21 May 2021

Budget 2021: Panel on benefits boost, business impact

From Morning Report, 7:48 am on 21 May 2021

The response to the 2021 budget is testament to the fact that you can't please everyone.

Changes to benefits and investment in Maori housing are being welcomed in some quarters - while others say Labour has missed a chance to do more for the most vulnerable in New Zealand society.

At the same time, plans are being laid for a social insurance scheme that will make payments to people who lose their jobs.

Is it a radical idea that will protect workers from upheavals, or an expensive piece of middle-class welfare?

There are complaints from business that they've been left in the cold in the midst of the Covid-19 recovery.

Kirk Hope is the chief executive of Business NZ, Dr Lara Greaves is a political scientist at the University of Auckland, and Janet McAllister is from the Child Poverty Action Group.