Finance Minister Nicola Willis.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis ended her Budget speech with a call to arms for supporters: "Kiwis can look forward with confidence, they just need to choose it, they just need to vote for it".
Her sugar-free Budget - with no election year sweetener - has caused some minor coalition friction, but it lays down a challenge to their opponents: to come up with a better plan.
As promised there was little new operational spending, but more capital for new infrastructure.
The return to surplus was projected for a year earlier than the previous forecast, but the 2028/29 timeframe is still considerably later than National promised ahead of the last election.
