....Robertson will be aiming to strike a budgetary balance that tips the electoral scales in govt’s favour
The political commentariat has been given more numbers to inform its pre-election prognostications, since Point of Order last checked on what our ministers are doing.
There were oodles of numbers in the latest Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll (released yesterday). These essentially show support declining for both the ruling Labour party and National while minor parties ACT and the Māori Party would get more seats (if the election was held now) and the Greens would retain their seats.
In contrast, just one number – a big one – can be found in a press statement posted on the government’s official website this morning.
The statement from Finance Minister Grant Robertson sums up the contents of a pre-budget speech he delivered to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.
Fair to say, the one big number which it highlights pops up twice in the same press statement. It’s in the headline “Budget 2023: $4 billion of savings and reprioritisation” and in the text:
“In the lead up to the Budget, Ministers were sent a clear message that if they wanted to progress particular priorities, they needed to be looking for savings and reprioritisation opportunities within their agencies’ existing budgets.
“The outcome of this exercise is that Budget 2023 will include $4 billion of savings and reprioritisations over the forecast period.”
The statement from Finance Minister Grant Robertson sums up the contents of a pre-budget speech he delivered to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.
Fair to say, the one big number which it highlights pops up twice in the same press statement. It’s in the headline “Budget 2023: $4 billion of savings and reprioritisation” and in the text:
“In the lead up to the Budget, Ministers were sent a clear message that if they wanted to progress particular priorities, they needed to be looking for savings and reprioritisation opportunities within their agencies’ existing budgets.
“The outcome of this exercise is that Budget 2023 will include $4 billion of savings and reprioritisations over the forecast period.”
- Next week’s Budget will have four overarching themes, Robertson said:supporting New Zealanders with the cost of living
- delivering the services New Zealanders rely on
- recovery and resilience
- fiscal sustainability
Latest from the Beehive
Speech
It is a pleasure to be here at the traditional pre-Budget speech hosted by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, for my sixth time as Minister of Finance.
Budget 2023 strikes a careful balance between supporting New Zealanders with the costs of today, while also charting a course for a more productive and resilient economy.
Auckland King’s Counsel Jane Forbes Anderson has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today.
In the statement about his fiscal-policy programme, Grant Robertson is emphasising “balance” and “wellbeing”.
He says Budget 2023 strikes a careful balance between supporting New Zealanders with the costs of today, while also charting a course for a more productive and resilient economy.
“This year’s Budget is a Wellbeing Budget. It is about doing the right thing by New Zealanders facing cost of living pressures, but also looking ahead to the economy we need to deliver higher wage jobs with lower emissions,” Grant Robertson said in a pre-Budget speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.
The Budget has been put together in the context of yet another set of challenging circumstances, Robertson says.
“We are in a period of elevated inflation which has been added to by the impact of the cyclone and floods earlier in the year that has seen the Government provide significant support to regions affected by the weather events.”
“Elevated” inflation?
That’s one word for it.
Robertson reiterated that the ongoing costs of the recovery will be met within the Budget operating allowance or Multi-year Capital Allowance.
“This means we have put responding to the cyclone ahead of some of the other areas Ministers liked to have focussed on.”
Ministers wanting to progress particular priorities had been required to look for savings and reprioritisation opportunities within their agencies’ existing budgets.
“The outcome of this exercise is that Budget 2023 will include $4 billion of savings and reprioritisations over the forecast period.
“Much of this has already been foreshadowed and includes the public media merger being stopped, the clean car upgrade and social leasing schemes being curtailed, and funding associated with the affordable water reforms and COVID programmes that are no longer needed returned.
“It also includes: closing contingencies that we weren’t convinced were still needed; reassessing the forecast requirements of government departments; and returning as savings underspends from existing initiatives.”
Robertson said the government will be making targeted investments to support its goals “while continuing to manage the books carefully”.
“Budgets are always a balancing act. We need to look after people, while at the same time moving back to a more sustainable fiscal position after the emergency spending required to get us through COVID.
“This Budget has seen us make difficult trade-offs to keep to our balanced approach. It is focused on providing support for people.”
Robertson will be hoping the balance he has struck with his Budget numbers will help tip the scales in Labour’s favour in its pitch for electoral support.
A press release from the New Zealand Taxpayers Union kicked off:
National drops 0.9 points on last month to be on 35.6% but retakes the lead over Labour who falls back 3.1 points to 33.8%.
ACT sees a boost in support of 3.2 points to 12.7% while the Greens are relatively unchanged on 7.0% (up 0.3 points on last month).
The smaller parties are the Māori Party on 3.7% (+0.8 points), NZ First on 2.6% (nc), TOP on 1.7% (+0.9 points), New Conservatives on 1.6% (-0.1 points), and Democracy NZ 0.3% (-1.3 points).
Assuming all current electorates are held, Labour is down 4 seats on last month to 44 while National is down 1 seat to 46.
ACT is up 4 seats to 16 while the Greens are unchanged on 9 seats.
The Māori Party is up one seat to 5.
The Taxpayers Union says the Centre Right is in a position to form a government with a combined total of 62 seats, up 3 on last month. The combined total for the Centre-Left drops 4 seats to 53.
Chris Hipkins’ net favourability score of +22% is 6 points lower than last month and down 11 points on his March peak of +33%.
Christopher Luxon’s score of -7% (-1 point) is at its lowest level since he became National Party leader in November 2021 while David Seymour is -11% (-5 points).
Chris Hipkins has a slight positive net favourability rating with National voters +7% while Christopher Luxon has a score of -56% with Labour voters.
Among undecided voters, Chris Hipkins has a positive net favourability of +30% while Christopher Luxon is on -26%. David Seymour is on -32%.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
1 comment:
That Grant Robertson, what a guy.
He can magic $4billion out of his arse! Go figure.
$4 billion just appears and right before an election.
If he can pay for it, that would be real magic 🪄
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