The heavy sinking lids in Labour’s Budget plan

The Hoon · Oct 20, 2026 · 12m

I talked in the video above last night with Elliot Crossan about about his analysis of Labour’s fiscal plan, including how its National-like focus on returning to Budget surplus and cutting debt will force big real cuts in welfare and other Government spending. I have asked Labour spokesperson Barbara Edmonds for an interview.

Here’s the essence of what Elliot is saying (bolding mine):

Labour and National are both promising to increase real, per-capita health spending by 2.1% per year and 1.8% per year respectively; the Clark and Ardern governments both put nearly 5% per year into the…