Business of Government: putting the budget under the spotlight, a new think tank and more...

Estimated job cuts already exceed those of the previous National government. (Image: Getty)

Wed, 29 May 2024

Austerity light?At Monday’s post-cabinet press conference, finance minister Nicola Willis declared that her first Budget (just one more sleep away!) was “unashamedly” for the frontline.While she and the prime minister expressed regret for the public servants' job losses, she said it was necessary to pay for more police, nurses and teachers.This approach was similar to that taken by her mentor, Bill English, when he was finance minister, but the job cuts in Willis's first year alone are about three times the scale seen...

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