It appears the public is as yet unconvinced the coalition Government’s first Budget will deliver them cost of living relief.
A new 1News Verian poll asked 1002 eligible voters if they expected to be better off or worse off as a result of May’s Budget, or if it would make no difference.
Of those polled, 24% said they felt they would be better off, 28% said they expected to be worse off and 45% said it made no difference. The remaining 3% didn’t know or preferred not to say.
That meant 73% of people polled - from 1002 eligible voters - believed they would not positively benefit from the Budget.
On Budget Day, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the Budget’s tax cuts were “well overdue” and would help hardworking Kiwis who were enduring “a prolonged cost of living crisis”. She said average income households would get a tax cut of up to $102 a fortnight from the end of July.
1News asked some National MPs as they walked into their caucus room on Tuesday what they thought the public’s response to the Budget had been and they painted a largely positive picture.
Northcote MP Dan Bidois said he thought people were “struggling and they want a bit of help”.
“I think they’re all looking forward to a bit of tax relief come July.”
National MPs say they think the Budget has been well received, however. (Source: 1News)
He said he thought that would make a difference with the cost of living. “The feedback I get from Northcote is, hey, every bit helps - but we’ve got a lot to do so judge us by our results and by our deeds.”
Waikato MP Tim van de Molen said he thought the public “generally were pretty receptive” to the Budget. He said it was a “tough time out there” for many New Zealanders, “so a bit of support was appreciated”.
“Certainly around the Waikato, people have been really pleased to see that there’s been a bit of support, but they know that we can’t fix everything in one go. I think overall it’s been well received.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the Government was not “really resonating” with New Zealanders and the Budget had not helped.
“Even after all of the coverage that they got out of the Budget, they didn’t see a significant lift in their support.”
Groups of eligible voters who were more likely to expect to be better off as a result of the Budget were National Party supporters - but still only 37% of them felt they would gain.
Groups more likely than average to expect to be worse off as a result of the Budget were Māori (50%), Green Party supporters (47%) and Labour Party supporters (46%).
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