Heather du Plessis-Allan: Nicola v Ruth - bring it on

So, to the Nicola Willis v Ruth Richardson debate.

Here’s a challenge to Nicola Willis: do it this year. Do it next week.

I’m hearing that having challenged Ruth Richardson to the debate, Willis’ office would prefer to do it next year.

I can understand why. By next year the momentum will be gone and we’ll all have moved on to other things and it, probably, won't get as big of an audience.

Next week though is a big week.

The Government is opening its books. It sounds like Nicola might be pushing out surplus, again, for the second time in two years.

Then we’ve got the GDP number and that’s coming off the back of the Taxpayer’s Union campaign calling her out for her big spending, which kicks off today.

So next week there’s much more energy around a debate. If it’s pushed out to next year, I would read it as the first sign of losing courage.

And if I was cynical, it's the first sign of them hoping this will fizzle and die because frankly, it was a political mistake to challenge Ruth Richardson to a debate.

Regardless of what you think of her, Ruth can article all the problems with Nicola's big spending budgets and debt gathering in a way that most members of the media can’t, which is to say she will mount a case that Nicola is spending too much and taking us down exactly the same path of economic trouble that Grant started us on.

And I suspect that will convince a lot of voters that we have a problem here.

And we do. We have a problem when we have a government that promised to cut spending and yet spends more than Grant and will, by mid next year, have taken on $45 billion more in debt, which will by then account for almost a quarter of our total debt.

This is an important debate, because what is more important for a government to do well than run the country’s books?

So, next week? How about it?

Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show.