Craig McCulloch
Wellington, May 14, 2020
The Budget is notably absent of ‘helicopter cash’ initiatives or further significant increases in welfare payments.
In March, the government boosted most benefits by $25 a week. Budget 2020 also increases the rates of foster care allowance and orphan’s benefit by the same amount.
Almost $80 million has been committed to social services, of which $32 million will go towards foodbanks and other community food services.
A $36 million fund has also been established to support community groups which support Māori, Pacific, refugee and migrant communities. Tertiary students will also be able to apply for support from a $20 million hardship fund to help them get through the next few months.
The ‘Warmer Kiwi Homes’ Scheme has also been expanded to cover 90% of the costs of insulation or heating retrofit for low-income households.
The $56 million investment is expected to cover an extra 9000 houses.
The government is also spending $220 million over two years to grow its current school lunch scheme from 8000 students to about 200,000 by the middle of next year.
Training and Education
Trades training for critical courses – such as building, construction and agriculture – will be made free for all ages over the next two years to help retrain people who have lose their jobs.
About $1.6 billion has been set aside for the entire Trades and Apprenticeships Training Package which will also help workplaces retain their trainees.
$276 million of the fund will go towards setting up Workforce Development Councils and Skills Leadership Groups to monitor the job market around the country and plan for recovery.
Craig McCulloch is Deputy Political Editor at Radio New Zealand. The above (just an extract) has been published under a Special Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz. Additional reading: Our Editorial on Page 8. For more analyses, including critical comments, please visit www.indiannewslink.co.nz
