New Zealand budget to test Hipkin’s pitch to middle class
The new PM sits more to the right of Jacinda Ardern on economics, and describes himself as a Keynesian who believes in balanced budgets over the cycle.
Wellington | New Zealand’s Minister of Finance Grant Robertson hands down his sixth budget in Wellington on Thursday, but the wear and tear on his colleagues and the country makes it feel like his centre-left government has been around a lot longer.
Much has happened in the lead-up to this year’s formal presentation of government spending and revenue. For one, former prime minister Jacinda Ardern resigned abruptly in late January, declaring that she “had nothing left in the tank”.
