The Premium Debate: Steven Joyce on Budget 2023 - Is that all there is?

Finance Minister Grant Robertson. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Opinion

When I turned on the radio news at 2pm on Thursday to hear the potted highlights of this year’s Budget, I was surprised at how underwhelming it seemed. Was that truly it? A few tweaks to early childhood education, prescriptions and public transport and... not much else? I listened longer and yes, that was the whole enchilada. How disappointing, for almost everyone, I suspect. And for a country that has so much work to do.

The initiatives in this Budget are the sorts of things you dig out of the bottom drawer when you can’t think of what else to do. The prescription charges, for example. Sure, some people won’t have to pay $5 for their prescriptions anymore, but a big chunk of people weren’t paying anyway. Government boosters point to low-income people, but they already don’t pay. They point to heavy users of medications, but their costs are capped. And in large parts of the country, the aggressive new pharmacy players mean people don’t pay anyway. This initiative is largely a tax cut for the Chemist Warehouse.

Read the full story here: Budget 2023: Steven Joyce - Is that all there is?

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Dear Mr Chipkins and hanger-ons: please, can you just admit it’s over and go? New Zealand is in terrible trouble and we need you all to pack up your ideological fairy books and take your communication degrees off the walls and go. You might want to enrol in proper courses for economics, finance and common sense before you ever try running a business, let alone a country, again. Yours, extremely concerned citizen.

Mark C

This a very good summary of the Budget. I can’t understand why the expectations of inflation, the cost of living and interest rates were not challenged at all, as to many of us they were somewhat optimistic and really in need of further explanation. If that had been done, perhaps a more realistic impression may have been gained of the impact on the forces at work currently in our economy.

Storm R

They’ve simply run out of money, and are running on overdraft and borrowed funds. If they’re elected back in, watch for your personal savings, hard work and anything else to be taxed above 40 per cent. You can bet your house on it, but Labour will not be clear about their tax aspirations prior to the election. They have had six years of government, came in with full bank accounts and, like kids in a lolly shop, gorged themselves. And now it’s all gone. It depresses me to think how poorly this country has been governed in six years, how much transformation hasn’t occurred in the right places and how much transformation has occurred in the wrong ones.

Rae H

As I read about another [magnitude] seven earthquake, I’m thinking if we have the next one, or Covid 2.0 - we are too broke as a country to recover from something like that. Robertson is leaving every one of us exposed.

Warren C

Yes, intellectually lazy, and I would add redundant in imagination.

Tom L

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