Robertson’s task: to complete the treble RECORD DEFENDED

NO pressure, but Finance Minister Grant Robertson has three very big tasks in front of him when he presents the Budget today.

First up, he has to settle the nerves of everyone threatened by inflation.

Fruit and vegetables are up 17% and housing construction 18%. Mortgage rates are doubling. Overall the inflation rate is 6.9%, but wages have risen by less than half that.

This is the urgent need. Get the inflation battle wrong, today and over the next year, and nothing else will matter.

But Mr Robertson also has to speed up the process of aligning the country’s economic and environmental goals.

This won’t be top of mind for anyone wondering how to pay this month’s bills, but it has to be top, bottom and all the way in between in the mind of the Minister of Finance.

The economy, the climate, getting reelected. There are many ways to align any two of these three things, but Mr Robertson has to get the full trifecta.

In theory, he is coming from a position of strength.

New Zealand debt as a percentage of GDP will peak at only half Australia’s and a fifth of America’s. It is simply untrue to label the Government spendthrift.

GDP itself is up 5.6% on a year ago and unemployment is down to just 3.2%.

Hospitality and tourism aside, businesses all over the country have survived and often prospered as a direct result of the Government’s pandemic policies.

But does it matter? Business leaders protest loudly at how mistreated their members are and, in politics, perception is reality. The narrative, reinforced by everyone who loves an outrage, now runs against the Government.

That is Mr Robertson’s third task: to get voters believing a better story.

And in doing all that, he cannot, must not, neglect his fourth task: to address the fastwidening gaps — a wealth gap, a gap in health and education, a housing gap, an aspirational gap.

‘‘Aspirational’’ is a word usually applied to people who want to grow their business. That’s a good goal. But there are 27,000 applicants on the social housing register waiting desperately for a home, 11,300 of them families with children, and countless more trying to save for a mortgage deposit.

Unknown numbers are waiting for healthcare, hoping for a better chance in education, wishing for a decent pay rise, a job with settled hours, a life free of violence.

Their dreams are aspirational, too.

You can blame Covid for much of the pain so many people face now, along with the war in Ukraine, supply chain failure, the climate crisis, the greed of energy corporates and the instability of USChina relations. And you would be right: they are all to blame.

But that is not the point. This is the world we live in now and Mr Robertson has to produce a plan to deal with it.

In one sense, the economic, environmental and electoral goals are already aligned. All three require Mr Robertson to act with urgency. If he does not, inflation will get away on us, we will not reduce emissions this decade and his party will lose the next election.

He has to seize the day.

How? Some of it would not even be that hard.

He could. —

Build at least 5000 social housing units a year.

Supercharge the programme to make existing homes warm, dry and energy efficient.

Compel banks to provide a debtmanagement programme for farmers who cannot reduce emissions because their banks require them to maintain unsustainably high stock numbers.

Allow beneficiaries to receive the $72.50 per week Working for Families tax credit for a child (more for larger families). This measure would address the greatest need among the lowestincome households.

Treble the disability and child disability allowances.

Create a fasttracked plan to move a big chunk of freight to rail and coastal shipping.

Extend the halfprice publictransport fare regime indefinitely. Provide new funding for councils to ensure services are not cut and to allow ‘‘free fares’’ trials.

Subsidise ebikes. — The

WELLINGTON: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has defended the Government’s record over the past five years in a fiery preBudget exchange with National Party leader Christopher Luxon.

Ms Ardern spoke remotely at Parliament yesterday for the first time since she tested positive for Covid19 on Friday night. It comes as Budget 2022 is set to be delivered this afternoon.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Grant Robertson and his counterpart, Nicola Willis, had their own spar, too, over a promised increase in health spending, the Finance Minister saying he will ‘‘never regret coming to this House to make sure that the National Party never get their hands on the health system again’’.

In a series of questions, Mr Luxon asked why New Zealanders should trust the Government’s announcements, questioning its progress in certain areas.

He challenged Ms Ardern on the Government’s record since 2017, bringing up the controversial Kiwibuild programme that promised 100,000 homes in 10 years but had so far delivered 1.3% of the promised total figure.

He also brought up the huge increase in demand for social housing, which he said had gone up ‘‘360%’’ since Labour took office in Government.

Ms Ardern said since taking office each Budget had been ‘‘unapologetically’’ focused on the cost of living.

Labour had built 9000 social houses, she said, in stark contrast to National’s time in government when it sold social houses.

She said the Government had also expanded free and lowcost doctor visits, community service card access and warmer winter initiatives.

The Government had also made progress on Resource Management Act reform and there were record numbers of housing consents, she said.

Mr Luxon also brought up the Auckland light rail, originally meant to be built two years ago but still awaiting a business plan. He mentioned school attendance rates and questioned where the $1.9 billion mental health investment from 2018 had gone.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission found this year that despite the investment and improvement in primary care, there had been little change in access to specialist mental health services.

Ms Ardern said the economic crisis brought on by the pandemic ‘‘not seen in 100 years’’ had affected projects, and yet GDP was up and unemployment ‘‘the lowest on record’’.

She compared this to how National had fared in the period after the Global Financial Crisis.

Ms Willis challenged Mr Robertson over the choice to reform the health system with a ‘‘record spendup’’ at a time of such economic uncertainty.

‘‘I will never have a regret about properly funding our health system so that New Zealanders have the health services they need and deserve wherever they live,’’ he said.

‘‘I will never regret making sure we reduce decades of inequalities for Maori and Pacific health outcomes and I will never regret coming to this House to make sure that the National Party never get their hands on the health system again.’’

Ms Ardern will not be able to attend today’s Budget — her isolation period ends on Saturday morning — but will deliver a speech during the debate. — The