Grant Robertson calls time on fight against coronavirus

In January, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said there was enough money in the Covid Response and Recovery Fund for the costs of the Omicron outbreak, but warned more money might be needed if the country required a fourth round of vaccinations.

That fourth round of doses will need to find support elsewhere now with the last of the fund diverted to the cost of living crisis, announced in Thursday’s Budget.

The $1 billion cost-of-living package included a new temporary payment totalling $350 for about two million workers who earn less than $70,000 and who don’t receive the Winter Warmer Payment.

That payment was passed into law under urgency on Thursday night; the $814m for it will come out of the now disestablished Covid-19 Fund.

The Opposition has been baying for this to happen after highlighting earlier decisions to channel Covid response funds to install cameras on fishing boats and fund art therapy. National and Act MPs had said the funds would be better spent easing the impacts of inflation.

Certainly, the deployment of the funds on to relieving inflation pressures is within the remit of the Covid Response and Recovery Fund, which was introduced in response to the pandemic to keep Kiwis safe and help the country’s economic recovery.

Using the fund to inject money into households to offset inflation has been described as a “masterstroke” but how clever will it look should the current pandemic plateau trend upwards again?

The cost of living package will be gone in three months.

Will Covid be over then?