Afternoon Edition: 22 May 2025

The Afternoon Edition of News Fix for 22 May 2025, straight from the Newstalk ZB newsroom - bringing you everything you need to know in news, politics, business, entertainment and sport.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Good afternoon. I'm Railing Ramsey. This is your afternoon news
fix for Thursday, the twenty second of May. The Finance
Minister says Budget twenty twenty five required care and restraint.
It includes halving government key we saver contributions, means testing,
best start payments and a new business tax incentive. The
government's investing one billion dollars in hospital infrastructure and seven

(00:28):
billion into health, two hundred million in new gas fields,
and spending nearly four hundred million more to keep up
with the prison population. Significant savings of nearly thirteen billion
over four years came from recent pay equity changes. Delivering
her budget in the House, Nikola Willis addressed her children
in the gallery.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Your future and the future of the next generation of
New Zealanders has been very much on my mind as
we have put this budget together. This budget will be
good for you and for all our kids.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Prime Minister Chris Luckson says the budget will keep interest
rates low, economic growth averaging two points seven percent a year,
and wages growing faster than inflation.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
It's a budget that, despite a very difficult international backdrop,
charts a responsible pathway back to a surplus.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
The government will now only pay two hundred and sixty
dollars ahead Key we save a contribution each year and
his cap eligibility. Economist Brad Olsen says it was becoming unsustainable.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
It's one of those areas where it's just pretty hard
to defend these days and say, look, government's going to
give five hundred and twenty one bucks every year to everyone,
including those earning over one hundred and eighty k.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
The government's putting seven billion dollars into health and one
billion on replacing and upgrading public health facilities. Political editor
Jason Walls says the government selling it as record health investment.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
And technically every single time it's true because you've got
to account for a fleation, you've got to account for
population growth.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
And if you weren't doing it, you'd be going backwards.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Labour leader Chris Hipkins's take a listing gaps he sees
in the budget.

Speaker 4 (02:02):
The budget had no bold solutions. The budget had no
bread and shelter for vulnerable New Zealanders. The budget had
no back paid settlements for women who have been fighting
to have fair pay for far too long.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
The Greens also aren't fans, saying it's cruel callous and
punching down Colely to Chloe. Swarbrick says it's unconctionable to
means test beast start payments for families at the same
time as investing in fossil fuels.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
The government is taking money away from Farno with a
new baby at home and sitting on fire by plowing
it into new fossil fuel exploration.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters says this is a
tough budget to tackle the inheritance of the last government.
The fact as we could have made a big mistake
and done what I've seen in the past.

Speaker 4 (02:52):
We have some revolutionary budget we paid for for the
next fifteen years.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
And In other news in the US, two Israeli embass
staff have been shot and killed in Washington, DC. The
Homeland Security Secretary says the man and woman were attacked
as they left an event at a Jewish museum. Israel's
ambassador to the UN has described their deaths as a
depraved act of anti Semitic terrorism. In sport, the Indian

(03:20):
Panthers have officially pulled out of the National Basketball League,
ending a brief existence. The Panthers had been suspended from
the League since the start of the month, but have
now withdrawn and their games will be wiped. The Indiana
Pacers have won one thirty eight to one thirty five
after overtime against the New York Knickson game one of

(03:40):
the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals. In mass changes in the
Wellington Phoenix's coaching staff, five members of Giancarlo Italiano's staff departing.
That is the latest news fix. We'll be back with
another update tomorrow morning from the newstalk Z'DB newsroom