The reaction continues to pour in after the Government announced Budget 2023 yesterday.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson joined Breakfast to face questions this morning. He stressed the Budget is about "balance".
"We've had some pretty big spending budgets, where we got through Covid together and did the wage subsidy and those things that I know people really appreciated," he said.
"But now we've got to get a balance between easing those cost of living pressures where we can, alongside bringing ourselves back to a more sustainable fiscal position."
The aim is to "ease pressure", Robertson added.
"So rather than a tax cut which would have a big inflationary impact, what we've done is we've targeted early childhood education, prescriptions, public transport and said, 'here are costs that we know families have got, we can take a little bit of that pressure off'.
"Which allows them to think about, for example, their food budget for the week," he said.
"So, definitely understanding that we've got to ease that cost of living pressure, but we have to balance that up with not making inflation worse, which is the problem we're all trying to solve."
Robertson also pushed back on suggestions the Budget didn't include enough money for health services.
"There's $1.3 billion of new funding for health in this Budget... [and] there are always going to be parts of our economy and our society that we can't reach in each individual budget, you have to see them across a series of budgets," he said.
'Those who can pay it, should' - National on $5 prescription fee
The party's finance spokesperson Nicole Willis said "those who can pay it, should". (Source: Breakfast)
National Party financial spokesperson Nicola Willis also joined Breakfast to discuss the Budget this morning.
Asked why the party opposes the Government's scrapping of the $5 charge for prescription medicine in most cases, Willis said that National prefer "a more targeted approach" and "those who can pay it, should".
"There are definitely families for whom that $5 fee is a barrier," she said. "And so we'd like to target them."
She said National also supported the fee being scrapped for those with high health needs.
"For a lot of New Zealanders, they really won't have got anything out of yesterday's Budget," she added.
Former health boss reacts to investment in sector
But "there's not a lot for health that's new", the ousted health boss said. (Source: Breakfast)
Ousted Te Whatu Ora chairman Rob Campbell said "Grant Robertson's done what he intended to do" with the Budget.
Campbell said scrapping the prescription fee was "a really good move".
"There's not a lot for health that's new, but you couldn't have expected that, there's been a lot of money poured into health," he said.
"I'll say it 'cause Grant Robertson won't, but what Grant Robertson thinks is 'we've done this big reform, we've put a whole lot of money into it, let's start to see some results... then we can talk about more money', so he was never going to put more money in.
"It's how he thinks about it, and I think, frankly, he's thinking about it the right way."
Campbell added that he would have liked to see more money for Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority.
'Budget of two halves' but 'tremendous' for some parents
Kelly Seaburg from New Shoots Children Centre and Education Minister Jan Tinetti joined Breakfast to discuss the Budget. (Source: Breakfast)
Kelly Seaburg from New Shoots Children Centre and Education Minister Jan Tinetti also joined Breakfast to discuss the money for early childhood education in yesterday's Budget.
"It will absolutely have a meaningful impact [for families]," Tinetti said.
Seaburg said: "I think it's wonderful that we've got such an investment in early childhood education.
"The outcomes are going to be tremendous for parents who have two-year-olds and definitely for our teachers as well, who really deserve significant salary increases and we need those salaries to ensure that we can attract and retain teachers.
"However, it's a little bit of a Budget of two halves, because if you don't have a child who's two years old, or parents who don't qualify for some of the early childhood subsidies, you're probably not going to see quite the impact of the Budget in the same way."
Luxon gives post-Budget address
Speaking at Auckland's Eden Park this morning, National Party leader Christopher Luxon said: "Yesterday, we had Grant Robertson deliver what was his sixth and I sincerely hope his last budget, for New Zealand's sake.
"It needed to have a plan for economic growth, and it didn't do that.
"It needed to show some fiscal discipline, and it definitely didn't do that.
"And it needed to offer some tax relief, and it didn't do that."
He pointed to inflation, and said National would focus on tax cuts and reviewing existing spending if it wins this year's election.
"New Zealand can't afford a Labour government for another three years."
Asked about the $5 prescription co-payment, Luxon reiterated that National didn't support a "universal" end to the fee.
"I don't think it makes a lot of sense that someone like me gets the benefit of that, but I do think there is need for targeted support."
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