Budget 2015 continues to deliver for families 2015년 예산안: 가정을 위한 지속적인 관…

This Thursday, Finance Minister Bill English will deliver the 2015 Budget. It will set out the next steps in our economic programme.

Over the past few weeks, the Government has made a number of important pre-Budget announcements that will help New Zealand families get ahead.

Last week, alongside ACC Minister Nikki Kaye, I confirmed we are on track for further ACC levy cuts of $500 million over the next two years.These cuts will reduce annual costs for businesses, workers, and motor vehicle owners. It will bring the total amount of levy cuts we’ve made since 2012 to around $2 billion. 

This is $2 billion that will stay in the pockets of Kiwis. For example, this year the average annual ACC motor vehicle levy will fall from around $330 to $195 on 1 July. On current projections, this is likely to fall further to around $120 in 2016. 

That’s an overall saving of around $210 for motorists, when compared to current levy rates. These levy cuts are made possible because of ACC’s much-improved financial performance in recent years. 

A second important pre-Budget announcement was made earlier this month with Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman. We confirmed Budget 2015 will invest an extra $98 million over four years into providing more elective surgeries and improving the prevention and treatment of orthopaedic conditions.

Of this, $48 million is to continue this Government’s on-going commitment to increasing elective surgery year-on-year. Since we came into government, we are now delivering 44,000 more elective operations a year and this new funding will help to deliver a further 4,000 operations a year.

Health funding has increased every year under National and it is expected to receive the largest share of new funding in Budget 2015.

Last weekend, Prince Harry returned home after his first official trip to New Zealand. After accompanying him around New Zealand, it was clear that Prince Harry was a fan favourite wherever he went. It was great to see a large number of Kiwis from across the country turn out to greet the Prince and make him feel so welcome in New Zealand.