25666 (2026). Francisco Hernandez to the Minister of Customs

25666 (2026). Francisco Hernandez to the Minister of Customs: How much, if any, is the total budget in the Minister's departments, agencies, crown entities and any other bodies that the Minister is responsible for, if any, for the 2026/27 financial year on artificial intelligence- including costs on training staff, deploying systems, maintaining subscriptions and any other associated costs?

Hon Casey Costello: I am advised that the New Zealand Customs Service has not yet confirmed a total budget for Artificial Intelligence for the 2026/27 financial year. However, Customs has ongoing and planned subscriptions to Artificial Intelligence tools, including Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot licences. These are expected to cost approximately $218,000 per annum to maintain current capability levels during 2026/27.