Budget 2024 will "take New Zealanders backwards" and people were lied to during the election campaign, Labour leader Chris Hipkins says.
Political parties have responded to the coalition government's first Budget, unveiled this afternoon - and they are not happy.
National kept its tax cut promise, laying out a relief package largely in line with the 'Back Pocket Boost' it campaigned on during the election.
Much attention had focused on the teased tax relief in the lead up to today's reveal, with many economists calling for it to be scaled back or more gradually phased in.
Unveiling her first Budget this afternoon, Finance Minister Nicola Willis declared: "I have kept my pledge".
"It's a Budget that is abandoning our commitments around climate change, it's putting more children into poverty, it's cutting a lot of the things that Kiwis rely on like public transport subsidies, school lunch programmes and so on. The increase in funding for services like health and education isn't keeping up with the rising cost of living.
"We will see job losses in those sectors as a result of this year's Budget."
He said the biggest losers are the next generation of New Zealanders.
"More children living in poverty, cutting support for young New Zealanders, in a number of different ways, and for those young New Zealanders looking towards the dream of home ownership, they're just being left behind."
Hipkins said he believed New Zealanders were lied to during the election campaign in 2023 - and Labour's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said it was disappointing new cancer drugs would not be funded.
"The fact that the cancer drugs are not going to be funded this year, I think that is incredibly disappointing for those who were promised that they were going to get them. It's life and death for a lot of people so I think it's just disappointing and just shows that they didn't get what they wanted, either."
'Mean and nasty Budget'
The Green Party said the government's "attack" on the climate would ripple through generations.
"More children living in poverty, cutting support for young New Zealanders, in a number of different ways, and for those young New Zealanders looking towards the dream of home ownership, they're just being left behind."
Co-leader and climate spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick said: "The other day, government parties said, 'Drill, baby, drill,' and today, they may as well have said: 'Burn, baby, burn'."
"This government has slashed and burned almost all climate and environmentally minded policy whilst pouring coal, oil and gas over the roaring climate crisis fire. Today's Budget has seen funding from almost every major programme in the Emissions Reduction Plan absolutely gutted."
Co-leader Marama Davidson called it a "mean and nasty Budget".
"This is a cynical Budget that serves mostly the short-term interests of a few and ignores the long-term challenges that we all face in Aotearoa.
The government has chosen to preserve poverty and remain a not-so-innocent bystander to the unfolding climate crisis."
The clean car discount helped make a dent in emissions, she said. "When it comes to climate change, governments are defined by their choices, and this one is choosing to bury its head in coal."
She said the government could have given free dental care to everyone, but instead chose to have tax relief for landlords.
"We see who they're governing for, it is for their uber-wealthy mates."
Davidson said 63,000 tamariki woke up in poverty this morning.
"This Budget could've changed that."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it was a "brilliant Budget from Nicola Willis".
She was a caring, intelligent and thoughtful finance minister, he said.
He said the government's economic plan was "rebuilding the economy so we can get rid of inflation and reduce the cost of living".
"After 14 long years, this government is delivering personal income tax relief to working Kiwis."
