Budget 2026 makes the hard calls after years of waste

ACT welcomes Budget 2026, saying it ends years of wasteful spending and restores discipline to the Government’s books.

“Households and businesses have to give up one thing to pay for another. Politicians ignored that reality for too long. Budget 2026 makes hard calls to cut what’s not working, back the people who get up and go to work, and focus government on opportunities in education, care in health, and safety on the streets,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“New Zealand is now forecast to return to surplus a year earlier than planned. Balancing the books in Wellington is essential to beating inflation, lowering interest rates, and easing the cost of living for families.

“Mortgage rates, household bills and food prices will keep rising if Government spends more than it saves. This Budget gives hope to people asking whether New Zealand is a place worth staying. It charts a path to undo the damage of wasteful spending.

“Labour already made the easy choices. They grew the public service, borrowed more money, and funded policies that sounded generous while results for Kiwis got worse in education, health, and crime. Now New Zealand needs tough love and hard decisions.

“ACT came into Government to cut wasteful spending. We have asked tough questions, challenged waste, and pushed spending back toward the services and reforms that actually improve people’s lives. Over the past three budgets ACT Ministers have contributed to $14 billion in reduced spending, and we’ve led the conversation on shrinking the size of Government, to make an early surplus possible.

“We’ve been consistent, even when it’s not popular. The result is we’re now delivering real change. That is the point of ACT in Government.

“Budget 2026 shows what responsible government looks like: saving money where government has been wasting it, living within our means, and investing in what matters.”

Budget 2026 includes:

• A faster return to surplus: New Zealand is now forecast to return to surplus a year earlier than planned, showing spending discipline is starting to restore the Government’s books and take pressure off inflation and interest rates.

• A smaller, more efficient government: Budget 2026 continues the shift toward a public service that is smaller, simpler, and more productive, with $2 billion of savings from future reductions in size. Labour proved more bureaucrats do not automatically mean better outcomes.

• Social housing fairness: Changes to social housing will close the gap between state tenants and private renters, shift support toward low-income private renters, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

• Ending Fees Free: Ending a poorly targeted programme that cost taxpayers nearly $350 million a year while doing little to improve access for disadvantaged students. Savings will be used to support young people into the trades.

• Maths and literacy: A $131 million investment in primary school maths and literacy shows careful spending can fund services that enable opportunity.

• Rotorua courts: A $100 million investment in new Rotorua court facilities will support safer, more modern courts and faster justice for victims and communities.

• Healthcare: A $5.5 billion increase for frontline health services. Including a $35 million boost to strengthen  ambulance services, and an additional $54 million for purchasing medicines, on top of our record $1.774 billion investment and $604 million uplift made in previous budgets.

• Housing growth: $400 million will support housing growth and infrastructure by rewarding councils for consenting more homes.

• Wilding pines: $109 million will help stop the spread of wilding pines, protecting farms, water, and high-country landscapes.

• Child safety: $184 million for Oranga Tamariki to protect and support children.

• RMA reform: $294 million to deliver the planning system that Kiwis need, not leaving it to councils to make up.

• Firearms reform: Budget 2026 funds practical firearms reforms that treat licensed owners fairly, target criminals, and support safer communities.

“Overseas and at home, people are noticing that New Zealand is controlling spending, living within its means, and funding what matters through savings rather than higher taxes and more debt.

“Our country still has a problem with incomes and the cost of living. That will not be solved by borrowing more or taxing someone else. It will be solved through productivity, investment, innovation, and higher-paying jobs.

“Budget 2026 is not the end of the job. ACT will keep pushing for a smaller, smarter government that respects taxpayers, backs workers, and secures New Zealand’s future as a place worth staying.”