Mike's Minute: My thoughts on the Budget

I asked for the surplus to arrive sooner than previously forecast and, as though she was listening this time yesterday, the first words out of Nicola Willis' mouth were it will be a year ahead of schedule. 

You can't ask for more than that. 

That’s not an election year lolly, but I'm increasingly of the belief that a growing number of New Zealanders have got the message. 

A growing number of us have been shaken into the cold, hard reality that $9 billion a year in debt servicing is absurd and it can't continue. 

We need to cut our cloth and that, in many respects, was what yesterday was about. 

It's probably brave in election year to run things this tight. But it's also the adult thing to do. 

So the message, politically, is stark. If you want free stuff the current Government aren't really for you. If you want grown-ups paying for life as they earn it then this may be the lot that gets your vote. 

I do worry about health. Yes, health was a big, multibillion dollar winner and the hardware, the facilities and the equipment need a spruce up and, yes, bits and parts are squeezed. 

But the health bill for five million people seems amazing to me and not in a good way. There has to be savings to be had there.   

$17,000 for every house is not right. I didn’t use my $17,000 last year, so someone did. 

The roads improvements in the tricky bits of the country I like. Build them properly and deal to the future – don’t patch it up. 

We already know about education. A revolution is on and we will all be better for it. 

You know I'm a trades fan. There were big wins for good, old fashioned, but increasingly important, jobs. Not every kid wants a BA and even if they did get one, it doesn’t mean a job is waiting. The world will always want a sparky or a mechanic. 

There were the basics, the rational and the logic. There was a good message about three parties doing collegial work. There were wins for each of them, all mixed up with the overarching message that the madness, fiscally, has stopped and the reality has arrived. 

But, big picture, get it right. This is a place that has its best days ahead of it. 

I liked it. It's an easy 7/10. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I asked for the surplus to arrive sooner than
previously forecast. And as though she was listening this time yesterday,
the first words out of Nicola Willis's mouth was, it
will be a year ahead of schedule. You can't ask
for more than that. That's not an election year, lolly.
But I'm increasingly of the belief that a growing number
of New Zealanders have got the message at last, a
growing number of us have been shaken into the cold,
hard reality that nine billion dollars a year in debt

(00:21):
servicing is absurd and it can't continue. We need to
cut our cloth. And that, in many respects, was what
yesterday was about. It's probably brave an election year to
run things this type, but it's also the adult thing
to do. So the message politically is stark. You want
free stuff. The current government aren't really for you. You
want grown ups paying for life as we earn it.
This may be the lot that gets you vote. I

(00:43):
do worry about health. I mean, yes, health was a
big multi billion dollar winner. And the hardware, the facilities,
you know, the equipment needs to spruce up, and yes
bits and parts are squeezed. But the health bill for
five million people seems amazing to me, and not in
a good way. There's got to be savings in there somewhere.
I didn't use my seventeen thousand dollars last year, so
somebody did seventeen thousand dollars for every single house in

(01:06):
this country. It's not right. Are the road improvements and
the tricky bits of the country are like that? Build
them properly. Deal to the future, don't patch it up.
We already know about education. A revolution is on and
will be all better off for it. You know. I'm
a trades fan. Big wins for good old fashioned but
increasingly important jobs. Not every kid wants a BA, and
even if they did get one, doesn't mean there's a
job waiting. The world will always want to spark ero

(01:28):
a mechanic. There were the basics, the rationale, the logic.
There was a good message about three parties doing collegial
work that were wins for each of them, all mixed
up with the overarching message that the madness fiscally has stopped,
the reality has arrived, but also their big picture. Get
this right. This is a place that has its best
days ahead of it. I liked it, an easy seven

(01:49):
out of ten. For more from the mic Asking Breakfast,
listen live to news talks that'd be from six am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio