Kaya Selby
RNZ Pacific journalist
Pacific
households in New Zealand will be the hardest hit by
scheduled benefit cuts and social housing rent increases,
according to officials.
Ahead of Budget 2026,
government ministers were presented
with modelling that estimated 26,000 Pacific families
would see their weekly income fall by an average of $30.75
from April next year.
It is noted this factored in “a
large proportion of Pacific Peoples in social housing and
larger family sizes”, meaning greater exposure to a cut in
the Temporary Additional Support (TAS) maximum rate from 30
percent of income to 25 percent.
“Pacific peoples have
the highest weekly loss when compared with other ethnic
groups,” it read.
Meanwhile, social, transitional and
emergency housing rents will increase, with the government
requiring 30 percent of a tenant’s income to be paid, up
from 25 percent.
The government’s decision to reinvest
revenue saved from TAS cuts into accommodation supplement
increases would, according to officials, offer little
benefit to maxed-out TAS recipients.
For households
with three or more people, accommodation supplement (AS)
increases ranged from $20-$30 per week depending on the
area.
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But because a higher income draws down the TAS
entitlement, “any increase in AS will result in a direct
reduction in TAS,” and therefore “for people who are at the
TAS maxima and the AS maxima … they will lose more from
the reduction in the TAS maxima”.
Under all three
measures combined, officials advised that more beneficiary
families lose than gain, while approximately 2200 families
throughout the country lose between $51-$52 per
week.
All told, 61,000 European families would benefit
by nearly $15 per week, while 52,000 would lose around $20.
Around 51,000 Māori families would lose nearly $24, while
34,000 would gain around $15.
Auckland households
would lose the most: 54,000 families would lose around $26
per week, while 13,000 Wellington families would lose around
$24, as would Canterbury households.
More than 113,000
families received the TAS as of April, while nearly 382,000
received the AS. Social housing tenants numbered just shy of
85,000.
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