Businesses should be cautious about the country’s long-term fiscal position as we fight our way out. Goldman Sachs estimates the US unemployment rate may peak at 25%, comparable to the depths of the Great Depression. It includes a substantial trades and apprenticeship package (worth $1.6 billion), along with additional subsidised places for tertiary students, a modest increase in per student subsidy rates, extra support for employment services, specific initiatives for Māori and Pasifika students, and a new hardship fund for students. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Budget 2020’s focus on “jobs, jobs and jobs” is understandable, commendable and vital. You may withdraw your consent to cookies at any time once you have entered the website through a link in the privacy policy, which you can find at the bottom of each page on the website. Some 11,000 new jobs will be created in environmental work in the regions, conservation minister Eugenie Sage said, with people employed in pest and weed control operations, biodiversity projects and Department of Conservation nature ambassador roles. This compared with pre-pandemic unemployment rates of around 4.0% in the UK, 5.2% in Australia and 7.4% in the Euro zone. It’s the biggest mini budget we’ll ever see. Significant and continuing efforts will be needed to minimise these inter-generational effects, and the budget goes some way to addressing these. Read more: Projects to receive funding including NZ$27m to eradicate the invasive wallaby population in the South Island, NZ$100m to control the rogue wild pine spread, and NZ$40m to clear rivers on crown land such as Lake Wanaka of weeds and pests. Ultimo, Australian Capital Territory, Public Sector Risk Management “The finance minister talked about Covid-19 being a one in a hundred-year threat, but climate change is the threat that will decide if we have another hundred years on this planet.”, New Zealand budget: Robertson lays out $50bn plan to return jobs to pre-Covid-19 levels. New South Wales, Copyright © 2010–2020, The Conversation Media Group Ltd, Towards Strategic Leadership - In a Time of Prolonged Crisis, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington. All Rights Reserved. By OECD standards, New Zealand entered the pandemic with a relatively low unemployment rate. If the economy does not perform to forecast, the Government will need to reconfigure the tax settings to recoup its spending. Ultimately, sustainable employment requires a sustainable environment. Key policy measures include the targeted extension of the wage subsidy scheme for a further eight weeks for businesses experiencing more than a 50% reduction in turnover, a $400 million package for the tourist sector, a substantial boost to the infrastructure investment fund, and some additional support for research and development. With businesses across the country reopening their doors and beginning to truly understand the economic impacts of COVID19, today’s budget was never going to be normal. The government is also offering support to businesses to make it easier to deal with Government around compliance, especially as the proliferation of e-commerce continues to see more businesses turning to digital platforms to sell their goods and services. By EY Oceania. Of course, the depth and duration of the economic downturn remains highly uncertain.

The executive director of Greenpeace, Dr Russel Norman, said while he applauded the government’s spend on rail and environmental jobs, he noted that cleaning up the waterways would be effective only with a wholesale move away from intensive agricultural farming, the main polluter of the country’s fresh waterways. The number of people receiving Job Seeker Support (Work Ready) – the main benefit available for the unemployed – rose almost 50% between February and early May, from about 80,000 to 120,000. Source: New Zealand Customs Service, Stats NZ. Jonathan Boston has received various research grants over the years from several public bodies in New Zealand and overseas, mostly recently the US Fulbright Foundation. Fortunately, too, the government’s comprehensive wage subsidy scheme has so far limited the spike in unemployment. To that end, the $NZ1 billion environmental jobs package is welcome. Professor of Public Policy , Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington. Treasury is forecasting an unemployment rate of close to 10% before year’s end.

On Thursday the finance minister Grant Robertson unveiled more than NZ$50bn in recovery funding to get the economy back on track following a seven-week lockdown. Stay in touch with The Conversation’s coverage from New Zealand experts by signing up for our weekly NZ newsletter – delivered to you each Wednesday. Review our cookie policy for more information. New Zealand | Politics Budget 2020: Budget at a glance - the big Covid 19 package and how hard has it hit. Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington provides funding as a member of The Conversation NZ. So can the 2020 budget help avoid mass unemployment?

Significant and protracted unemployment serves no good purpose. Read more: Melbourne, Victoria, Outcomes Based Budgeting Course Specific measures could include a strategic tertiary investment fund, an increase in the value of targeted student allowances, and a rise in student loan borrowing limits. Please refer to your advisors for specific advice. But investments of this kind will be undermined if the planned reforms to the Resource Management Act result in greater urban sprawl, the loss of valuable agricultural land, and higher transport emissions. But worse is still to come. —

I'm scanning this for anything about climate and not finding much - am I missing something? Business owners will also welcome the fact there was no mention of tax reforms. Given the unprecedented impact of the pandemic, however, all such forecasts are highly conditional. That is a crisis in anyone’s language. The budget lacked detail, is reliant on increasing debt and it didn’t tell us much about what this government will do during its second term, if it were retained at the election. The real jobless rate, which includes those who want to work but have given up trying, is forecast to reach 35%. Nowhere to be seen today.