Should the government be granted interim financial authority to spend and incur expenses at the start of the 2025/26 financial year until the main Appropriation Bill is passed?

Full bill summary & link to official bill page

The government cannot spend public money without Parliament's authority. The detailed annual authority comes through the main Appropriation (Estimates) Act, which is not passed until well into the financial year, around the Budget. An Imprest Supply Bill grants temporary, un-itemised authority to incur operating and capital spending up to stated aggregate limits, so public services keep running from the start of the financial year until the detailed appropriations are enacted. “First for 2025/26” means it is the first such bill for that year. It affects the whole of government's ability to fund operations in the interim.

This is a routine, recurring government bill; each financial year usually sees two or three. The argument for is that it is essential machinery — without it the government would have no lawful authority to pay for public services in the months before Budget appropriations are finalised. The argument against is that the authority is a broad lump sum rather than line-by-line, granting large spending power with limited detailed scrutiny.

See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.