Patch 2025.05

May 2025 proposals

This month’s bills would change KiwiSaver, benefits, housing support, rates rebates, granny-flat consents, pay discussions, transfer fees and pay-equity claims.

• Proposal to change tax and KiwiSaver rules — Would change KiwiSaver contributions, government contributions, Working for Families, Best Start, and business investment tax deductions.
• Proposal to protect pay discussions — It would let employees raise complaints if employers treated them badly because they disclosed or discussed their pay.
• Proposal for yearly benefit checks — It would require benefit eligibility and payment-rate checks at least every 52 weeks, using automated decisions for some reviews.
• Proposal to change housing subsidy calculations — It would count board payments from all boarders when calculating some housing subsidies and income-related social housing rents.
• Proposal to widen rates rebates — It would set a separate $45,000 income threshold for SuperGold Card holders seeking rates rebates from 1 July 2025.
• Proposal to ease granny-flat building rules — Would let qualifying stand-alone dwellings up to 70 square metres be built without a building consent.
• Proposal for clearer international transfer fees — Would require clearer disclosure of fees and charges for international money transfers and foreign-currency payments.
• Proposal to change pay equity claims — Pay equity claims would use new processes and rules for assessing whether women’s work has been undervalued because of sex.
• Proposal to update military decoration penalties — Would update penalties for misrepresenting or supplying military decorations and make wording reflect that military service is not only for men.
• Proposal to speed up court cases — Would add two High Court judges and change court procedures to deal with some cases more quickly.
• Proposal to broaden community legal services funding — Would let a special fund pay for functions supporting community legal services, rather than only the services themselves.
• Proposal for greater port company accountability — Would bring publicly owned port companies under public information, employment, and social and environmental responsibility rules.
• Proposal to promote overseas investment — It would establish Invest New Zealand to encourage and support more overseas investment in New Zealand.
• Proposal to tighten some patent tests — It would apply stricter tests to certain older patent applications filed after the proposal takes effect.
• Digital services tax proposal dropped — Proposal to tax large digital businesses dropped; it would have charged 3% on qualifying New Zealand-linked digital revenue.
• Proposal to strengthen sexual violence protections — It would strengthen legal protections for victims of sexual violence.
• Proposal to change racing industry rules — It would change rules for the racing industry.
• Proposal for tougher youth offending responses — It would create young serious offender declarations and military-style academy orders for some young people aged 14 to 17.
• Proposal to protect family violence witnesses — It would give family violence witnesses in Family Court cases an entitlement to give evidence in alternative ways.
• Proposal to target foreign interference — It would create offences for secretive, coercive, deceptive or corrupt conduct for a foreign power that harms New Zealand interests.
• Proposal to refocus infrastructure advice — The Commission would stop supporting infrastructure projects and instead advise on current and proposed projects.
• Proposal to change social security rules — The Bill would change social security rules.
• Proposal to rebuild vocational training — Te Pūkenga would be replaced by regional polytechnics and industry skills boards, with changes to work-based training.
• Proposal to modernise valuers’ law — The Valuers Act 1948 would be replaced with a clearer, modern version of the law.
• Proposal to protect special-interest herds — Designated valued herds of introduced animals would no longer face a requirement to be exterminated in national parks.
• Proposal to speed up land acquisition — Land needed for listed critical infrastructure projects would face a faster acquisition process, with written submissions replacing Environment Court objections.
• Proposal to authorise incidental wildlife deaths — Conservation officials could authorise wildlife being killed incidentally during lawful activities when the overall effect would protect wildlife.
• Proposal to improve government budget transparency — Would require more detail about fiscal risks and tax breaks, and allow different measures for explaining the fiscal strategy.
• Proposal to authorise extra government spending — Would authorise the Government’s additional spending and capital expenditure for the year ending 30 June 2025.
• Proposal to authorise government spending — Would authorise the Government’s planned spending and capital expenditure for the year ending 30 June 2026.
• Proposal to recognise Māori Crown entity names dropped — Proposal to recognise Māori names for Crown entities dropped; it would have enabled those names to become legal names.
• Proposal for new regulation standards — It would set principles for good legislation and create more checks on the quality of proposed and existing rules.
• Proposal to make legislation easier online — Government agencies would publish secondary legislation online, with the New Zealand Legislation website as a central access point.