Budget 2026: What we want, and what we don’t want to see
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
A struggling economy, coalition tensions and an election looming on the horizon make for a gnarly challenge for Finance Minister Nicola Willis, as she prepares to reveal her third Budget on Thursday.
As always, though, there’s plenty of advice on offer, and today we canvass a range of community leaders for their Budget wishlists - including what they don’t want to see in the Government’s announcements tomorrow.
Justin Tipa
Kaiwhakahaere (chief executive),Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
The cost of living remains the biggest pressure on many families. Any Budget needs to respond to that reality.
But these challenges don’t sit in isolation. They are the downstream effects of the infrastructure and systems that shape everyday costs. When transport links fall behind, whānau see it in higher food prices. When energy supply is constrained, it shows up in power bills. When water systems fail, productivity and growth fall, and the cost is pushed back onto ratepayers.
These pressures are felt strongly in Te Waipounamu, where we produce a large share of the country’s food, energy and exports, yet the infrastructure and systems that support this are under increasing strain.
I want to see a Budget that invests in a modern, data-driven freshwater management system and better ways for regions to fund critical infrastructure. That means targeted government co-investment and fairer cost-sharing with regions. It also means stronger partnerships between iwi, councils, the Crown and the private sector to deliver affordable, workable regional solutions.
What I do not want to see is another Budget built on short-term savings, fragmented reform, or decisions that push costs onto ratepayers and future generations.
Simon Bridges
Chief executive, Auckland Business Chamber
I think most businesspeople get and respect the need for restraint and no frills in this Budget. That said, good policy initiatives are often for free, and top of my list would be gentailer reform, which NZ First has made clear it is campaigning on.
New Zealand has an energy crisis in that because we don’t have enough cheap power, without strong change we will continue to deindustrialise and make it harder for SMEs and households. The answer is more abundant power supply, but we will never get that while the companies that completely dominate the market are incentivised to build just enough to keep prices and profits elevated.
More generally Nicola Willis should remember the difference between just spending and real investment. Money that goes on infrastructure and growing businesses helps with our long-run issues around productivity, innovation and growth, and certainly isn’t wasted.
And actually, given the lack of momentum in the economy locally and globally, if the government really wanted to be bold they’d consider a concerted programme involving three components: slashing regulation while cutting costs and funnelling those savings back into corporate tax relief.
This recipe has worked in other nations in recent times, stirring businesses’ animal spirits and creating strong growth. By standing relatively still in these areas our small country goes backwards, looking increasingly uncompetitive vis-à-vis a number of our trading partners which have less red tape and lower corporate taxes.
We certainly don’t want any lolly scrambles. Any new spending should be focused clearly and squarely on productivity and growth. Infrastructure and business relief are two clear examples of this.
Erika Toleman
Acting chief executive, Forest & Bird
Budget 2025 cut environmental spending by $1 billion and reduced climate adaptation funding by 70%. We want Budget 2026 to reverse that decline.
Let’s stop wasting money on weakening environmental stewardship. Disestablishing the Ministry for the Environment doesn’t make sense. Rushed resource management reforms will be bad for businesses and nature. Opening up conservation land to development and sale betrays our heritage and puts native wildlife in danger.
Instead, let's fund nature properly.
Increase overall investment. Yes, let's charge overseas visitors, but ring-fence this for conservation. Don’t make cuts elsewhere. Likewise, guarantee the international visitor levy is used for conservation, not Robbie Williams.
Let’s spend existing money more wisely. Stop recklessly subsidising oil and gas companies hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Fund renewables in the right places to tackle climate change, provide energy security, and help with the cost of living.
Finally, let's get better value from the billions already spent on infrastructure by funding nature-based solutions like wetlands, coastal restoration, and native forests.
Let's make better choices for nature and ourselves.
Meg Williams
Chief executive, World of WearableArt (WOW)
I’d like to see funding decisions that encourage economic growth and wellbeing through events tourism, for example through continued investment in the Government’s Event Boost package, with a focus on what is unique to us and what will help Aotearoa’s towns and cities to thrive.
The 2025 WOW Show, for example, contributed a record $32.6 million to Wellington’s regional economy. A successful event sector means thriving communities, with new spend driven into hospitality, retail, accommodation and attractions, as well as all manner of businesses, from creatives to carpentry.
What I don’t want to see is anything that halts Wellington’s recovery momentum or its ambition. The recent opening of Te Matapihi Ki Te Ao Nui Central Library and the Te Ara Tupua path between Ngāuranga and Petone are proof that bold and brave investments are pivotal to building the Wellington people will want to do business in, live in and visit in years to come.
Jessie Wong
Founder and director, Yu Mei
We shouldn't have to make an economic argument for culture and the arts - but there is a strong return on investment to be had if we do it well. Our fashion, design and creative industries punch above their weight globally, but it's a tough environment to build from the ground up in New Zealand. With more support for arts and culture - and exporters in these sectors - New Zealand has the opportunity to add value through design and charge a premium internationally.
I also want to see comprehensive ECE (early childhood education) funding. It's the single most consequential lever for women's workforce participation, for child development, and for the businesses that depend on parents being able to work.
What I don’t want to see is the scrapping of incentives for young people to enter into study. Student loans put a real burden on those entering the workforce and deepens the productivity problem we say we're trying to solve.
Katherine Rich
Chief executive, BusinessNZ
Business would like to see this year’s Budget reinforce confidence in New Zealand’s long-term economic direction through disciplined spending, policy stability and a continued focus on productivity and growth. That includes continued progress on infrastructure delivery, reform of the RMA and related legislation, and measures that improve investment certainty for businesses making long-term decisions in New Zealand.
There is a strong case for doing even more to reduce compliance costs and unnecessary regulatory complexity that adds cost without improving outcomes. Regulatory settings should support innovation, investment and competitiveness, while maintaining confidence that new policy proposals meet the principles set out in the Regulatory Standards framework.
Businesses would also welcome additional practical steps to encourage foreign investment, alongside greater consideration of asset recycling and other funding models to help deliver major infrastructure projects.
Perhaps most importantly, business is looking for consistency and credibility in economic management. Sudden policy shifts, ad-hoc interventions and additional cost pressures undermine confidence and long-term planning. New Zealand needs a credible pathway to addressing its longer-term fiscal pressures, including the affordability of superannuation, healthcare and other public services as the population ages.
Chelsea Rapp
Chief executive, CerebralFix (Christchurch games company)****
I want to see a technical refinement to how the game development sector rebate (GDSR), treats NZ-to-NZ subcontracting. When a domestic studio engages another for surge capacity, only one can claim the rebate. The rule treats hiring an Auckland studio the same as hiring an offshore one, which quietly discourages NZ studios from working with each other. A contractor pass-through provision, capped at the vendor's NZ labour cost, would align the rebate with where the employment actually sits, at no additional cost to the scheme.
Supporting NZ-to-NZ contracting also makes the sector more self-sustaining. It encourages the development of a layer of specialist service studios in areas like audio, tools and quality assurance that are vital for a mature ecosystem.
Many of those businesses already exist in adjacent industries (eg, film post-production, software, creative services), and could pivot into games if the economics worked. This allows the economic benefits of the GDSR to spread into the wider creative and tech economy.
Aidan Donoghue
President, Victoria University of Wellington Students Association
We would like to see tertiary education, polytech and in-work learning to be valued as the economic boosts that they are. Forethought on consistent, ongoing support for students - such as a universal student allowance or an expanded winter energy payment - would provide our tauira with some of the future-proofing they need to thrive in an uncertain world.
A shift from short-term gains to maximise GDP to long-term social investment would be beneficial to support the values of our country.
We don't want to see a dollar more spent on speculative markets that grow by putting average Kiwis down; we want productivity and we need jobs. We don't want to see this future growth come at the expense of our natural landscape or by borrowing from the future of our tauira to appease the markets today.
Connor Sharp
Writer, Greater Auckland (urbanist group)
More transport funding should be devolved to local government, especially Auckland, and immediately directed towards improving access, safety and transport choices.
For starters: immediately reset the “Roads of National Significance” programme. Stop pouring billions away on overscoped four-lane mega-highways like Warkworth to Te Hana (a $4b folly) and other zombie projects lurching towards us.
Instead, invest in what’s nationally necessary: heaps of nimble, normal-sized safety and resilience improvements, like 2+1 roads, bypasses of towns, median barriers, safer intersections.
Skip the LNG terminal. Instead, empower New Zealanders by electrifying homes and businesses with subsidies for distributed solar and batteries. Invest in electric transport: buses, ferries, EVs and e-bikes.
Build the basics and give people fossil-fuel-free ways to get around. Deliver reliable world-class public transport for the 80% of us who live in cities: a bus or train every 10 minutes, all day, every route. Fast-track Auckland’s Northwest busway and other rapid transit like Dominion Rd light rail. Rapidly roll out full bike networks in every city for all-ages access. Revive intercity rail.
Lastly, don’t sink billions into costly car tunnels under the Waitematā! Get cracking on an iconic bridge that frees up the missing modes: walking, cycling, buses and rail.
Sam Stubbs
Chief executive, Simplicity (investment and KiwiSaver fund manager)
What I want to see is sensible fiscal discipline, because as long as the Government is spending more than it's earning, we are writing cheques our children may not be able to cash.
And I want to see a proper commitment to growing KiwiSaver over the long term, because we need to save our way to prosperity, not spend our way to poverty.
Making KiwiSaver compulsory at birth is the best start for any kid. And if it was compulsory for adults too, the current tax credit wouldn’t be necessary, meaning any Government could spend that on giving every child $10 a week into their KiwiSaver account. That means a child born today would have $20,000 in their KiwiSaver account by the time they were 20.
I would also like to see a proper plan for KiwiSaver funds to own infrastructure assets over the long term. Government owning things is not the only form of public ownership. If Kiwis - and only Kiwis- could own them via their KiwiSaver accounts, it would provide money for growth of their services and free up tax dollars for more hospitals, schools and everything else the Government provides.
KiwiSaver funds should own KiwiBank too, so it can be beefed up to take on the Aussies.
What I don't want to see is anything that reeks of buying votes in the short term and playing to emotions of greed and fear rather than good and our long term future. Nor would I want to see any more tax breaks for the wealthy. With no capital gains or wealth taxes of any note in New Zealand, they get too much of a free ride already.
Kerry Dalton
Chief executive, Citizens Advice Bureau NZ
We would like funding for frontline CAB services. The service CABs provide is essential. We reach populations other agencies struggle to connect with. We’re often a first port of call when people need support, and where government agencies send people when they don’t have answers or time to help.
Last year we had 367,000 face-to-face and over-the-phone interactions with the public. We had 9 million visits to our website, where people can find plain language information about their legal rights.
The government relies on the work our CABs do, yet provides no funding for their operations.
CABs’ traditional funding is drying up as councils reduce spending on community services, and grants become harder to access. It is time for central government to fund CABs, or risk losing a service they and the public rely on.
We need central government to contribute $10m to $15m to pay for the vital services our CABs provide right throughout New Zealand. To put it into perspective, $15m is what the government spends every 43 minutes.
We do not want a Budget that increases inequity, worsens poverty, or makes it harder to access essential services.
Sandra Grey
President, NZ Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi (CTU)
The NZCTU believes this Budget should start by restoring pay equity to the 330,000 affected workers and the wider workforce. We want to see new transport capital shifted away from low-value roads and into public transport infrastructure, alongside increased capital investment in renewable energy to bring prices down and make workers in industry more secure.
The accumulated health funding deficit of recent decades must be closed, with health expenditure lifted significantly on top of cost-pressure funding.
School operating grants and ECE subsidies need real cost-pressure adjustments that at least keep pace with inflation, reversing last year's real-terms cut.
We want broader support for households hit hardest by fuel prices – the current targeting of support to families receiving the in-work tax credit is totally inadequate.
We also want reinvestment in emergency housing rather than taxing the poorest through income-related rent subsidy changes, and sustained infrastructure investment in hospitals, schools, climate adaptation and public housing.
Finally, we want tax reform that brings New Zealand into line with international norms – particularly a capital gains tax – and meaningful support for local government, especially regions affected by recent weather events.
We don't want further cuts to public services, asset sales including state housing, increased defence and prison spending at the expense of schools and hospitals, harsher compliance regimes targeting beneficiaries, or more money for Robbie Williams.