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- Engage-in-Brief: 24 March 2025
Engage-in-Brief: 24 March 2025
Holly Bennett
March 24, 2025
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TWO TRICKS TO TRY
The Representation Commission reviews and adjusts electorate boundaries after each 5-yearly population census, which means a boundary review needs to take place before the 2026 General Election. In fact, the Commission is expected to release its draft review today (24 March 2025)! Take a look at it when it drops, and see if they’ve proposed a change to your electorate. Have thoughts on it? Let them know! You’ll have until 27 April to make any objections.
Local Government is an often overlooked — but critically important — aspect of politics in Aotearoa New Zealand. There’s an election coming up, but you’ve got a few months yet to wrap your head around how it all works. LGNZ has a great guide to the three different kinds of council we have in Aotearoa. Find out who your local authority is, look at the sort of work they do, and then start thinking about what issues you care most about when the elections roll around in September.
ONE THING YOU NEED TO KNOW
You probably already know about Budget Day (and if you’re anything like us here at Engage, you’ve had it marked on your calendars since the date was announced in January), but how do you know about the rest of the Budget cycle?
It all kicks off when the Minister of Finance presents the Budget Policy Statement (BPS), which they’re required to do by the Public Finance Act 1989. The BPS sets out the Government’s priorities and objectives for the upcoming Budget.
Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure select committee then gets the opportunity to scrutinise the BPS, take submissions from the public, and hear from the Minister of Finance in a public committee session. Once the committee reports back, Parliament holds a debate on the BPS the first sitting week after the report is presented. This year, that took place on Wednesday 12 March.
The BPS, the committee’s report, and the follow-up debate are great ways to get a preview of what the year’s Budget is going to look like. This year, the BPS foreshadows low Government spending, “fiscal discipline”, and funds for new initiatives only if they’re high-priority policy commitments.
Knowledge is the advocate’s most powerful tool, so make sure you know what’s on the horizon for the areas you care about. That way, when Budget Day rolls around, you’ll know exactly what to look for — and you’ll be prepared to respond, whatever the Government announces.
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ONE FUNNY THING
Time can move in funny ways at Parliament, although months don’t usually get swapped around. But things got a little muddled during the recent debate on the Budget Policy Statement.
If you want to make sure that you don’t get confused about what time — or what day — it is at Parliament, you can watch Spotlight on Parliament: Time is Ticking to learn more.
That’s it for another edition of Engage-in-Brief. Remember, you have a voice and you can use it. If you need training to support your advocacy efforts simply reply to this email. And if you try out one of this week’s tricks, let us know about it!
Mauri ora!
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