A Soulless Budget That Will Do Little For Social Cohesion

United Future leader, Hon Peter Dunne, describes today's Budget as cool and soulless, and therefore likely to do little for improving social cohesion.

"Dr Cullen has been true to his word - there are no surprises."

"What has emerged is a series of worthy and unspectacular announcements that are unlikely to frighten anyone, but are also equally unlikely to inspire any sector of the economy to greater efforts in the future."

"This Budget offers no grand strategy, and very little hope, and is merely a gathering together of an uncoordinated series of long foreshadowed announcements, like some giant Ministerial shopping list," Mr Dunne says.

Mr Dunne acknowledges the moves to promote business innovation and the knowledge economy, but says they are occurring in a vacuum.

"There is no vision of where New Zealand can be - socially and economically - in the next fifteen to twenty years, and the Budget comes across as consequently merely earnestly functional and mechanical."

"We needed a Budget built around family needs and aspirations to restore confidence and provide greater social cohesion that allows them to look positively to the future."

"United Future believes it is a vital key to our future success to build strong families because they form the basis from which we can develop strong communities and a strong country."

"This Budget might just scrape a C pass for fiscal responsibility - although there are strong doubts about the credibility of both its underlying assumptions and medium term forecasts."

"However, it fails spectacularly to chart a clear and bold course for the future."

"No-one will go home this evening thinking the Budget has changed their life one iota."

"While Budgets today are thankfully no longer the conjuring act extravaganza of the Muldoon era, this Budget goes to the other extreme and plumbs new depths in irrelevance to the lives of most New Zealanders," says Mr Dunne.

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