Did Labour just pull a rabbit out of the hat?

Well, Labour did it. They pulled off a Budget I didn’t expect — and middle New Zealand will soon be getting a $350 cost-of-living payment to help with inflation.

It seemed to me that Labour had been caught off-guard by the cost-of-living crisis. National was certainly banking on Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson being too slow to react. They didn’t see the cost-of-living payment coming. It blows Christopher Luxon’s offering of $2 a week out of the water.

A local politician isn’t to blame for the international cost of shipping, building supplies and oil (which puts up the cost of everything else), but voters will still hold them responsible for helping them deal with it — ask Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson.

Our rate of inflation is now well below Australia, the EU, the US and the UK, but that doesn’t mean New Zealanders aren’t feeling the pinch, and expecting the Government to fix it.

The cost-of-living payment, along with the continued cut to fuel excise and public transport prices, will mean a lot to whānau. I suspect it won’t be the last policy in this area.

The economic outlook is good too — hourly wage rises are predicted to hit six per cent by next year, well above inflation. But we’ll need minimum wage increases and Fair Pay Agreements to make sure workers on low wages get their fair share.

Politically, this is a smart move from Labour. They have seized back the initiative, and it was clear from the stunned looks on the faces of Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis that National has no answer, no ideas.

There’s no big spend-up in this Budget. Total government spending is actually down $1b. But there are things I particularly like in this Budget.

There’s a focus on health and, crucially, it’s not going to bureaucrats. The Māori Health Authority will get $160m to fund community providers on the ground to deliver services targeted at addressing access to health for Māori.

This isn’t about ‘Māori-only’ or separate systems or any of that rubbish you hear — all health providers treat all ethnic groups. It’s about helping providers who understand Māori culture to connect to whānau and help them get care. It’s about getting results by making the health system accessible to Māori.

Secondly, it’s good to see more funding for community providers to build affordable rentals and home insulation. The state house build is putting up thousands of houses, but community providers have a place too — they get into those smaller communities, and they provide wraparound support for lifting up families.

It was clear that National has no answer, no ideas.