Budget significant initiatives
Each year, MBIE is provided with funding from the Government to deliver significant initiatives in response to current or ongoing challenges facing Aotearoa New Zealand.
On this page
The items identified below reflect several Budget significant initiatives that are important to the Government’s and MBIE’s strategic priorities, as well as Parliament and the public.
Enhancing Aotearoa New Zealand as an event destination
Major events, like the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™, SailGP, and World Choir Games put New Zealand on the map, helped create international connections and grow the economy. We received an additional $17.65 million over five years for the Major Events Fund in Budget 2023, to support major events and secure event- related benefits. For more information on major events and the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™, see:
Helping New Zealanders after severe weather events
The Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) was activated to provide safe and secure temporary accommodation for households displaced from the North Island weather events in early 2023. We received $102 million in Budget 2023 and $27.8 million in Budget 2024 for the response to Auckland flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle, which continue to support those still displaced by the flooding. For more information, see:
Strengthening emerging industries
New industries and supporting them to grow and develop creates jobs and brings investment to New Zealand shores. In Budget 2023, we received $160 million over four years for the Game Development Sector Rebate. The rebate supports sustainable growth and job creation in mid- to large- sized game development studios to help strengthen the domestic sector. MBIE also administers the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate, which has provided significant national investment. For more information on these initiatives, see
Investing in regions
Regional development is critical to improving resilience, increasing productivity and growing regional economies. In Budget 2024, we received over $1.2 billion in additional funding to support economic development opportunities in regional New Zealand and invest in regional infrastructure to improve resilience, increase productivity and grow regional economies. This builds on MBIE’s experience supporting and funding regional development. For information see:
In 2023/24, New Zealand had a change in Government. MBIE has been supporting its new ministers to deliver their priorities and progress the Government’s action plan. We have been responding to a changing fiscal environment and new priorities, making sure our operations are more efficient, and shifting resources to where we can have the biggest effect.
In some cases, we returned funding to the Crown to redistribute to other areas. This year, we met the operating savings target of 7.5%. This involved a baseline reduction of $231.5 million per year average and further targeted policy savings and revenue of $254.2 million per year average. This totalled over $2 billion over four years across both departmental and non-departmental funding, with an additional $997.6 million in capital expenditure returned. Initiatives of note included:
- overall savings of around $900 million from the Science, Innovation and Technology portfolio over four years, comprising a combination of time-limited and permanent saving reductions through reduced research, capital and operational funding
- returning nearly $100 million in funding from the Tui Oil Field decommissioning project, which has completed the substantive part of the project on time and under budget.