Your Coalition Government has unveiled Budget 2025.
It’s more than ACT would spend, but it’s less than other parties would spend without ACT in the Government. Once again your voice and your vote have saved current and future taxpayers money. Thank you for trusting us with your support.We are proud to support a Budget designed to grow the economy instead of Government spending. This Budget is about savings, investment, and enabling growth.
Savings:
The Government’s Budget increases by $1.3 billion this year. That is just under one per cent. If it increased by as much as inflation and population, it would have increased $4.9 billion. This means the Government is finally growing slower than the rest of the economy.When the Government’s share reduces, there is more for firms, farms, and families. It ensures future generations aren’t irresponsibly saddled with debt.
Brooke van Velden’s pay equity reforms have saved the Crown billions in pay settlements that would have linked wages for wildly different sectors by bureaucratic diktat.
KiwiSaver changes will halve the Government contribution, while ending subsidies for the wealthiest savers. This is offset by a higher contribution rate for employers, so Kiwis stay on track for retirement.
Additional savings have been found in all parts of government: from cuts to “bilingual cities”, more debt collection from legal aid recipients, and a reduction in funding for RNZ [good —Eds].
Investment:
Frontline services in health, education, justice, and defence aren’t just maintained in the Budget – they’re improved. For example:
$164 million for urgent and after-hours healthcare will mean less time waiting in A&E.
$140 million for school attendance services will see more kids in class, gaining skills to live prosperous lives.
$246 million for courts will deliver the timely justice victims of crimes deserve.
$103 million for better youth justice facilities and initiatives will break cycles of crime.
A $9 billion uplift in Defence will ensure we’re taken seriously as an ally in a changing world.
This spending is only possible because the Coalition is saving, not borrowing, to invest.
Less tax, less red tape:
Above all, this is a Budget that understands wage growth doesn’t come from the bureaucracy – it comes from economic growth.
The Regulatory Standards Bill is part of the Budget package, making government justify the red tape it imposes. It means Kiwis spend less time on paperwork and are freed up to innovate, hire, and generate real wealth.
A 20 percent capital expensing policy will let businesses immediately deduct 20 percent of the cost of new equipment, machinery, or tech in the year of purchase. This puts more cash back in the hands of firms and farms right away – to invest in growth, upgrade tech, and boost productivity.
A shift to 12-month medicine prescriptions will see patients save money and time on GP visits while freeing up healthcare professionals from repetitive paperwork. This makes for a leaner, more efficient health system.
Conclusion: In cutting waste and prioritising growth, we need to go much further. But this Budget is a positive step. There’s also another big achievement in this Budget, that’s sometimes forgotten: The looney tunes are kept out of power for another year.
Labour and the Greens wasted billions, and they are already threatening to take up where they left off. Their lunacy would squash growth, punish success, and drive us deeper into debt. They have a thousand ideas to divide wealth but not one that empowers people to create it.
ACT is the essential anchor that stops our country falling into mediocrity, and pulls us towards the light of meritocracy.
  David Seymour ACT Leader |