Buzz from the Beehive: while FPA bill is examined, we’ll ask Carmel for a grant to craft (artfully) a new tax-paying system…

While Finance Minister Grant Robertson was having his monthly brag about the resilience of the economy and the state of the government’s finances, Michael Wood (Workplace Relations and Safety) was bragging about legislation that may well affect the tax drain from private-sector companies and their staffs and Carmel Sepuloni (Arts, Culture and Heritage) was bragging about a mass of money being doled out to artists, craftspeople and what-have-you.

Robertson was commenting on the interim Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the eight months ended 28 February 2022, released by the Treasury yesterday.

Reported against forecasts based on the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update 2021 (HYEFU 2021), published in December, they show –