Nau mai hoki mai and welcome.

In two weeks, New Zealand’s finance minister Grant Robertson will deliver what he has called a “recovery Budget”. Already his fellow ministers have identified more than $900 million in unspent funds from the Covid Response and Recovery Fund, and Robertson has indicated the money will be returned to the fund and targeted to where it is needed most.

As Auckland University’s Louise Humpage writes today, one area still crying out for some of that funding is welfare. Her research shows that, even with last year’s $25 increase in core benefits and the recent indexing of welfare payments to wages, New Zealand’s benefit recipients are still struggling – financially, of course, but also with their mental health and “feelings of hopelessness, despair and the impression they did not belong to the ‘team of five million’.”

There is plenty more to read in this newsletter and on our homepage, including Kaaren Mathias’s searing analysis of how India’s hugely privatised health system has contributed to that country’s current COVID-19 crisis.

Finally, we launched our annual donations campaign yesterday. It’s the one time every year when we turn to our loyal readers and ask those who can afford to give to support our work. You can donate in NZ dollars, and every bit will help us keep publishing high-quality and reliable information, free to everyone. If you’re able make a donation please do.

Thanks as always for your support and readership. Until next time, mā te wā and all the best.