New Zealand Budget

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has delivered a $14.7 billion tax cut package, but economic forecasts are bad and further cuts to services are planned.

Motorways have been brought to a halt, roads around Parliament closed, and extra police called in as a day of protest marks the delivery of the Budget.

New Zealand is to increase defence spending by $571 million to bolster its capabilities in ‘an increasingly unstable world,’ Minister Judith Collins said.

The reduction in expenditure isn’t enough to balance a sharp fall in the tax take from an economy officially in recession.