The Government is ditching the $586 million clean car upgrade, among other programmes.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said a second tranche of government programmes was being stopped or delayed to allow the Government to focus more time, energy and resources on the bread and butter issues facing New Zealanders.

 Other programmes that are being “reprioritised” include significantly narrowing the speed reduction programme to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state highways, and “ensuring Waka Kotahi are consulting meaningfully with affected communities.”

The Government will also stop the social leasing car scheme.

The scheme was to provide leasing arrangements to low-income families for clean cars “but was proving difficult to implement.”

Hipkins said legislation looking at alcohol reform that relate to pricing, sponsorship and advertising will be pushed back to April 2024, rather than March this year. 

 “These are areas that need time to investigate properly and ensure there are no unintended consequences. For example, when community groups are doing it tough, the Government doesn’t want to see any restrictions on sponsorship increasing costs for community sports teams”. 

 The government won’t lower the voting age to 16 for general elections.

“Instead, we will shift focus to lowering the age for voting in local body elections.”