Jason Walls: Newstalk ZB political editor on the reactions to Budget Day 2025

The 2025 Budget has been unveiled and it's been met with divided responses across Parliament.

Cost-cutting measures have pulled back $4.8 billion per year - a large portion from the recent rushed overhaul of pay equity claims. 

Savings have also come from halving its KiwiSaver contribution, slashing family Best Start payments and restricting 18 and 19 year olds' access to welfare - moving the load to parents.

Newstalk ZB political editor Jason Walls says ACT and NZ First have voiced support - but the Greens and Te Pati Māori aren't happy with it.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And Jason Wall's News Talk zb's political editors with us
a Jason, Happy budget Day, Heather, and to you house.
It played out in the house.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Well, it's a bit pretty much as expected. I mean,
there's the hours after the budget are always quite fun
to watch because it's a battle of the sound bite
as to who's getting sort of the most SoundBite worthy.
They want to get on the six o'clock news, they
obviously want to get on news talks EDB. We had
the Prime Minister who was of course very focused on
the budget today.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Mister speaker, hasn't it been a shambolic year for the
Labor Party? Hasn't it?

Speaker 2 (00:32):
And I have to say, has there ever been a
leader of the.

Speaker 4 (00:35):
Opposition with less substance than Chris Hepkin.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Speaking of Chris Hipkins, he made a number of jokes
about what Nikola Willis's No BS budget actually stood for.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
The budget had no bread and shelter for vulnerable New Zealanders.
The budget had no back paid settlements for women who
have been fighting to have fair paid for far too long,
and it had no better society.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Shane Drill Baby Drill Jones was in full flight.

Speaker 5 (01:05):
Mister Speaker, kiwis I am holding Mary number one crude
oil with your blessings, mister speaker. I'd like to take
the lid off and invite the Green Party to sniff it.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Very focused on the other side, but then, of course
we had the Greens and Chloe's surprise surprise was not
a big fan of the budget. And I'd value you
to probably turn your radios down just a touch before
I play this one. So much for no bars, eh.

Speaker 6 (01:38):
This is the trickle down budget.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
This is the no ambition budget.

Speaker 6 (01:41):
This is the child poverty is actually all good budget.
This is the dismantle the country and hope to sell
it for parts to international investment funds budget.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
All right, there's enough of that, but you could tell
she's not really a fan Jay.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
She's obviously has some polling suggesting she needs to be
more passionate. Now what happened with you and labor.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
I'm interested in this one because it's pay equity, right,
because like it or not, Nikola willis like it or not.
Chris Luxon Seymour was right. Brook van Velden did save
the budget when it came to this pay equity figure.
Looking at the numbers, a good proportion of what was
announced today was only possible because of these pay equity changes.
We got the numbers this afternoon. The government saved almost

(02:23):
thirteen billion through revamping this scheme. Here's how Nikola Willis
described it in the Budget lockup.

Speaker 7 (02:29):
To give you a sense of the magnitude of this blowout.
When the pay equity regime began in twenty twenty, the
estimated costs and Treasuries books for pay equity settlements over
the next four years was three point seven billion. Since then,
potential costs have risen steeply pretty much every year.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
So three point seven billion too, a number which we
actually don't know the full amount at the moment. They
wouldn't tell us that, but it's thirteen billion that they're saving,
so at least thirteen billions, it's got to be more
than that. So the question is what was going on
with labor during that time. We got Chris Hipkins up
on the pilant's back, black and white tiles, trying to
get some information out of him as to how it

(03:14):
got so expensive. Took any responsibility for the fact that
it is such a big figure. The Finance Minister made
a specific point of saying, under your watch this what
the amount of fund it was out of control.

Speaker 8 (03:25):
For goodness sakes, I don't take responsibility for the fact
that women are being paid less than men. I do
take responsibility for the fact that we were going to
do something about.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
This, which is not an answer at all. So try
it again. Three.

Speaker 4 (03:37):
This is when this would have all been coming to
a head. Will you prove it to the information about
how much lessly blowing up in terms.

Speaker 8 (03:42):
Of the cost, Well, we would have had calculations at
that time. I don't have them now.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
But were you worried today the time?

Speaker 8 (03:47):
Well, we as very clear. We set aside funding to
pay for us.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
So he was not giving us any information in terms
of anything that came across his desk. We tried, We tried,
He tried one more time. When your Prime minister.

Speaker 4 (03:59):
Did you receive any warn into the strocery or any
of your ministers about the any riches to do with
the pay equity playability exceeding that of the three billion dollars.

Speaker 8 (04:10):
That you had in an dissipated I'd have to go
back and check, but we certainly knew that it was
going there was going to be a reasonably significant price
tag with succeedling pay would he.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Claims how much is reasonably significant?

Speaker 8 (04:19):
I didn't memorize the reports to go back and find
them again.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
So clear as mud thus far. And I heard him
when you were talking to him before. There's absolutely no
answers from Labor on this one too.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Ye doesn't want to go there. Hey, can I just
ask you just a personal question? Why is it that you?
Because we're we're broadcasting out of Parliament today obviously, and
so we're not far from the press gallery, and we,
you know, have occasion to use your kitchen. Why do
none of you guys have any tea?

Speaker 2 (04:45):
What do you tea? As in?

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Like, well, there's no tea in your kitchen?

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Oh, because we're all separate officers. We have tea in
our own officers. We're not social.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
See with the long we sent him with the long
hair and to get a tea for me, and and
Janney had to give us a tea. And it was
a lady. There was a lady Gray. There's no do
you have do you have English breakfast in your office?

Speaker 2 (05:06):
We've probably got some sitting around somewhere yonder you were
looking for tea, Heather, I would have helped you out,
but wrong with like?

Speaker 1 (05:12):
What is wrong with you people? Have you lost all culture?

Speaker 2 (05:15):
As press gallery chair, I make a solemn promise to
do a case study and a market study into getting
some tea for the gallery kitchen. We'll go out to
consultation and after six to nine years we'll get back
to you an announce it. How do I okay?

Speaker 1 (05:27):
Off?

Speaker 2 (05:27):
You go?

Speaker 1 (05:28):
Jason? Thank you as always Jason Wall's News Talk ZB
politically edit. Honestly, we had to scrounge around and we
got like and nobody drinks ill Gray Tya if they've
got any class, So we had to scraunch around and
drink this. Thank you to Jane who's lovely and shared
one of her tea bags. I mean sharing a tea bag?
How poor have we got?

Speaker 8 (05:43):
For more from Hither Duplessy Alan Drive, listen live to
news Talks.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
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