Purists will point out it is in fact the increased debt \u2013 rather than the title they have each held \u2013 that is the common factor, thus destroying my attempt at pre-Christmas humour.<\/p>\n
I hold to my view. But it is novel to have the finance minister in the frame, rather than the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n
Three years is not much time to turn this ship about.<\/p>\n
Willis has yet to earn the respect of the Taxpayers\u2019 Union \u2013 chaired by the doughty early 1990s fiscal warrior Ruth Richardson.<\/p>\n
But the Government is making steady progress on its own reform agenda: RMA reforms being the next policy ship to launch down a shipway which will make it easier for companies to \u201cget to yes\u201d for new projects.<\/p>\n
Latest company earnings are improved. There is now a broad consensus that the economy will start to turn up next year.<\/p>\n
At column deadline, there was no disownment from the Richardson-led lobby that their campaign was imminent.<\/p>\n
I got an inkling of this several months ago when an excitable NZTU executive director Jordan Williams phoned wanting to place an advertisement in the then-forthcoming Mood of the Boardroom publication I edit attacking spiralling Government debt.<\/p>\n
I mentioned it wasn\u2019t in my view appropriate to bag the finance minister this way within such a publication.<\/p>\n
These were the combined views of leading CEOs \u2013 many of whom were on record \u2013 which had yet to be published.<\/p>\n
Fairness was important.<\/p>\n
(I referred Williams to Herald advertising to make a call.)<\/p>\n
In fact, the publication was already going to deliver some tough messaging for Willis and her boss, the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n
But it also included many pages of interviews with CEOs across broad sectors that were optimistic for their company\u2019s \u2013 and this country\u2019s \u2013 future.<\/p>\n
Big campaigns take cold hard cash. While the Taxpayers\u2019 Union says it sports 200,000 on its newsletter list it is not transparent over the identity of its major donors.<\/p>\n
This detracts from its authenticity.<\/p>\n
Willis has run into heavy weather getting smaller budget commitments from other Cabinet ministers, but the credit rating agencies have continued to back New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Morningstar DBRS recently rated New Zealand a triple A, with a stable trend in its first public rating for this country, saying it reflected NZ\u2019s fundamental strengths of prudent fiscal and monetary policy-making.<\/p>\n
It reflected the view the economy was rebalancing following tight monetary policy as the Government worked to tidy its books.<\/p>\n
It expected growth to pick up next year on the back of lower interest rates and reduced global uncertainty.<\/p>\n
S&P Global Ratings has also reaffirmed New Zealand\u2019s AA+ rating with a stable outlook but noted budget deficits and debt needed to be tackled.<\/p>\n
It said growth should gradually improve on the back of strong exports, tourism and the effect of falling interest rates on consumer spending while the US tariffs were manageable.<\/p>\n
Fitch and Moody\u2019s have also reaffirmed their ratings of NZ debt.<\/p>\n
Debt has continued to grow.<\/p>\n
I have argued before that the Government was foolhardy giving across-the-board tax relief in its first Budget and the pruning shears at the public service have not gone far enough.<\/p>\n
A growth agenda initially took second place to rolling back some of Labour\u2019s own big spending initiatives.<\/p>\n
Willis\u2019 contention is the Government is committed to prudent debt management with an emphasis on the transparency of costs, benefits and trade-offs \u2013 such as connecting tax relief with concurrent cost reductions in the public sector.<\/p>\n
The Government is working on ongoing cost reduction, particularly within back-office functions of the public service, which have grown faster than frontline services. There\u2019s a call for digitising and streamlining the public sector for greater efficiency.<\/p>\n
When it comes to asset recycling (Treasury is working on this) there are challenges in explaining to the public how proceeds from asset recycling (selling government assets) are used.<\/p>\n
There is a need for transparency so that citizens understand what assets are being invested in and how those decisions are made.<\/p>\n
Singapore\u2019s Temasek model is one potential approach. But Willis reckons its governance complexity and suitability for New Zealand\u2019s diverse assets do not provide a model.<\/p>\n
The Government has sought to be transparent about the trade-offs inherent in fiscal decisions \u2013 such as providing tax relief while also making cost reductions elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Reforms have been made to the Commerce Act to promote better competition and fairer markets.<\/p>\n
Ongoing structural reforms in sectors like banking and building regulation are underway.<\/p>\n
These don\u2019t go far enough or fast enough for the lobbyists.<\/p>\n
Earlier, in an April Fool\u2019s Day release, the Taxpayers\u2019 Union thanked its departing executive director (Jordan Williams) following his appointment as chair of the Government\u2019s Department of Economic Efficiency Aotearoa \u2013 DOGEA \u2013 announced by Willis.<\/p>\n
It was an obvious \u201c\u2019p*** take\u201d on tech billionaire Elon Musk\u2019s foray into slashing Federal expenditure in the United States \u2013 which did not end well for Elon.<\/p>\n
No such luck for Richardson and Co.<\/p>\n
The attempt to bury Williams in the fiscal cutting room has (so far) got no further than satire.<\/p>\n