The Government has announced a $6 million boost to food bank providers, who have recently described record levels of need amid the cost of living crisis and recovery from extreme weather events.

Acting Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni made the announcement during the weekly post-Cabinet press conference today, with Chris Hipkins currently in China for a much-anticipated weeklong visit.

Sepuloni said from Saturday July 1 about three million New Zealanders will not have to worry about the $5 prescription co-payment.

Sepuloni said this would also help relieve demand on the health system.

About 135,000 New Zealanders did not pick up prescriptions because of cost.

A range of people would also have half-price or free public transport.

The petrol tax subsidies will also come to an end this Friday.

Sepuloni also faced questions about the future of Mt Ruapehu’s Tūroa and Whakapapa ski fields, after Cabinet today agreed to provide $5 million to liquidators to ensure the mountain’s 2023 ski season can go ahead.

When asked about past promises not to put more money into it, Sepuloni said it was important to support it.

It was not a situation anyone wanted to be in, but people wanted to still be able to access this taonga, so the Government needed to support it, she said.

“We have to step in here because nobody else will.”

It was to keep the place operating in the interim until a long-term solution was found.

Given climate change and decreasing levels of snow, Sepuloni said she believed it did still have a future.

There were also tourism opportunities without snow, she said.

Sepuloni said the extra funding for food banks would help ease pressure on families doing it tough.

“Demand for food support, particularly in communities impacted by the extreme weather events, remains higher than it was prior to Covid-19. This boost in funding aims to help community food providers continue their mahi during this period of high demand.”

Sepuloni said the Government had provided over $150 million in emergency funding to support community food providers.

It comes as Hipkins touched down in Beijing in the early hours of this morning, beginning a week-long tour of China, which includes a meeting with President Xi Jinping.

The trip has already drawn criticism from National and Act after the Herald revealed there were two NZ Defence Force Boeing 757 planes on the runway during a stopover in Manila, Philippines, en route to China.

The PM’s office has clarified one was a backup in case the other brokedown and has only travelled as far as Manila before returning to Cairns, Australia.

National and Act have both said two planes were unnecessary, pointing to the extra carbon emissions and was “embarrassing”, saying they needed to be upgraded.

Sepuloni said it was important to have the backup plan in place as there were 81 people in the delegation and if there were any complications with the main plane it would cost a lot more.

Sepuloni said it was recognised the current planes needed to be replaced and the current plan was to replace them from 2028 to 2030.

“We are in this situation because of almost a decade of underinvestment in the Air Force.”

It was not the first time a second plane had been sent on standby just in case, she said.

National leader Chris Luxon did not respond to a question about if he would refuse to take two planes on equivalent overseas trips if he becomes PM.

He said any decisions about bringing forward the current replacement date between 2028 and 2030 were “operational matters” for the Air Force, “but we have to do better than this”.

Commenting on National’s law and order policies unveiled on Sunday, which included placing limits on sentencing discounts and reinstating the Three Strikes policy, Sepuloni said there was a lack of evidence behind the policies.

It was also concerning they were not costed, she said.

Michael Neilson is a political reporter based at Parliament in Wellington. He joined the Herald in 2018 and has covered social issues, the environment and Māori affairs.