Inequality campaigners say the government's cost of living payment is a slap in the face to some of the country's most vulnerable.
People receiving the higher Winter Energy Payment are not eligible for the government's $350 cash payment to address cost of living rises.
The payments work out roughly $27 each week.
Anti-poverty group Fairer Future says income support has not kept up with rising inflation and the cost of living.
But Social Development Minister Carmen Sepuloni maintains something had to be done for families not already receiving support.
"What we certainly wanted to see was some reprieve from these families that are getting no extra support over what had been a tough few months and we still have a little bit of a way to go during that so we needed to put something in place quickly," Sepuloni says.
Early, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the government's Budget would "deal with the immediacy of economic and health challenges Kiwis are facing".
"We'll also look into the challenges of tomorrow in seeking to buffer our people from both. It is an approach that, as always, is focused on people," she said.
However, National Party leader Christopher Luxon said the payment would do little if inflation and food prices continued to rise.
"The government's response is a band-aided solution of a cost-of-living payment that fundamentally is available for three months and yet the Treasury forecast we just saw today actually has inflation being not back to within the 3 percent band until 2025."
