The Families Package – Best Start payments
From 1 July 2018 the Families Package takes effect, including the Best Start tax credit.
This is a new weekly payment of $60 per child, available to eligible parents who have a baby due on or after 1 July 2018.
All eligible families will receive this payment until the child turns 1 year old, regardless of their household income. Households whose income is less than $79,000 will continue to receive $60 per week until the child turns 3 years old. Those earning above $79,000 may continue to receive payments at a reduced amount. The upper threshold is $94,000 (for one child) when payments stop.
Parents can apply for Best Start when registering their baby’s birth through SmartStart. If the birth is not registered through SmartStart, the parents can apply for Best Start by completing the Working for Families registration (FS1) form.
A parent is eligible for Best Start payments if:
they are the principal caregiver of the child
they are a NZ resident/citizen and have been in NZ for a continuous period of 12 months at any time
they have received an IRD number for the child and
the child they are claiming for is both a resident and present in NZ.
For more information go to:
www.ird.govt.nz...
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I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Poll: Are you still heading to your local for your caffeine fix, or has the $$ changed your habits? ☕
Wellington’s identity is built on its cafe culture, but with costs climbing, that culture is under pressure. We’ve seen the headlines about recent closures, and it’s a tough pill to swallow along with a $6+ coffee.
We all want our favourite spots to stay open, but we also have to balance our own budgets ⚖️
We want to know: How are you handling the "coffee math" in 2026? Are you still heading to your local for a chat and a caffeine fix, or has the cost of living changed your habits?
Keen to read more about "coffee math"? The Post has you covered.
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43.5% I avoid spending money on coffee
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45.8% I still indulge at my local cafe
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10.7% Irrelevant - coffee is not for me
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