𝔻𝕚𝕕 ℕ𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕒 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕠𝕠𝕞?

𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤’ 𝔹𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟝 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕂𝕚𝕨𝕚𝕤, 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕣 𝕕𝕣𝕦𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕪 𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕤, 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕤-𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔹𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕘𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙𝕪 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝-𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕗𝕦𝕖𝕝𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕤𝕥, 𝕦𝕟𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪, 𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕔 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕤𝕖.

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icola Willis’ Budget 2025, delivered last Thursday, is a grotesque display of National’s incompetence, obliterating public trust by breaking pre-election promises on cancer medications and pay equality while shamelessly prioritising corporate greed and wealthy pensioners over struggling young families. 

New Zealanders, crushed by soaring inflation, cost-of-living despair, and global threats like U.S. tariffs, demanded urgent relief, robust services, and fairness for vulnerable groups—especially women and low-income households. 

Instead, Willis unleashed a vicious austerity budget with a pathetic $1.3 billion operating allowance and $21.4 billion in savings, gutting hope for ordinary Kiwis. 

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Related:

𝔹𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟝: 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤’ 𝔸𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝔸𝕩𝕖 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕎𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟, 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕊𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕤 ℕℤ’𝕤 𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖

𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕒𝕩

𝕋𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕒 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝟡𝟘𝟘𝟘 𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖

ℂ𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕄ℙ𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕦𝕥 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕠𝕟 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕤 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕕

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The consequences of this betrayal threaten to ignite rage, division, and economic collapse. 

The public craved affordability, protected programmes like KiwiSaver and Best Start, and equity for essential workers. 

Willis, however, slashed KiwiSaver contributions from $521 to $260.72, robbing workers of retirement security, and means-tested Best Start payments, tossing a measly $14 fortnightly to 140,000 families while saving $100 million. 

A $6.6 billion business tax credit was a blatant handout to corporates, leaving households to choke on scraps. 

Limited health and education funding, like $100 million for specialist schools, was laughably inadequate. 

National’s 2023 pledge to fund 13 cancer treatments—$280 million for lung, bowel, kidney, melanoma, and head and neck cancers, funded by $5 prescription fees—was a lifeline for desperate patients. 

Budget 2025 offered nothing new, hiding behind a June 2024 $604 million Pharmac boost that helped only 180 of 20,000+ blood cancer patients. 

59 haematologists, in a April 2025 letter, slammed this as a “health policy failure,” with patients dying needlessly.  

Pay equality, promised in 2023, was obliterated as Willis cut $12.8 billion from pay equity settlements, targeting low-paid women in care sectors, sparking protests and X fury from @JulieAnneGenter. 

Just about everything Nicola Willis is announcing in this budget is bad for our future, bad for climate, bad for our society.
Taking money from essential workers in female dominated industries, young families having new babies, KiwiSavers. It’s madness.

— Julie Anne Genter (@JulieAnneGenter) May 22, 2025

Most egregious is Willis’ decision to means-test Best Start, slashing support for young families struggling to afford basics, while preserving universal NZ Super pensions—a $16 billion annual gift to wealthy retirees, including well-known elderly National Party supporters who can fund their own retirements. 

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Related:

𝕃𝕠𝕨-𝕨𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝔸𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕒'𝕤 𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕞𝕪

ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕠 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕔 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘

𝔸𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕤: ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕂𝕚𝕨𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕘𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝔸𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕒

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This perverse choice defies logic, punishing young families who bear the tax burden for these payments while rewarding affluent pensioners. 

Means-testing Best Start saves $100 million but starves early childhood support, yet sparing NZ Super balloons deficits, as Treasury warned in 2024, diverting funds from critical services. 

This blatant favoritism exposes National’s spineless pandering to its voter base at the expense of equity and economic sense. 

Consequences: 

• Trust Demolished: Broken cancer and pay equity promises, plus pandering to wealthy pensioners, incinerate faith, with X posts like @kelvin_morganNZ ’s signaling a 2026 election rout. 
•  Social Eruption: Pay equity cuts and health failures fuel protests, risking widespread unrest. 
•  Inequality Surge: Austerity and selective means-testing crush young families, choking recovery. 
•  Health Catastrophe: Neglected cancer patients worsen outcomes, burdening the system. 
•  Political Suicide: Opposition parties will feast on National’s self-inflicted wounds. 

 Willis didn’t misread the room—she torched it, betraying Kiwis for corporate and elderly elites. This budget’s legacy of incompetence will fuel rage and ruin.

𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬: 𝔅𝔯𝔲𝔠𝔢 𝔄𝔩𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔢

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