Finance Minister Nicola Willis
In the absence of an eye-catching, big-spending policy in Nicola Willis's third Budget, the headline was a surprise return to surplus in 2028/29. How did she do it?
Willis pointed to "tough decisions" and "careful management" of public finances. But the cutting - or reprioristing - of spending needed an assist from Treasury's models to land the early surplus boast.
Those models are only as good as the numbers that go into them. And "numbers can always change," Willis said.
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