For the latest headlines and reaction see..
PARLIAMENT WIRE…, POLITICS WIRE…, BUSINESS WIRE…, EDUCATION WIRE…, HEALTH WIRE… –>

RELATED LINKS:
For the full text (when released) of the budget see…
TREASURY BUDGET 2016 WEBSITE
See also the BEEHIVE BUDGET PAGE

For previous budgets see…
BUDGET 2015 – BUDGET 2014 – BUDGET 2013 – BUDGET 2012 – BUDGET 2011 – BUDGET 2010 – BUDGET 2009 – BUDGET 2008 – BUDGET 2007 – BUDGET 2007 – BUDGET 2006 – BUDGET 2005 – BUDGET 2004 – BUDGET 2003 – BUDGET 2002 – BUDGET 2001 & BUDGET 2000

BUDGET 2016 PREVIEWS & REACTION

• Parliament Today – Ministers Turn Focus to Budget 2016
• Parliament Today – Questions & Answers – May 25

Parliament Today:

• Parliament Today – Preview of Budget Week

Government Pre-Budget Announcements:

• Key: Your briefing note ahead of tomorrow’s Budget
• Pre-Budget Speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce
• More Partnership Schools to open
• New Funding for Pacific Employment Service
• $14.4m for more apprentices
• $9.6m to meet growing demand for Training
• $97m extra for health research
• $15m to commercialise new Kiwi hi-tech
• Cycle trail funding boosts regions
• $20m for high performance sport & anti-doping
• Tourism sector gets further boost
• More kids to get teacher aide help
• Govt well-placed to deliver responsible Budget
• $12.6m increase for Māori Housing
• 3000 emergency housing places funded
• Battle for our Birds
• $22.2m to boost cyber security – John Key: Speech to Cyber Security Summit – Ministerial Address to 2016 Cyber Security Summit
• $39 million extra for Pharmac
• SME-friendly tax package – Pre-Budget Speech to Business New Zealand event

Other Parties’ Wish Lists:

• Labour – Fall in Police investigations funding must be fixed – Key’s “brain fart” on tax cuts news to English – Dairy exports fall of 11% – Budget must deliver on paid parental leave – Budget building materials policy backfires – Grant Robertson: Pre Budget Speech – Andrew Little: Pre-Budget Speech 2016 – Govt must come clean on tax cuts in Budget – Budget must deliver for middle New Zealand – Most principals say their college is underfunded – 26 weeks paid parental leave the best Mother’s Day present – Government to Reserve Bank – Rock or Hard Place? – Scientists ‘gasping for oxygen’ under National – Coleman’s ‘efficiencies’ strangling health
• Greens – Will National’s eighth budget finally show some vision? – Greens want strong leadership on housing in Budget 2016 – Bridges and viewing platforms among unsafe DOC structures – $700 million urgently needed to boost public health system – Taking tax cuts off the table the right move – Unemployment and housing crisis trump Crown accounts – Govt must increase DOC funding across the board – 2016 Budget must close multinational tax loopholes
• NZ First – Budget Will Reflect Mass Immigration Obsession – Peters
• Maori Party – Building on the Māori trades training legacy
• ACT – Do you feel rich at $70K? – Free Press: Tax Cuts – No tax cuts, no spine

Elsewhere:

• Public Service Association – Budget 2016: Value public services, value New Zealanders
• RCSA – Pre budget announcements good for employment.
• Child Poverty Action Group – Band-aids won’t do it for the 2016 Budget
• NZ Taxpayers’ Union – Tax Freedom Day 2016 This Thursday (Budget Day)
• NZEI – Urgent housing action needed for children’s well-being
• NZNO – New Zealand’s health budget must keep up with need
• Ara Taiohi – Government challenged to prioritise support for young people
• Democrats for Social Credit – Budget Will Not Address $4.5 Billion Wasted Spending

Economic Omens: Fonterra’s 2017 Opening Forecast Below Expectations

Fonterra Cooperative Group raised its forecast farmgate milk payout for next season by less than expected as the world’s largest dairy exporter predicts lower prices will crimp production and supply will pick up. The New Zealand dollar fell. More>>

ALSO:

• Fonterra – Fonterra Announces Forecast Farmgate Milk Price for 2016/17
• Federated Farmers – Milk price prediction means prolonged doubt for farmers
• Fonterra Shareholders’ Council – $4.25 Per Kg/Ms a Tough Number for Farmers to Hear
• Statistics NZ – Higher fruit exports offset dairy fall
• Labour – Dairy exports fall of 11%
• WorkSafe NZ – Fonterra Co-operative wins major health and safety award

Budget: Health Funding Must Keep Up With Need

NZNO: “The nursing team has been doing more with less for years. It’s getting to the point that we’re really worried about our colleagues, our patients, our jobs and the level of health care available for people in our country.” More>>

ALSO:

• NZ Govt – Progress maintained on national health targets – Health target results by DHB
• Greens – $700 million urgently needed to boost public health system
• NZ Council of Trade Unions – Health funding needs $691 million to maintain services
• NZNO – Extra funding needs by DHBs
• Association of Salaried Medical Specialists – Senior Doctors Urge Govt to Properly Fund Public Health
• Newtown Union Health Service – Budget needs to prioritise primary health

Pre-Budget: Debt Focus Risks Losing Opportunity To Stoke Economy

The Treasury is likely to upgrade its forecasts for economic growth in Budget 2016 next week but Finance Minister Bill English has already signalled that more of his focus is on debt repayment than on fiscal stimulus or tax cuts… More>>

ALSO:

• The Nation – On Pre-Budget Debate
• TVNZ – DoC is Not Underfunded: Minister
• Labour – Budget must deliver for middle New Zealand – Budget must deliver for middle New Zealand – Andrew Little: Pre-Budget Speech 2016 – Grant Robertson: Pre Budget Speech
• NZ First – Speech: When New Zealand was all about fairness
• Jo Bond – Petition to Increase RNZ’s Funding in this year’s Budget

Budget 2016: More Partnership Schools To Open

Seven new schools will join the eight Partnership Schools already open, along with further new schools opening in 2017. “The growth of this policy is a reflection of the high level of interest from educators and community leaders,” Mr Seymour says. More>>

ALSO:

• NZ Govt – Under-Secretary welcomes support Partnership Schools
• Greens – More charter schools not the answer
• PPTA – Charter school ‘pilot’ fooling no one – PPTA

Houses And Taxes: Post-Cabinet, Pre-Budget Press Conference

The Prime Minister said that the pre-budget announcements showed that his Government is “investing in a growing economy”. He re-affirmed the National Government’s commitment to lowering personal tax rates but that any such change must fit with the fiscal reality of the time. More>>

ALSO:

• BusinessDesk – Key looks to 2017 and beyond for tax cuts
• Labour – Key plucks $3b out of thin air – reckless and irresponsible – Key’s “brain fart” on tax cuts news to English
• ACT – “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow” says Key on tax cuts

Budget: English Takes Election Year Tax Cuts Off The Table
In his traditional pre-Budget speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, English said the government would prioritise repaying government debt over new spending and tax cuts in the next five years.In his traditional pre-Budget speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, English said the government would prioritise repaying government debt over new spending and tax cuts in the next five years. More>>

ALSO:

• BusinessDesk – Key looks to 2017 and beyond for tax cuts
• Robert Kelly – Post Cabinet Press Conference: Houses and Taxes
• NZ Govt – Pre-Budget Speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce
• Greens – Taking tax cuts off the table the right move
• ACT – No tax cuts, no spine
• NZ Taxpayers’ Union – National Should Stop Pretending It Stands For Lower Taxes

BUT:

• Labour – Key plucks $3b out of thin air – reckless and irresponsible
• ACT – “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow” says Key on tax cuts

Budget 2016: 3000 Emergency Housing Places Funded
For the first time, the Government will pay for about 3000 emergency housing places across the country per year so people have access to a roof over their head when they need it most. More>>

ALSO:

• NZ Govt – Budget 2016: $12.6m increase for Māori Housing
• Labour – Emergency housing inevitable in national crisis
• Greens – Housing crisis will lead to more Aucklanders sleeping rough
• Community Housing Aotearoa – Emergency Housing Measures Welcomed

Crown Accounts: NZ Govt Posts Surprise Budget Surplus In First 9 Months
The New Zealand government posted a budget surplus in the first nine months of the financial year, against a Treasury forecast for a deficit, reflecting tax revenue that rose faster than Crown expenses. More>>

ALSO:

• The Treasury – Financial Statements for the nine months ended 31 March 2016
• NZ Govt – Govt well-placed to deliver responsible Budget
• Greens – Unemployment and housing crisis trump Crown accounts

Budget 2016: Battle For Our Birds Catches $20.7Mil
The largest pest control operation in New Zealand’s history will be launched this winter in response to a pest plague which threatens vulnerable native wildlife, Conservation Minister Maggie Barry says. More>>

ALSO:

• Greens – Govt must increase DOC funding across the board
• NZ First – NZ First Backs Ground Control of Pests – Not 1080 Drops
• Environmental Defence Society – EDS welcomes Battle for our Birds 2 funding boost
• Image Out-Link – bird armour | Flickr

Gordon Campbell: On Pharmac’s Grudging Concession To Reality
Is this any way to run a health system… whereby terminally ill patients are forced into public demonstrations before the government (and its funding agency Pharmac) will grudgingly provide the money for life-saving treatments freely available and publically funded in Australia for the best part of a year? More>>

ALSO:

• Gordon Campbell – Earlier On Pharmac’s indefensible stance on the new melanoma drugs – March On Pharmac’s unequal battle over the funding of Keytruda
• NZ Govt – Budget 2016: $39 million extra for Pharmac
• Greens – Pharmac funding still short
• United Future – Dunne Speaks
• Melanoma NZ – Melanoma New Zealand delighted with OPDIVO registration
• Medicines NZ – Medicines New Zealand Welcomes Investment Announcement
• BusinessDesk – TPP’s biologics data protection will push up health-care costs

Pre-Budget: Computer Emergency Response Team, Assemble!
John Key told the country’s first ever Cyber Security Summit in Auckland that the government had earmarked funding set up a national Computer Emergency Response Team to help prevent and act on cyber incidents in partnership with the private sector and other organisations. More>>

ALSO:

• Gordon Campbell – Gordon Campbell on the govt’s token plans for cyber-security
• BusinessDesk – Industry to advise on new cyber crime unit – Cyber-attacks a standard part of doing business with China
• NZ Govt – Budget 2016: $22.2m to boost cyber security – Nominations open for new CERT Advisory Board – John Key: Speech to Cyber Security Summit – Ministerial Address to 2016 Cyber Security Summit

Pay As You Go: Budget Plans For Business Tax
• Provisional tax is being reformed, with a new pay-as-you-go option giving up to 110,000 small businesses a way to pay tax as they earn income from 1 April 2018.
• Use-of-money interest will be eliminated or reduced for the vast majority of taxpayers… More>>

ALSO:

• BusinessDesk – Key announces major provisional tax changes for business
• Martin Doyle – Martin Doyle cartoon: We all hate tax
• NZ Govt – Key: Pre-Budget Speech to Business New Zealand event – Tax changes latest move to help small business
• Labour – Provisional tax reforms don’t go far enough
• NZ First – Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
• ACT – Pay-as-you-go provisional tax a win for businesses
• Business NZ – Tax simplification welcomed
• Dun and Bradstreet – Dun & Bradstreet welcomes push for tax transparency in NZ
• Chartered Accountants Australia and NZ – SMEs in particular stand to benefit from tax proposals
• Tax Management NZ – TMNZ happy with government’s revamp of business tax
• NZ Taxpayers’ Union – Taxpayers’ Union Welcomes SME Tax Package
• Small Business Voice – Provisional tax changes welcomed by small business
• Xero – Small business wins with new Provisional Tax System

<!– BUDGET 2016 – SCOOP COMMENTARY / REPORTS

BusinessDesk Coverage

Parliament Today Coverage

<!– Weekend Interviews: –>

<!– BUDGET 2016 – POST BUDGET DAY DEVELOPMENTS –>

<!– BUDGET 2016 – THE REACTION – FULL COVERAGE

BUDGET DEBATE SPEECHES – AS PREPARED

Parliamentary Reaction:

Government/National

Labour

Greens

NZ First

The Maori Party

ACT

United Future

Non Parliamentary Political Reaction:

Health Sector Reaction:

Education Sector Reaction:

Union Reaction:

Global Markets/Futures

Banking and Finance

Welfare/Poverty Sector Reaction

Accountants & Analysis

Business Reaction

Other Reaction

BUDGET 2016 – THE PRESS KIT
(Note see also pre-budget announcements below)

The Budget Speech

Coalition Leaders’ Statements

Executive Summaries

Fact Sheets

Infrastructure

Maori

Education

Welfare

Health

Housing

Law, Order, Defence & Security

Research, Growth And Innovation

Art, Culture And Sport

Trade and Foreign Affairs

Canterbury Rebuild

Other Stuff – RMA, Business Number, Kiwis and Animal Welfare –>

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