If this Budget is responsible, why are we borrowing more?

Despite branding this a “responsible Budget”, Nicola Willis has today confirmed the Government will have borrowed more by 2029/30 than Treasury forecast just five months ago.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesman James Ross said:

“The accounting tricks and fiscal illusions in Budget 2026 can’t hide the facts. Yes, surplus may have come forward a year, but over the forecast period we will still be borrowing almost a billion dollars more than Treasury forecast only five months ago.”

“Government debt is set to hit $364.1 billion by the end of the decade, or more than $162,000 per household. That’s up from $29,000 in 2008, and $116,000 in Grant Robertson’s last Budget. The trend is only going one way.”

“If this Budget is supposedly fiscally responsible, Nicola Willis needs to explain why debt will now be higher in 2028, 2029, and 2030 than Treasury previously forecast, and why the next generation is being left to pick up the tab.”