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New Zealand’s first social bond will aim to empower people with mental illness and support their families, Finance Minister Bill English and Health Minister Jonathan Coleman say.

Social bonds, in which the return for investors will be partially determined by whether or not agreed social targets have been achieved, will become another tool in the Government’s social investment approach that is aiming to improve the lives and prospects of the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

People enrolling in KiwiSaver from 2pm today will no longer receive a $1,000 kick-start payment, Finance Minister Bill English says. The change does not affect existing KiwiSaver members.

“KiwiSaver has been successful in attracting members, with 2.5 million New Zealanders having a KiwiSaver account and together receiving $2.5 billion in kick-start payments since the scheme started in 2007,” Mr English says.

Proceeds from the Government’s share offer programme provide a further $939 million of new capital investment in Budget 2015 without the need to borrow more from overseas lenders, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“The share sale proceeds provided $4.7 billion to the Future Investment Fund for spending on new public assets without having to borrow,” Mr English says.

The Crown’s books are in good shape and on track to surplus as the Government maintains its careful and responsible management of public spending, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“We’re making good progress on the Government’s fiscal priorities and the outlook is positive,” Mr English says.

The Treasury is predicting solid growth, growing employment and real wage increases. However, lower inflation means tax revenue is not rising as quickly as expected.

Budget 2015 delivers careful management of public spending, hand in hand with investment in public services.

(All figures for four years to 2018/19 unless otherwise stated).

Mr Speaker,

I move that the Appropriation (2015/16 Estimates) Bill be now read a second time.

It’s a privilege to present the National-led Government’s seventh Budget.

New Zealand has come through significant challenges and is now a more confident and resilient country than it was seven years ago.

Successive Budgets have sought to put New Zealand on a track to surplus and debt reduction, and as a result the Government’s books are in good shape.

A package of measures aimed at reducing hardship among children in New Zealand’s lowest-income households is at the heart of new spending announced in the Budget today, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The package, costing $790 million over four years, includes increased work obligations for sole parents on a benefit, more childcare support for low-income families, a $25 a week increase in benefit rates for families with children, and an increase in Working for Families payments to low-income families not on a benefit.

Budget 2015 includes a $790 million package to reduce hardship among children in New Zealand’s poorest families, as the next step in the Government’s commitment to address the long-term drivers of deprivation.

The package includes increased work obligations for sole parents on a benefit, more childcare support for low-income families, a $25 a week increase in benefit rates for families with children, and an increase in Working for Families payments to low-income families not on a benefit, Finance Minister Bill English and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley say.

The Government is taking extra steps to bolster the tax rules on property transactions – including those by overseas buyers - and to help Inland Revenue enforce them, Finance Minister Bill English and Revenue Minister Todd McClay say.

The tax measures are also expected to take some of the heat out of Auckland’s housing market and sit alongside the Reserve Bank’s latest moves to address associated financial stability issues, Mr English says.

The Crown accounts for the nine months to March 31 posted a deficit of $358 million, smaller than the $1.2 billion deficit forecast by Treasury in December, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The smaller deficit primarily reflects tax revenue coming in $844 million higher than forecast.

The process for considering the New Zealand flag is structured in the best way to give the fairest outcome, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English says.

A petition before the Justice and Electoral Committee today suggested that the question, “Do you want to change the flag?” should be added to the first referendum on the flag, which is likely to be held in November or December this year.

Tauranga and Invercargill have been selected as the first regions for the proposed transfer of Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC) houses to registered Community Housing Providers (CHPs), Ministers Bill English and Paula Bennett say.

Good afternoon everyone. It’s a pleasure to be with you again this year.

Thank you to the Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce for once again organising this pre-Budget lunch.

I also want to acknowledge the Chamber’s work in promoting the Wellington business community and in advocating policy to enable businesses in the capital to invest, employ and grow.

The Budget on 21st May will set out in detail the Treasury’s revised economic and fiscal forecasts as well as the Government’s decisions around new spending.

Ownership and management of approximately 2800 Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC) properties at Tamaki will be transferred to the Tamaki Redevelopment Company (TRC) to encourage regeneration of the area, Finance Minister Bill English and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith say.

“Driving through some of the deprived areas of Tāmaki makes plain why the Government is determined to do a better job of social housing,” Mr English says.

On 21 May, Finance Minister Bill English delivered the National-led Government’s seventh Budget.

Finance Minister Bill English will visit Australia this week, where he will take the opportunity to hear first-hand from business and industry leaders their thoughts about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Australian economy.

The Crown accounts have slipped back to a deficit of $269 million in the eight months to February, making the previous month’s flirtation with surplus short-lived but nevertheless encouraging, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) for the seven months to January showed a surplus of $77 million - the first time since 2009 that the Government’s books had shown a part-year surplus.

Comments from the State Housing Action Network that the Government is abdicating its responsibility to social housing tenants are completely incorrect, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“Our social housing reforms will provide more social housing for New Zealanders in need, and we will grow the community housing sector while maintaining Housing New Zealand as by far the largest provider of social housing,” Mr English says.

New Zealand’s economy continues to perform consistently well with another quarter of solid growth reported today, Finance Minister Bill English says.

Statistics New Zealand today released gross domestic product figures for the December quarter showing growth of 0.8 per cent. This took annual growth – from the December quarter 2013 to the December quarter 2014 – to 3.5 per cent, the highest annual rate since Sept 2007. Average annual growth to December 2014 was 3.3 per cent.

A bill that sets out how the two postal referendums on the New Zealand Flag will be conducted passed its first reading in Parliament today, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English says.

The New Zealand Flag Referendums Bill was referred to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee after a 76 to 43 vote on the first reading.

“New Zealanders will decide whether the flag changes or not,” Mr English says.

The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) for the seven months to January was a surplus of $77 million, driven by higher than expected tax revenue and lower than expected operating expenses, Finance Minister Bill English says.

“This is the first time the Government’s books have shown a part-year surplus since 2009. Although it is too early to say whether we will have a surplus for the full 2014/15 year, this result demonstrates the strides we have made in improving the Government’s finances,” Mr English says.

Leading credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has reaffirmed New Zealand’s Aaa sovereign credit rating with a stable outlook, noting the strength of the economy and improving government finances.

“This is a further endorsement of the Government’s responsible economic and fiscal programme,” Finance Minister Bill English says.

The Government is backing the recommendations of the NZ Data Futures Forum to make better use of public data and uphold privacy standards, Finance Minister Bill English and Statistics Minister Craig Foss say.

The NZ Data Futures Forum — an independent expert advisory group from the public and private sectors — was established by the Government last year to help drive further use of open data.

Recommendations in the forum’s final report included:

Good afternoon.

Thank you Michael and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, and Steve and Massey University, for inviting me back to this annual event.

It’s a pleasure to be with you again today. I make this the sixth time I’ve spoken at this forum since becoming Minister of Finance.

With the National-led Government now into its third term, I’d like to update you on our priorities for the next three years.

We have three busy years ahead of us. And there is much to do.