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Budget 2021: Today s the day! Finance Minister Grant Robertson prepares to unveil Budget
19 May, 2021 10:06 PM
3 minutes to read
PM Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson ready budget. Video / Jacinda Ardern
Today is the day New Zealanders will learn where their money is going.
After sharing a cheese roll with the Prime Minister and putting on his new tie – a gift from Jacinda Ardern – Grant Robertson will unveil his fourth Budget at 2pm.
But the man with his hands on the Government s purse strings has been keen to emphasise that today won t be a lolly scramble.
The Budget, he told the House, will reflect a balanced approach which will emphasise careful fiscal management .
How does the government Budget work and what does that mean for you?
Finance Minister Grant Robertson will reveal how the Government plans to spend its money on Thursday when he unveils this year’s Budget. While it’s expected that there will be few surprises and little extravagance, Stuff asked five people what one thing should be top of the list for new spending.
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images Richard Wagstaff, Council of Trade Unions president: A long-term plan for investment in the economy and public services. Including a focus on creating a more productive, sustainable and inclusive society with an economy which works for people. This plan needs to articulate what Build Back Better means for all New Zealanders.
New
Zealand’s Labour-led government, which includes the
Greens, recently declared a pay freeze across the public
service for the next three years. The move, which extends a
measure introduced last year during the COVID-19 pandemic,
will inevitably be used to suppress wages in the private
sector as well.
Public Service Minister Chris Hipkins
announced that workers earning more than $NZ60,000 will only
be offered pay increases under “exceptional”
circumstances, while increases for those on salaries over
$100,000 are ruled out. Only about a quarter of public
servants earns less than $60,000 and will theoretically
qualify for pay increases, which still have to be
Business Scoop » On The Ardern Government s Public Sector Wage Freeze scoop.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scoop.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.