Budget 2018: The key points

Finance Minister Grant Robertson is embraced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after his 2018...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson is embraced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after his 2018 budget presentation at Parliament in Wellington today. Photo Getty Images
What you need to know from the 2018 Budget.

The policies

* Health: $3.2 billion injection over four years, including $2.2b more for DHBs and $126m for elective surgeries and other areas. $750m for hospital upgrades and rebuilds.

* Cheaper doctor visits for more than 500,000 people. Free GP visits extended to 13-year-olds (56,000 more children). About 540,000 people eligible for Community Services cards will get $20 to $30 cheaper GP visits. Cost $385 m.

* Midwives: $112m more for community midwives, including 8.9 per cent fee increase to level them with DHB midwives.

* Housing: $3.8b to build 6400 more state houses by 2022 and $170m for emergency housing. Insulation subsidies for low-income families. HNZ to borrow $3b.

* Education: $395 million to build new schools and classrooms. Includes $62 million for Christchurch schools rebuild and $332m nationwide.

* Education: $650m for schools. Includes $204m more for a 1.6 per cent increase to schools' operational funding and to cover school roll growth.

* $370m to fund 1500 new teacher places 2021 ($70m more than National funded).

* Early childhood education: $590m to fund more places and a 1.6 per cent funding increase for ECE centres from January 2019.

* Police: $300 mill for 920 more police officers and 240 support staff.

The money

* Surplus of $3.1 billion forecast to rise to $7.3 billion by 2022.

* Operating allowance $2.8 billion, capital allowance $3.8 billion

* Debt: net core Crown debt forecast to peak at $67.6b in 2021, up from $59 billion. Will remain at between 20-21 per cent of GDP and drop to 19 per cent in 2022.

Comments

No longer live in NZ - so the budget doesn't directly affect me - Grant Robertson attended Macandrew and Kings at the same time as me, he has always been a clued up guy and was streets ahead of the Majority of us at school, including most of the teachers and the Deans. Totally Awesome to see

Yachting. 100 million.