The wellbeing objectives
The Public Finance Act 1989 requires the Government to set wellbeing objectives for its annual Budget and explain how these are intended to support long-term wellbeing in New Zealand. These objectives are intended to be enduring to ensure there is sustained investment across multiple Budgets to address New Zealand's most significant, intergenerational challenges. The wellbeing objectives are interdependent and separate from the shorter-term overarching goals and focus areas, which are intended to support the choices and trade-offs required as part of Budget decision-making.
Our wellbeing objectives for Budget 2022 are:
- Just Transition: Supporting the transition to a climate-resilient, sustainable, and low-emissions economy
- Physical and Mental Wellbeing: Supporting improved health outcomes for all New Zealanders and minimising COVID-19 and protecting our communities
- Future of Work: Enabling all New Zealanders and New Zealand businesses to benefit from new technologies and lift productivity and wages through innovation
- Māori and Pacific Peoples: Lifting Māori and Pacific Peoples' incomes, skills and opportunities, including through access to affordable, safe and stable housing
- Child Wellbeing: Reducing child poverty and improving child wellbeing, including through access to affordable, safe and stable housing.
These objectives continue to focus on areas the Government has identified through wellbeing analysis in past Budgets. This work took a collaborative and evidence-based approach, using the Living Standards Framework and incorporating advice from sector experts and the Government's Chief Science Advisors.
This Budget makes a strong contribution to all five of the wellbeing objectives:
| Wellbeing objective | Budget 2022 contribution |
|---|---|
| Just Transition | Achieving a just transition means boosting our energy independence by shifting towards a low-carbon economy in a way that supports workers, businesses and communities. We have established a new Climate Emergency Response Fund and are investing in the decarbonisation of process heat and public transport, reducing agricultural emissions, increasing carbon storage and supporting the shift to low-emission vehicles to reduce our reliance on volatile global oil and energy markets. |
| Physical and Mental Wellbeing | Good physical and mental health, and timely access to care and support are fundamental to New Zealanders' long-term wellbeing. This Wellbeing Budget invests in transforming the national health system, including establishing a new public health agency, increasing the availability of specialist mental health and addiction services, investing in primary and community care, particularly for Māori and Pacific peoples, and investing in disability support services. |
| Future of Work | COVID-19 has turbo-charged the already shifting nature of how we work. Enabling all New Zealanders to benefit from the changing nature of work requires an investment in expanding access to training and technology infrastructure. This Wellbeing Budget invests in industry transformation plans in agriculture, construction, manufacturing and digital technologies. It also invests in rural connectivity, innovation in tourism and regional economic development, as well as support for the digital economy and SMEs. An extension of support for apprenticeships will help to build a skilled workforce. |
| Māori and Pacific Peoples | The ability for many Māori and Pacific peoples to have mana āheinga (the capability to decide on their aspirations and realise them) and build mana whanake (the power to grow sustainable, intergenerational prosperity) is impeded when health, education, housing and social welfare systems do not address multifaceted, intergenerational disadvantage. This is why we are using this Wellbeing Budget to invest heavily in Māori and Pacific education, language, training and employment, as well as Māori media and homes, skills and business support for Pacific Peoples. |
| Child Wellbeing | Investing in a good start in life for our children is one of the most important ways we can ensure the wellbeing of New Zealanders. This Wellbeing Budget includes investments that will support children and their families, including changing child support so that sole-parent beneficiaries will receive those payments as income rather than it going to the government, increased support for dental treatments for low-income New Zealanders, programmes to prevent family and sexual violence, and supports for child and family wellbeing in the family justice system. |