pn903. The Budget, with links, from Stuff's Politically Correct

 

Hi Crosbie, Grant Robertson called it “balanced”, the National Party called it a “backwards Budget” and the Act Party called it a “brain drain Budget”. Te Pāti Māori said it was a vanilla cake Budget with chocolate sprinkles on top. It was perhaps, the bromide Budget - one with statements and measures to soothe or placate around cost-of-living pressures, while getting on with the long-term changes that Labour committed to making last year. It was essentially the same Budget that was indicated last December with what looks like a last minute cost-of-living payment thrown in. Stuff attended the Budget lock up and produced an array of stories and video covering it. You can read Henry Cooke’s cheat sheet on the Budget here, while my take on it was that it was trying to thread a political needle and balance acute political pressures while also acting on Labour’s longer term reforms in health and climate. The payment of $350 over three months for people earning under $70,001 a year was carefully calibrated to take the wind out of National’s sails while giving targeted relief. Given how much costs have risen, it is unlikely to do so. Henry Cooke again did an excellent analysis on how much of the cost of living increase the changes might cover. Hint: if you’ve got a mortgage, children or run two cars, the answer is likely to be very little. Our Auckland political reporter down for the lock up, Glenn McConnell, reported on what was in the Budget for Māori and also produced this nice little story about five representative families and what it might mean for them. Meanwhile, our gallery health expert Bridie Witton reported on the massive $13.8b spend-up in health on rejigging the sector as it gets centralized, paying off the DHB deficits and splashing more money into Pharmac. She also wrote a great analysis here about how the money will help, but it is a long way off doing anything about entrenched inequities in the health system. Thomas Manch reported on the opposition’s reaction to the Budget - that it was a ‘band aid’ according to the National Party, and has a fine summary of the major measures here. I’d also recommend you check out our Budget in five charts. Tom Pullar-Strecker reported on how, although there were no tax changes, the existing tax net will rake in billions more. Now the Government goes on its sales pitch to spruik what it will be doing, but the economic outlook is grim. One particular canary in the coalmine is the small but now steady stream of builders starting to go under as supply shortages become acute. Inflation continues to be the economic indicator that rules them all. Whether this Budget did enough to stop people blaming the Government, or ensure they think that Grant Robertson feels their pain, is another question. Sorry about the day-later-than-usual note - I was pretty busy yesterday! Have a great weekend. Luke Malpass Political Editor Enjoying this email? Check out Stuff's other daily and weekly newsletters. You can read Henry Cooke’s cheat sheet on the Budget here, while my take on it was that it was trying to thread a political needle and balance acute political pressures while also acting on Labour’s longer term reforms in health and climate. The payment of $350 over three months for people earning under $70,001 a year was carefully calibrated to take the wind out of National’s sails while giving targeted relief. Given how much costs have risen, it is unlikely to do so. Henry Cooke again did an excellent analysis on how much of the cost of living increase the changes might cover. Hint: if you’ve got a mortgage, children or run two cars, the answer is likely to be very little. Our Auckland political reporter down for the lock up, Glenn McConnell, reported on what was in the Budget for Māori and also produced this nice little story about five representative families and what it might mean for them. Meanwhile, our gallery health expert Bridie Witton reported on the massive $13.8b spend-up in health on rejigging the sector as it gets centralized, paying off the DHB deficits and splashing more money into Pharmac. She also wrote a great analysis here about how the money will help, but it is a long way off doing anything about entrenched inequities in the health system. Thomas Manch reported on the opposition’s reaction to the Budget - that it was a ‘band aid’ according to the National Party, and has a fine summary of the major measures here. I’d also recommend you check out our Budget in five charts. Tom Pullar-Strecker reported on how, although there were no tax changes, the existing tax net will rake in billions more. Now the Government goes on its sales pitch to spruik what it will be doing, but the economic outlook is grim. One particular canary in the coalmine is the small but now steady stream of builders starting to go under as supply shortages become acute. Inflation continues to be the economic indicator that rules them all. Whether this Budget did enough to stop people blaming the Government, or ensure they think that Grant Robertson feels their pain, is another question. Sorry about the day-later-than-usual note - I was pretty busy yesterday! Have a great weekend.