Style over substance

The ‘Wellbeing’ Budget had more style than substance, and for a so-called ‘transformational’ Budget it left a lot of people disappointed. This Botched Budget offered nothing but more taxes for hardworking Kiwis who are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living.

The government has shown its true colours, and it’s clear NZ First once again holds the purse strings. They’ve got a billion dollars for rail and more funding for forestry. That’s on top of Shane Jones’ slush fund and the $900 million for foreign diplomats.

NZ First know that what Northlanders really need is better road infrastructure. They know that National is strong on roads, which is why they’re pushing rail. They’ve decided to fund rail as a vote grab, in an attempt to buy the Northland seat. Everyone knows that rail won’t work for forestry and logging in Northland. Our forests are too spread out. What we’re going to see is logging trucks on worn out two-lane roads.

New Zealanders are also left wondering about the government’s definition of ‘wellbeing’. It made huge promises for health portfolio, but it’s leaving a litany of broken promises in its wake. There’s no money for independent midwives, no free healthcare for seniors, no new cancer drugs and no fee reductions for GP visits. DHBs will start the new financial year scrimping and saving because this Budget doesn’t give them enough to get ahead, when they’re already heading for deficits by the end June. Northland DHB reported a deficit of $11.7 million in 2017/18. I’m worried about health outcomes for Northlanders when our DHB isn’t performing financially.

Instead there are fewer jobs, more people on benefits and needing hardship assistance, huge increases in the numbers of people without housing and more people missing out on elective surgeries. That’s not wellbeing, it’s New Zealanders going backwards on the metrics that matter.

The first piece of legislation passed after the so-called Wellbeing Budget was for more fuel taxes. What’s more galling is that motorists are getting less for all the extra taxes they are paying.

The economy is declining sharply, and the government is doing nothing to encourage growth. Surpluses over the next five years are $9 billion below where they were at six months ago, while the government has already racked up $20 billion more in debt. That’s a clear sign that it’s struggling to manage the books while it oversees a weakening economy.

A real Wellbeing Budget would prioritise front line services in health, education and infrastructure, and take steps to address the rising cost of living. More taxes on middle New Zealanders make it harder for families to get ahead.

In the government’s self-proclaimed year of delivery, there’s not a lot of delivering going on.

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"NZ First know that what Northlanders really need is better road infrastructure. They know that National is strong on roads, which is why they’re pushing rail. They’ve decided to fund rail as a vote grab, in an attempt to buy the Northland seat."