be around $16 for arriving passengers and around $6 for departing passengers. It is expected to raise around $100 million per year once fully implemented.
• At the same time, the Budget expands some border activities, including an additional $25 million for more x-ray machines and detector dogs and $33 million for more immigration staff, including border officers.

Future Investment Fund

The Government's share offer programme has provided almost $4.7 billion for investing in new public assets such as schools and hospitals. Of this total, $939 million is allocated in Budget 2015, including:

• Up to $210 million to extend the roll out of Ultra-Fast Broadband.
• Education receives $244 million for new schools, kura kaupapa and new classrooms.
• In tertiary education, up to $100 million has been set aside for Lincoln University to rebuild its science facilities as part of the Lincoln Hub development.
• KiwiRail receives $210 million in 2015/16 and a further $190 million as a pre-commitment against Budget 2016.
• As announced previously, Budget 2015 also provides $97 million for regional highways, as well as $40 million for urban cycleways.
• Up to $52 million in contingency to replace the Waitangi Wharf on the Chatham Islands.
• $40 million of investments into Te Papa for capital works on its Wellington buildings.

Other initiatives

• $49.8 million to continue funding Whānau Ora navigators to help families tackle problems together, develop whānau plans and access a range of services.
• $37.2 million to provide greater national direction and support to councils as the implement the Government's resource management and freshwater reforms.
• $264 million to allow the Defence Force to meet its domestic and international humanitarian, aid and military commitments.
• The Security Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Security Bureau each receive additional funding of $20 million.