Smith DamienDAMIEN SMITH (ACT): The last two weeks have not been kind to Minister of Finance Grant Robertson's Budget. It's his last Budget with this Hipkins Government and even he and the Prime Minister have flattered to deceive. It's been a fizzer a cold shower was needed and there's only one appliance to unplug: this Government.Sure it was a big-spending Budget but there was nothing in it for hard-working New Zealanders and nothing to help with their household cost of living crisis. The kindness proves to have been cynical and Government plays on its big-spending big-borrowing driving deficits as the rest of New Zealanders tighten the purse strings. They presented no plan for growth no tax relief just costs.Robertson's first objective and legacy should have been on controlling inflation.DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Smith we use full names in the House please.DAMIEN SMITH: Yes. The Minister's first objective and legacy should have been on controlling inflation and the cost of living crisis. He now leaves the legacy of Government spending reaching an all-time high and billions in debt charged to our kids and grandkids. Rising prices hurt businesses workers consumers and household family members. Even in non-inflationary times the Public Finance Act requires the Minister of Finance to exercise prudent fiscal management.Simply tough choices were not made on Government resources in this process and the recovery process has been set back to 2025 2026. A budgeted increase and on COVID spending of 12.6 percent nearly doubles the rate of inflation with the economy at full employment. Now that was hardly prudent in these times.Tax revenue is at 37 percent of GDP under this Budget and it's up 2.5 percent of pre-COVID taxation levels. Core Crown expenditure in this Budget is up 33 percent and it was as low as 27 percent in 2018—and $60 billion more in taxes and spending in the last 10 years has doubled.Are we happy with this return? Are we happy with this Budget? Are we happy with this management of the economy? Are we happy with core Crown spending being 11 percent higher than revenues?Then to add to the cost of living pressures the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) had to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. Governor Orr claimed the bank has raised the official cash rate high enough to contain inflation. This is a mighty statement from the RBNZ and the Treasury will also be held accountable for its assumptions in this Budget.It required Orr to ignore the Budget's surge in spending and take projected future climbs in expenditure as a percentage of GDP at face value. That's what we've been doing for years now: taking the Minister at face value. Yet the Minister has persistently failed to keep spending within past forecasts and this is leading to financial instability.But even if these projections above are accurate Treasury concluded that Budgets would keep interest rates higher for longer and a cap on future rates rises is cold comfort for hard-working Kiwis already hurting from high interest rates.Then we come to all the dollops of poorly directed spending. The Minister who talked about wellbeing has issued nothing more than cynical election bribes in this Budget. Had Robertson been motivated by wellbeing—sorry the Minister—his spending would have been more directly targeted. Free prescriptions for the residents of Remuera and Karori hardly address needs. Middle-class welfare was bad enough but subsidising the video game industry was unfathomable. This Budget should have been about putting food on the table. It's not a game and game makers can't help with that. Kiwis don't care whether their video games are made here or in Australia.But perhaps the Budget's biggest fault is what it didn't do. It didn't address the affordability crisis crime Pharmac and other health benefits. And now we have a Budget which will show negatives for the next period. As Roger Partridge said All-in-all the whiff from [this] sixth Budget just gets stronger. [And we hope that the] voters don't sniff [this Minister] out." ACT knows it will support hard-working Kiwis in the future."