It’s still not enough

Housing, schools, hospitals and infrastructure are all under pressure from population growth and immigration and it’s no longer just an Auckland problem. The Budget threw more money at health but it is probably not enough to stop the headlines about patients missing out because their local hospital and health services are feeling the squeeze.

The wealth effect of rising house prices has made many people better off but the grumbling is getting louder about local issues like P, the hollowing-out of town centres as a result of retail decline, beggars in the street and a growing divide between the haves and the have=nots.

And parents are grumbling that they are having to dig deeper into their own pockets to fund school activities as schools cry poverty. But this after all, was an electionyear Budget. It’s a given that by the time the campaign proper rolls round voters would have banked the Budget Day gains in their minds and be asking ‘‘what else?’’.

As National’s campaign manager Joyce knows this better than most. So don’t be surprised if he’s saving the best till last.