NZCA advice on budget priorities for Financial Year 2025-26

One of the functions of the New Zealand Conservation Authority / Te Pou Atawhai Taiao o Aotearoa (Authority), under section 6B(1)(h) of the Conservation Act 1987, is to advise the Minister and the Director General of Conservation annually on its priorities for the expenditure of money.

As such, at each December meeting, the Authority discusses areas that it considers a priority for the expenditure of money for the upcoming financial year, so that these can be considered at the onset of the decision-making phase of the Department’s budgeting and business planning processes.

The conversation regarding expenditure this year was timely, considering the Government’s half year economic and fiscal update that was released last month. It is clear that the Department will continue to face fiscal difficulty into the next financial year, with more cuts likely to come.

The Authority is deeply disheartened by this; the work of the Department is crucial in caring for our precious native biodiversity and the Taiao, and not enabling the Department to undertake its enormous workload with adequate funding could ultimately cause irreversible harm to our ecosystems.

The Authority’s advises that for the 2025-26 financial year, its view is that expenditure should be focused on the following priorities:

Biodiversity

The Authority recommends that expenditure is prioritised to protect biodiversity and native taonga; remaining true to the Department’s core purpose of conserving New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage. When New Zealand’s biodiversity and ecosystems are healthy, our economy, collective health and wellbeing all benefit. Therefore, the primary focus for investment must be nature above all else. 

Te Tiriti o Waitangi / Treaty of Waitangi Obligations and Section 4

Secondly, the Authority recommends a committed focus on meeting Te Tiriti responsibilities, and strengthening iwi/hapu relationships, which ultimately lead to better conservation outcomes.

The Authority believe these two focus areas should underpin decisions regarding expenditure, operational business on the ground, as well as all the eventual changes to legislation, and internal systems and processes within the Department. They could be used as lenses to test the work programme:

• Will proposed activities improve outcomes for nature?
• Will they enable/improve how Te Tiriti responsibilities are being met? 

We look forward to discussing this advice further at our next hui in February, to which you are invited.