Editorial: Budget may benefit housing

Budget 2013 will not go down in history as the most exciting one ever delivered.

It has, however, stayed true to the course of economic recovery that the Government committed itself to a few years back.

There are no big ticket items, but there are a number of nudges, tweaks and tickles - all designed to get us back in surplus by 2014/15.

There is $900 million in new spending, which is better than last year's Zero Budget. However, one has to wonder if it is still too cautious.

The aversion to debt and focus on getting into surplus at all costs could be seen as a bit much to some, but local business leaders like Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce CEO Wayne Walford have called it "a good strong Budget".

Opponents like Labour's Napier spokesman Stuart Nash have criticised the fact that a pre-budget hint that child poverty would be a major focus does not seem to have materialised.

However, there could be good news for more than 300 Flaxmere families, with a multi-million dollar marae-based housing project in Flaxmere, co-ordinated by Hastings Councillor Henare O'Keefe, tipped to be part of the Government's new focus on social housing.

If anything, housing in general seems to be the theme of this Budget, with housing affordability and avoiding a housing bubble top of the agenda.

Overall it is a cautious Budget that won't please all now. While it is good that this Government has set itself a surplus target - it's what they will do with the surplus that they will be remembered for.