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The Government today announced a new temporary payment to support New Zealanders who lose their jobs due to the global COVID-19 pandemic to adjust and find new employment or retrain.

Government Ministers are asking significant private enterprises to adopt prompt payment practices in line with the state sector, as a way to improve cashflow for small businesses.

The Sport and Recreation sector will receive a multi-million dollar boost as part of the COVID-19 response funded at Budget 2020. 

Mr Speaker, I move that the Appropriation (2020/21 Estimates) Bill be now read a second time.

The $50 billion fund being announced today will grow jobs and support New Zealanders and the economy through the effects of COVID-19 and the global recession.

Budget 2020 provides for further assistance for businesses and their staff who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Budget 2020 delivers the biggest ever increase in funding for District Health Boards, as well as additional funding to deliver approximately 153,000 more surgeries and procedures, radiology scans and specialist appointments to help clear the COVID-19 backlog. 

Finance Minister Grant Robertson says the Crown accounts released today show how quickly the Government got money out the door to help New Zealanders as COVID-19 hit the country.

Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson says professional sports will be able to resume domestically under COVID-19 Alert Level 2 with the necessary public health measures in place.

Kia ora koutou katoa, Thank you to John Milford and the Wellington Chamber of Commerce team for hosting this event today.

News that nearly 20,000 New Zealanders entered work in the first three months of the year shows the economy’s underlying strength heading into COVID-19, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says.

Support is on the way for businesses facing insolvency due to COVID-19, with the Government introducing a package of measures in Parliament today to further boost New Zealand’s economic recovery.

The Government will provide interest free loans for a year to small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 economic shock to support their immediate cashflow needs and meet fixed costs.

A major international report on the economy has given the thumbs up to the Government’s strong financial position and ability to support families and invest in infrastructure to create jobs in the wake of COVID-19.

The Government is protecting the integrity of New Zealand businesses correctly accessing the wage subsidy by prioritising the audit process for businesses where complaints have been laid.

Hunters will be able to hunt on private land with special restrictions when New Zealand moves to COVID-19 Alert Level 3, but not on public conservation land, Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson and Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today.

Thank you to Kirk and Business NZ for hosting me again today, and indeed for all your help and input into the Government’s response to the COVID pandemic thus far. The relationship has been extremely beneficial and I look forward to continuing to work together as we move through the lockdown and out the other side.

The Government has announced a suite of new measures to provide relief for small and medium-sized businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economic scenarios released today back the Government’s decision to go hard and early in the fight against COVID-19 while putting significant measures in place to protect jobs and support businesses through the lockdown, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says.

The Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson has announced that urgent maintenance of turf and care for plants in non-plantation nurseries will soon be able to go ahead under Level 4 restrictions.

The Government has today released the report from the Public Inquiry into the Earthquake Commission chaired by Dame Silvia Cartwright. 

The Government’s wage subsidy to protect jobs and keep workers and businesses connected during the lockdown has now supported over a million New Zealanders, with $6.6 billion already paid out.

The Government will be introducing legislation to make changes to the Companies Act to help companies facing insolvency due to COVID-19 to remain viable and keep New Zealanders in jobs.

The Government’s plan to cushion the blow of COVID-19 by supporting incomes, jobs and businesses, and position the economy to recover has been backed by another international report.