New Zealand unveils 'wellness' budget

Wellington: New Zealand’s Labour coalition government has unveiled its ‘wellbeing’ budget for the year 2019-'20, to widespread praise from social agencies charged with looking after the country’s most vulnerable people.

The finance minister, Grant Robertson, unveiled billions for mental health services and child poverty as well as record investment in measures to tackle family violence.

“Success is making New Zealand both a great place to make a living, and a great place to make a life,” Robertson told parliament.

He said many New Zealanders were not benefiting from a growing economy in their daily lives, and this year’s budget had been designed to address the growing disparity between the haves and have-nots. According to predictions by the International Monetary Fund, the New Zealand economy is expected to grow at about 2.5 % in 2019 and 2.9% in 2020.

Although comparable countries such as the UK have begun to measure the national rate of wellbeing, New Zealand is the first western country to design its entire budget based on wellbeing priorities and instruct its ministries to design policies to improve wellbeing.

As expected, mental health received the biggest funding and investment boost on record, receiving NZ$1.9bn (£980m). Half a billion was earmarked for the “missing middle” particularly – New Zealanders suffering from mild to moderate anxiety and depressive disorders that did not require hospitalisation but significantly affected their quality of life.

Close to half a billion would be spent on new frontline mental health workers stationed in doctor’s surgeries and Indigenous clinics, with the government aiming to help 325,000 people with “mild to moderate” mental health and addiction needs by 2023-24.

Mental Health experts described the government’s focus on mental health as “ambitious”, and expressed excitement and relief that improving the mental health of New Zealanders across the board was finally becoming a priority, as year on year the New Zealand suicide rate continued to climb.

“Mental health is no longer on the periphery of our health system. It is front and centre of all of our wellbeing,” said Robertson.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that for her, the issue of mental health was “deeply personal”.