‘Rolling maul’ of cash for Kiwis

SUPPORT or slush fund: views on the New Zealand budget have been shaped by the election in four months.

With an election due on September 19, Jacinda Ardern (pictured) decided to hold the budget as planned on Thursday, rather than kick it down the road as Australia did.

The result was the announcement of a funding envelope rather than the funding itself, as Finance Minister Grant Robertson attempts to maintain an agile response to COVID-19.

A $NZ50 billion ($46.5 billion) COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund was the centrepiece, but its operation is confusing.

The gargantuan fund does not include $NZ12.1 billion of stimulus announced in March, but does include the $NZ13.9 billion announced since then. It also includes $NZ15.9 billion within the budget, but Treasury declined to detail which projects had been included as some have not been announced. The balance of the fund, $NZ20.2 billion, is yet to be allocated, as Mr Robertson seeks a pool of money to draw down from as the economic fallout from COVID-19 shakes out.

“It is a once-in-a-generation budget. The task we face is monumental,” Mr Robertson said, using his favoured rugby analogy to explain his task to Kiwis. “Today’s announcements are part of a rolling maul of government support.”

New Zealand will be saddled with debt, which is on track to reach half of the country’s GDP by 2023, and $NZ200 billion by 2024.

New Zealand’s opposition leader Simon Bridges has issues with that. “That is $80,000 per household. A second mortgage for New Zealanders that this budget brings in,” he said.