Mike's Minute: What I hope from the Budget

What I hope for today is a sign and a sense that what we are facing economically as a country is real, and it's real bad, and the Government see it, accept it, and chart a path forward that gives us some sort of hope. 

The damage done by Jacinda Ardern, Grant Robertson, Chris Hipkins, and Adrian Orr is now years long. 

You can't invent money in that volume without spending the ensuing years trying to dig yourself out of it. 

The start has been made. 

The cutbacks have begun and the screaming, wailing, and upset has ensued. But there is a lot more where that came from. 

The seeds of recovery are real, manufacturing is expanding, and has been for several months, but services aren't. Sentiment isn't. 

The farmers have struck gold, but the weather has been exceptionally kind, as have Americans with their passion for burgers. 

Our debt is shocking. We are not running a surplus on an annual basis and still won't be for years. 

The Finance Minister today has virtually nothing to play with; no excess, no lolly, and no largesse. 

She has, I hope, found a fortune in savings and she will redirect that to better places. 

I pray she isn't borrowing on top of what we have already incurred. If she has, she may well be making a generational mistake, given Treasury says 50% debt by way of GDP is it, and we are close enough to that to worry the conservatives. 

In a sense today should wrap some numbers and forecasts around the rhetoric, being we are open for businesses, we are pro-growth, we are big on infrastructure and most importantly, fiscally as well as economically, we are not going to die wondering. 

Today is not a day for a dollar here and a dollar there. It is not an itch-scratching exercise. 

It should be a document that lays an ongoing foundation for the major project that is the economic resuscitation of the New Zealand economy. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
To tell you what. What I hope for today is a
sign in a sense that what we are facing economically
as a country is real, and it's real bad, and
the government see it except it in Charter Pathway forward.
That gives us some sort of hope. The damage done
by Jacinda Grant Christen Adrena is now years long. You
can't invent money in that volume without spending the ensuing
years trying to dig yourself out of it. The start
has been made, of course, the cutbacks have begun. The screaming,

(00:22):
whaling and upset has ensued, but small note, there's a
lot more where that came from. The seeds of recovery
are real. Manufacturing is expanding, has been for several months.
Services though, isn't. Sentiment isn't. The farmers have struck gold,
but the weather has been exceptionally kind, as have Americans
with their passion for burgers. Our debt is shocking. We
are not running a surplus on any annual basis, and

(00:43):
still won't be for years. The Finance Minister today has
virtually nothing to play with, no excess, no lolly, no
large ess. She has, I hope found a fortune in
savings and she will redirect that to better places. I
pray she isn't borrowing on top of what we already
have incurred. If she is, she may well be making
a generation mistake. Treasury says fifty percent debt by way
of GDP is it. I'd say it's lower than that.

(01:05):
In a sense, today should wrap some numbers and forecasts
around the rhetoric. The rhetoric being we are open for business,
we are pro growth, we are big on infrastructure, most
importantly fiscally as well as economically. We are not going
to die wondering. Today is not a day for a
dollar here, a dollar there. It is not an itch
scratching exercise. It should be a document that lays an

(01:26):
ongoing foundation for the major project, that is the economic
resuscitation of the New Zealand economy. For more from the
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