Budget 2024: Advocates say low income Kiwis, disabled people not prioritised

There are fears those already struggling to heat their homes and provide food for their children will fall deeper into poverty with advocates saying Budget 2024 provides “nothing” for low-income earners.

Included in today’s coalition Government Budget announcement was $14.7 billion dollars in tax cuts for income-earning Kiwis, amounting to about $12.50 a week for minimum wage-earning Kiwis and $25.5 a week for a single adult on $55,000.

Other initiatives include the Working for Families in-work tax credit, which is set to increase, giving 160,000 low and middle-income families with children up to $50 a fortnight and $478m for school lunches.

Christchurch disability advocate Nick Stoneman told the Herald just going to the supermarket was a scary experience for beneficiaries due to rising costs. Today’s announcement was a “Budget of nothing”.

“I see nothing in this Budget for those on low incomes, all I see is cuts. And we’re still going to be in the situation where we won’t be able to put food on the table.”

While $1.1 billion has been allocated over the next five years for Whaikaha, the Ministry for Disabled people, he didn’t believe it was enough.

“It’s not going to see Whaikaha out of the mess it’s currently in. It’s not going to provide the ongoing support that’s needed.”

Stoneman, who is on income support himself, said while there was a base level of help available, it was difficult to get individualised funding through Whaikaha.

“In terms of Ministry of Social Development and benefits, $78.6 a week for disability allowance isn’t enough. We need a meaningful increase, it’s got to be a minimum of at least $150 dollars a week.”

In his view, the Government’s priorities in the Budget were “all wrong”.

“It will continue to make life worse for those on income support payments with no meaningful increase and return to main benefits being tied to Cost Price Indexation we still won’t be able to put decent food in the trolley or afford the chocolate biscuits at the supermarket.”

Emily Phillips, an Auckland early childhood teacher currently receiving a benefit after being made redundant, felt those on low incomes and beneficiaries weren’t a priority for the Government.

Phillips said things were tight in her household and she was having to make tough decisions about whether she could afford to run heating for her whānau.

“It’s not a decision that anyone with sick kids should be making.

“Do I run the heat pump, do I not run the heat pump? Do I buy cheaper meals that don’t really meet the standard that I want my kids to be eating so that they can stay well?”

She told the Herald she’s in situations where she has to decide between purchasing food or heating her home.

“I’m not an economist, I can’t make sense of the idea that we’re not prioritising as a country everyone having enough to eat and somewhere warm to live.

“To think about prioritising middle-income earners who may or may not be choosing whether to go on a holiday overseas or within New Zealand this year, versus people who are struggling to feed their children or heat their homes.”

While there have been large boosts for families who qualify for the ECE FamilyBoost programme, Phillips’ children were in primary school, and she was also forking out more in food costs as her kids were eating “three or four” times the amount they did as preschoolers.

Follow live updates on Budget 2024 here.

Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.