2025 Budget delivered with reactions coming in thick and fast
Cameron Bagrie says the government saved $21 billion over the forecast period but faces challenges in finding future savings. Video \ Mark Mitchell
Ryan Bridge and an expert panel break down Budget 2025
A serious crash has happened on Dansey Rd near Rotorua.
Finance Minister unveils NZ Budget 2025, the end of an era as Smith & Caughey closes and Trump, Ramaphosa in heated Oval Office exchange.
Donald Trump ambushes South Africa's president during a White House meeting by playing a video alleging 'genocide' of white people in South Africa. Video / The White House
The Halberg Games isn't just a fun event for kids Gemma and Jemma, it's also an exciting reunion! Reporter Zoe catches up with the besties as they compete for their 3rd year.
Cameron Emerson has displayed plenty of courage and dedication on his way to reaching the 100-cap milestone. Video / Neil Reid
A large crowd packed Trust Stadium for the Runit event last night. Video / Mike Scott / Benjamin Plummer
New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year Jorja Miller speaks about transferring to the Black Ferns from the sevens side and her future goals. Video / Alyse Wright
The Bachelor NZ winner said the "only way" she knows how to read books set overseas is by changing the character's voice in her head. Video / The Hits Drive
On Newstalk ZB Mike Hosking Breakfast Winston Peters addresses the Heckler at train station stand up.
NZ retail demand surges, hospital EDs divert patients with costly vouchers, UK halts Israel trade talks, Christchurch debates dumped trolleys.
Reporter Lachie is at Hokonui Pioneer Village where tamariki are stepping back in time to find out how schoolkids lived at the turn of the century.
Recorded phone calls capture the moment TSB staff help customer Steven Fan send $1m to scammers.
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Scoop
11 hours ago
- Scoop
Transparency Priority For Councillor Hoping To Be Nelson's Mayor
Nelson mayoral contender Aaron Stallard has formally launched his campaign with a promise to make the council more transparent and democratic, if elected. The first-term councillor wanted to re-establish the council's main standing committees to reverse the 'unhealthy concentration of power' that has developed over the last three years under Mayor Nick Smith. Smith, on his election, led a restructuring of how the elected members provided oversight of council activities. The earlier approach, favoured by Stallard, saw committees focused on broad areas of council work – such as infrastructure, or community and recreation. All elected members sat on those committees, which sat publicly, published meeting agendas and minutes, and had the power to make some decisions. The new approach, initiated by Smith, sees smaller taskforces with membership of only a few elected members that focus on single issues or policies – such as the re-opening of the Elma Turner Library or climate change. The taskforces are intended to provide quick guidance to staff and develop recommendations for the full council of elected members to then consider and decide on. However, they meet behind closed doors, don't publish agendas or minutes, and their notes can only be accessed by lodging Local Government and Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) requests. Though some committees remain in place – such as the Audit, Risk, and Finance Committee – Stallard said the loss of the council's main committees reduced democracy and transparency. 'The resulting lack of governance oversight also resulted in problems such as the planting of 20,000 exotic redwoods in the Maitai and a loss of $5m of transport funding,' he added. The council agreed to a taskforce recommendation to transition away from commercial clear-fell pine forestry in November 2023. However, Stallard was later surprised by a decision made by council staff several months later to replant 20.5 hectares of the redwoods in the Maitai Valley rather than native trees which, he said, was against the recommendations outlined in the taskforce's report. He also said councillors were told 'out of the blue' in August 2023 that the council would lose access to funding from the Government's Transport Choices programme to construct a cycleway linking the Brook and Waimea Road due to a lack of project capacity. Both issues wouldn't have occurred with the greater councillor oversight which committees provided, Stallard said. But Smith, who was also running to be re-elected, defended the decision to get rid of the larger committees, which he said re-litigated issues which had already been debated. 'It was inefficient, costly, and frustrating for both councillors as well as staff.' Smith said the changes had successfully improved council culture, highlighting that there had been 10 code of conduct issues over the two terms preceding his mayoralty which had cost 'tens of thousands of dollars', and none during his tenure. The changes also enshrined democracy by ensuring decisions were only made at full council meetings to allow participation of all elected members, and improved transparency by reducing the number of meetings journalists needed to report on, he said. Smith disagreed that committees would have solved the two issues specifically raised by Stallard, attributing them instead to 'tensions' between some councillors and staff decisions about the council's forestry transition, but that a newly-hired forest manager would get the plan 'on track', as well as a 'ridiculous' Government timeframe to complete the cycleway project while the council was grappling with storm recovery. However, he added that he was 'open-minded' about having another look at the council structure next term. The council reviewed the taskforce structure in August 2023 after they had been in place for several months. At the time, Stallard attempted to return to committees, while keeping some taskforces, but his proposal was defeated by five votes to eight. The Chief Ombudsman also called for all council workshops to be open to the public by default in October 2023. Though this is already the case in Nelson, the recommendation calls into question the privacy of the council's taskforces. In addition to returning to committees to increase transparency, Stallard pledged to investigate opportunities to increase community involvement in council decisions, such as through citizens' assemblies and the participatory budget setting, as was recommended by the Review into the Future of Local Government. 'Such improved participation… is especially suited to working through complicated or controversial issues, and for avoiding the sort of messy and divisive process we experienced with Plan Change 29 that dealt with housing intensification.' Stallard's other project priorities included the Rocks Road walking and cycling boulevard, a central city civic hub, addressing climate change, and tackling air pollution. Running against Stallard and Smith were Richard Osmaston and John Wakelin.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
What will private schools be spending extra Budget money on? David Seymour says he's ‘open' to giving more funding
The multi-million dollar funding boost, announced in Budget 2025, is being driven by Associate Minister of Education David Seymour. He says the amount of money private schools receive has been shrinking, with the last increase to the subsidy coming in 2010. The list of schools receiving the increased subsidy for 2026 will be made available next month by the Ministry of Education. Seymour also says he's 'open' to the idea of the pot growing even more and explains that children at private schools receive around one-tenth of the funding of public-school students. 'Is that fair? Their parents are taxpayers, they're New Zealand citizens, they're entitled to an education. I think in a fair world, that would be higher,' Seymour told the Weekend Herald. St Cuthbert's College principal Charlotte Avery began working at the school in 2024 after moving to New Zealand from England. With a roll of 1650 students, St Cuthbert's College is set to receive an estimated $1.6 million subsidy from the Government. The amount has increased by $160,000 on the previous per-student rate. Principal Charlotte Avery, who took on the leader's role at St Cuthbert's last year after shifting from a prestigious private girls' school in Cambridge, England, says in real terms the subsidy isn't a large payment at a $100 increase per student. 'We are grateful of course for that recognition, but in the end it's a very small part of supplementing our fee income,' Avery says. 'We recognise that we are a school of privilege – privilege is not a dirty word but it is important in terms of recognising responsibility.' Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (left) and Associate Education Minister David Seymour, who says families are often making big sacrifices to pay independent school fees. Photo / Mark Mitchell At co-educational private school Scots College in Wellington, headmaster Graeme Yule says the funding increase is 'well overdue'. He also argues it shouldn't become an ideological debate. 'It's much, much easier to cry elitism and to cry inequality but the facts don't match that, the finances are different,' Yule says. 'There will always be a perception in this that the Government's robbing the poor state schools and giving the money to the rich independent schools ... but we receive around $40 million in government subsidy and we pay GST on fees to the Government of around $150 million.' That tax on fees, Yule says, can be invested back into the state sector to support public school students. Public versus private school funding Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) president Chris Abercrombie, however, sees another reason for the Government making this decision. 'Well, David Seymour's [Epsom] electorate has a lot of private schools in it,' Abercrombie says. In Abercrombie's view, the Government's focus should be firmly on supporting the public education system, and if parents choose to send their child to a private school then the state shouldn't subsidise that decision. 'We don't support private schools getting any subsidy at all, let alone an increased subsidy,' he says. A view of St Cuthbert's College in central Auckland. The private school is one of New Zealand's best-performing for academic results. Photo / NZME Figures provided by the Ministry of Education reveal the subsidy for Years 1-6 at private schools will be rising to $1016 per student – a 20% increase. That amount has increased by $167 per student. Older students from Years 11-13 will receive $1918 per student - an increase of just 6%. Subsidy rates will not be recalculated each year but will be treated like other state school resourcing, with adjustments made for the number of students on private school rolls. But Seymour says his decision hasn't been influenced by private schools in his electorate, one of the country's wealthiest, and the PPTA is 'just flinging mud'. In comparison, figures given to the Herald by Seymour's office reveal the amount for Years 1-6 at state schools is $7648 per student annually, while the funding for secondary schools in the state system is $9853 per student. Funding cuts to public schools At a small Porirua school nestled in native bush on the edge of Cannons Creek, principal Lynda Knight says she has been facing a list of government funding reductions during the last six months. The school's funding has been cut for its Reading Recovery programme, Pasifika Early Literacy Project and the Pacific Education Innovation Fund. Funding has also been cut to Regionally Allocated Professional Learning and Development and te reo Māori training for teachers, so the school can no longer acquire these supports. And there is no longer access to Resource Teachers of Literacy and Māori. They have also lost a whānau liaison support worker role that was funded by Oranga Tamariki. Knight says the school, with just 110 primary-age students, can't hold big parent and community fundraisers as some affluent areas can, and any fundraising initiatives only bring in small amounts of money. 'I think we're increasing that disparity if we're increasing the funding [for private schools]; we must be decreasing the amount of money for public schools like mine,' she says. Abercrombie says disparities between public and private schools are creating a growing divide between the 'haves and have-nots'. Differences in the resources available to schools are exacerbating inequity across the education system, he says. 'State schools are facing that same cost pressure, their power's gone up and the price of toilet paper – they're hurting as well. But they don't have the ability to just increase their fees and tap into other sources of income that private schools do.' What the money will be used for? In Wellington, Yule says the private school subsidy is going to be used to keep fees as low as possible at Scots College and increase accessibility for the school. It will also go towards running costs. Dilworth School in central Auckland is receiving the subsidy but because of its unique position with every student funded fully through a scholarship, the funds will be used elsewhere. Dilworth School in Epsom, Auckland provides full scholarships to its students. Photo / Dean Purcell The money at the boys' boarding school, headmaster Dan Reddiex says, will instead go towards offsetting the cost of food for students, investing in teachers, driving academic results and funding extracurricular activities such as sending their premier choir Fortissimo to the Big Sing Finale in Dunedin. The school's whānau community is not typically in a position to fully fund school trips, he says. 'We provide seven meals a day for our students and inflation has hit hard in this area.' Meanwhile, Avery says the subsidy will support a range of ongoing projects at St Cuthbert's College. These include enhancing its suite of facilities, improving flood resistance in the school's buildings and paying teachers and staff members' salaries. It will also contribute to improving its outdoor campus – Kahunui – in the Bay of Plenty, a place where Year 10 students travel to attend a month-long school camp that embraces off-the-grid learning. At Knight's school in Porirua, Year 6 students used to travel to El Rancho in Waikanae – 45 minutes up the road – for a two-night camp. However, now that community funding is unavailable, the future of camps for their senior students is uncertain. In a community where family holidays are a rarity, Knight says pupils leaving often comment that school camp is their favourite memory from school. Growing waitlists for private schools As Auckland grows, St Cuthbert's College has been experiencing higher demand for places on its school roll and has waiting lists for prospective students. Scots College has also been facing similar pressure, with headmaster Yule noticing parents are being propelled to private schools by their feeling of unease in the current state system. 'The issues with literacy and numeracy, open-plan classes and the dissatisfaction with NCEA and so forth, I think, have driven a number of people towards considering independent schooling.' At Dilworth, Reddiex says demand for places has also increased significantly within the past two years, with scholarship places being highly competitive. Avery says the subsidy is a recognition of the role independent schools play in educating a percentage of the Kiwi population, which takes the financial pressure off the rest of the education system. Similarly, Seymour says private school students suddenly flooding into the state sector would create an enormous cost for the Government. 'This whole debate to me says something about where we are and where we could be as a country. What you've got is a small group – about 4% of children and their parents and grandparents – often making big sacrifices to pay independent school fees because in their view, that's a better future for them,' he says. 'Rather kind of sneering, resentful tone, we should say, 'okay, that's a choice people make', I may or may not make it for myself, but we should be happy for other people. 'Those people are actually saving the taxpayer a lot of money.' In Porirua, Knight believes the $160,000 increase St Cuthbert's College is receiving could make 'a world of difference' at her small school. She says the money would go towards funding two more teachers or more teacher aide support. Eva de Jong is a New Zealand Herald reporter covering general news for the daily newspaper, Weekend Herald and Herald on Sunday. She was previously a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle, covering health stories and general news. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Opportunities Party goes public in search for new leader
Photo: Screenshot The Opportunities Party is looking for a new leader, and has taken to Seek to find them. TOP has been leader-less since 2023, and has taken the unusual approach of an open-call job ad to recruit the person it hopes will lead them to success in 2026. The job ad was uploaded on Seek on Thursday evening. The ad said the party was "not fussy" about a candidate's CV. "PhD in economics? Tremendous. Self-employed builder? Fantastic. Nurse? Magnificent," it said. "What matters is your ability to lead us towards a better future, live our values (fearless honesty, equitable opportunity, ingenuity, and results that matter), and handle the heat without melting." Instead, TOP was looking for someone who "understands the reality" of the cost of living, had a reputation for honesty and truth, communicated effectively, and was open to different viewpoints without taking disagreement personally. "We're not looking for an ideologue. We're looking for someone unashamedly driven by practical solutions that work for everyday Kiwis. Someone who believes in solutions being based on evidence, not whether they sound "left" or "right" and calling it "good" or "bad" based on that alone" No salary was posted. The successful candidate would be required to "steer the party to electoral success" in 2026. The party was founded in 2016 by businessman Gareth Morgan, who stepped down after the 2017 election. At that election, TOP got 2.4 percent of the party vote, to date its best result, but not enough to reach the 5 percent threshold needed to get into Parliament. Since then, it has been led by Geoff Simmons, Shai Navot, and Raf Manji. In 2023, Manji, a former Christchurch City Councillor, placed second in the seat of Ilam, ahead of the then-incumbent, Labour's Sarah Pallett. National's Hamish Campbell won the seat with a 7830 vote lead over Manji. In the most recent RNZ-Reid Research poll, TOP polled at 2.2 percent.
