Budget 2026 delivers billions for health, education and infrastructure, but only one major new Māori-targeted funding package has been announced. — Budget 2026 is being framed by the Government as a Budget of fiscal restraint, a pathway back to surplus, and renewed investment in core infrastructure and frontline services amid ongoing economic pressure.
The Government says the Budget package includes an average net operating allowance of just $2.1 billion per year, with major spending concentrated in health, education, infrastructure, defence, housing and law and order.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis says the Budget is designed to “secure New Zealand’s future” through a mix of savings, reprioritisation and targeted investment.
Key priorities include reducing debt, investing in infrastructure, easing cost-of-living pressures, expanding housing support and strengthening frontline public services.
While billions are being directed into broad public services and major infrastructure projects, only one major Māori-targeted package of fresh funding has been announced in this year’s Budget, focused on te reo Māori and Māori broadcasting making up about $48 million over 4 years.
At a glance
The Budget package includes:
• $5.8 billion in health spending
• $2 billion in education
• $1.1 billion in defence and intelligence
• $1 billion in law and order
• $824 million in social housing and welfare
• $477 million in transport
• $430 million in housing initiatives
Hauora – biggest allocation
Health receives the single largest funding allocation in Budget 2026, including:
• $5.5 billion more for frontline health services
• $54 million additional funding for Pharmac
• $35 million for road ambulance services
• $33 million to lower the bowel screening age to 56
• $682 million in capital investment, including a new Whangārei Hospital tower block
Health Minister Simeon Brown says the Government is “fixing the basics and building the future” of the health system, with the funding aimed at increasing surgeries, cancer treatments and hospital care.
One of the Budget’s most significant health announcements is lowering the bowel screening age, with the Government saying more than 200,000 additional New Zealanders will become eligible for free screening.
However, there have been no major new Māori-specific health initiatives announced, despite Māori continuing to experience significantly worse health outcomes, including higher bowel cancer mortality rates and lower life expectancy.
Mātauranga
Education funding is heavily focused on curriculum reform, trades training and school infrastructure.
Education Minister Erica Stanford says the Government is investing around $2.1 billion to continue building “a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for success”.
“Budget 2024 and 2025 focused on teaching the basics brilliantly through significant investment into primary and intermediate education,” Stanford says.
The education package includes:
• $61 million for curriculum resources
• $20 million for teacher professional development
• $69 million to nearly double Trades Academy places to 20,000 by 2030
• $559 million for school property and roll growth
Within the wider $559 million school property and roll growth package, only $21 million has been specifically identified for Kaupapa Māori Education roll growth, around one percent of the broader fund.
The Government has also confirmed an expansion of the Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships, funding five additional scholarships.
$48 million for Māori broadcasting and te reo Māori
The sweetener - Māori-focused investment in Budget 2026 is a new package for te reo Māori and Māori broadcasting.
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says the Government is investing in te reo Māori by strengthening Māori broadcasting and supporting Māori cultural and creative capability.
It has set aside $48 million over the next four years to support the long-term sustainability of Māori broadcasting by helping Māori media organisations adapt to a changing digital environment, commission new te reo Māori content, develop talent and strengthen capability.
The Budget also includes $10 million in reprioritised funding over five years for Te Māori Tū, recognising growing international interest in Māori culture, creativity and storytelling.
“Alongside Budget 2026 investments in schools to support Māori medium teaching, these initiatives support te reo Māori, which is one of the great taonga of this country,” Potaka says.
“The language connects us to our history, our identity, our whenua, and to one another.
“Budget 2026 invests in ensuring te reo Māori remains strong, visible and enduring for future generations.”
Potaka says Māori broadcasting and storytelling play an important role in strengthening cultural confidence, creating opportunities across Māori creative industries and sharing uniquely Māori perspectives with audiences.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is another major focus of the Budget, particularly projects tied to economic growth.
One of the largest announcements is $1.773 billion for the Cambridge to Piarere extension of the Waikato Expressway.
Transport Minister, Chris Bishop, says the project is critical to the “Golden Triangle” economy between Auckland, Waikato and Tauranga.
The project is likely to be significant for many Māori communities across Waikato and the Bay of Plenty, particularly around freight, connectivity and regional growth, though concerns around land use, environmental impacts and consultation may still emerge as the project progresses.
Housing
On housing, the Government announced:
• $69.2 million to support between 1,800 and 2,250 more social homes
• $22.4 million to help prevent households entering emergency housing
• $45 million for food banks and school breakfast programmes
Yet despite Māori being disproportionately represented in housing insecurity and emergency housing statistics, there are again few Māori-targeted housing initiatives announced beyond existing programmes already sitting within Vote Māori Development.
The Government maintains broader investments in health, education, infrastructure and economic growth will benefit all New Zealanders, including Māori.
However, Māori economist Matt Roskruge, who was in the lock up, says Budget 2026 continues a wider pattern where Māori-specific initiatives and targeted equity funding are being scaled back or absorbed into universal programmes, despite persistent disparities across health, housing, education and income.
For many Māori organisations and advocates, the key question will not simply be how much is being spent overall, but whether the Budget meaningfully addresses the inequities Māori communities continue to face.
During the Budget lock-up at Parliament, Finance Minister Nicola Willis rejected suggestions the Government was not serving Māori communities through the Budget.
Willis pointed to wider investments in housing, kura kaupapa Māori and health initiatives already underway, arguing the Government’s broader spending priorities would benefit Māori alongside all New Zealanders.
