Wellington, May 18, 2020
The Government’s budget unveiled on May 14, 2020 was almost overshadowed by a raft of Covid-19 emergency bailout packages released in the weeks earlier.
What are its main features that will be a real benefit to Kiwi families, or where did it drop the ball and what should it have delivered to help the average household?
The global economic shock caused by the Covid-19 pandemic presents challenges not seen here since the Great Depression, but there is a clear path through.
Rebuild better
The Government’s economic response to this pandemic has been swift and decisive. Our plan is to respond, recover, and rebuild better.
That means fighting the virus and keeping people in work, cautiously opening up the economy again, and growing jobs that pay well by supporting businesses and communities that will sustain our future.
Going hard and going early has put us in a good position. Now is the time to start rebooting our economy while keeping New Zealanders safe.
Budget 2020 is about rebuilding together.
The Government is determined to get business moving and the books back into the black.
Although priorities for Budget 2020 had to change in response to Covid-19, the principles underlying decision-making did not. The Government has always put the wellbeing of New Zealanders and their families first. In the Covid environment, that means jobs.
The $50 billion Fund
The centrepiece of Budget 2020 is the $50 billion COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, which will protect existing jobs, create new ones, and provide support for workers to retrain and businesses to survive.
We are making certain trades training and apprenticeships free, delivering 8000 new public houses, and extending the food in schools programme to up to 200,000 children.
In doing so, we are also creating and protecting jobs up and down the country.
We are extending the Wage Subsidy Scheme for the firms most affected, backing Kiwi exporters, encouraging entrepreneurship, and helping small businesses thrive in the digital economy.
Again, in doing so, we’re creating and protecting jobs up and down the country.
Jobs provide more than just an income.
They can provide a sense of purpose, belonging and direction.
Full impact unknown
We do not yet know what the full impact of Covid-19 will be, but we know people will lose jobs and businesses will fail.
That is why the government moved so quickly to soften the economic blow to businesses. And that is why we prioritised jobs in Budget 2020.
Now, projections show that unemployment could potentially be back at current levels in just two years, and our economy can be growing again as early as next year.
That rainy day the Government was saving for has well and truly arrived.
We can now use the strength of our economic position to carry the load while households and businesses find their feet again.
We united as a team of five million to eliminate Covid-19, and now we will work together to save jobs. Because the wellbeing of our people depends on it.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan is a Member of Parliament on Labour List and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities.
