Peter Dunne: PREFU

The relief in some political and economic quarters that the Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU) released earlier this week is not as bad as many were predicting obscures the reality that the government's books are in the worst state they have been for years.

Whichever parties form the government after the election will have a major task on their hands to introduce more balance into the economy, if there is to be any realistic hope of returning to Budget surplus by 2026/27 as the PREFU predicts.

JC: Alf Could Have Done a Better Job

I am aware bus drivers rarely handle money these days but when they do, the money they are handed and the change given have to add up. When it comes to driver Alf’s partner, Finance Minister Grant Robertson, things don’t add up. While Alf is dealing in small change and Grant is playing with billions of our money, we expect the books to balance. In the same way Alf can’t short-change a passenger, neither can Grant short-change the taxpayer and the country.