Budget 2019

Rail workers have been given a boost - some say even a new lease of life - with a billion-dollar funding boost in the Budget.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson says the government is focused on helping low income NZers, but National says the slowing economy will affect everybody. Video

Analysis - The brain drain of New Zealand talent and future earnings may be slowed by one of the government's few business-centric Budget policies, writes Gyles Beckford.

Power Play - This Budget has eased some of the pressures that have been building up since the election of the coalition, but it is not transformational, writes Jane Patterson.

There are too few mental health workers to fulfill the Budget's plan, DHBs seem left short, and beneficiary families still don't have what they need, academics, advocates and unionists say.

Wherefore art thou budget? Or possibly what's it all for anyway, and is it really new?

National Party politicians have roundly criticised the Wellbeing Budget as another example of a coalition government not delivering on promises. Video

While there's clearly some meat on the bones of this Well Being Budget, it's unlikely to quell critics who want transformation, Corin Dann writes.

RNZ's Morning Report presenter Susie Ferguson hosted some of our expert journalists for a live radio panel following the release of the 2019 Budget. Listen here and read a condensed analysis. Audio

The government has put mental health spending at the centre of its first Wellbeing Budget, including rolling out a new frontline service.