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Willis’ Roundup Budget will not grow new shoots of the economy

Written By: - Date published: 12:55 pm, May 24th, 2025 - 11 comments
Categories: budget 2025, business, Economy, nicola willis, science, tertiary education - Tags: , , ,


The Coalition government has been sucking money out of the economy and borrowing heavily to fund its opex (operational spending). Arguably, it should be spending more on capex (capital expenditure), especially capital investment that lifts productivity. True to form the Coalition has off-loaded this responsibility to businesses in the private sector through its Investment Boost in Budget 2025, which has been described as a “ticking fiscal time bomb”.

Businesses will likely choose investing in assets and equipment over investing in recruiting & hiring new staff but they might train & upskill selected staff to operate new machinery. The result is likely more machinery and fewer employees producing more of the same in larger volumes, i.e., faster and more efficiently. The hurdle to invest in new machinery & equipment has been lowered considerably by the Investment Boost hand-out, courtesy of the NZ taxpayers and undervalued women workers, and lenders are likely to oblige because it will profit their business.

Brick & mortar and other assets are more attractive investments because ownership is firmly in the hands of the capitalists. The work force is more fickle and much harder to control – the Coalition has been working hard to change this – and wage slaves are not real slaves (yet), despite the limits & constraints on their freedoms inside and outside of the workplace, and they can pack and leave whenever they like and leave the employers empty-handed.

New machinery & equipment is highly likely going to speed up efforts in automation and job replacement, producing things faster, cheaper, and more efficiently. A select number of staff may be trained & upskilled to operate the new gear & gadgets. But this approach is one of capacity over capability, i.e., more of the same in shorter time. Machines and equipment, not even those with so-called AI whizbang, don’t create new ideas and don’t come up with new innovations or innovative ways to do things differently and better than before.

As expected, the funding of science is below the deprivation line with much of the money sucked out of the sector going towards setting up new offices, providing a secretariat for the Prime Minister’s Science, Innovation and Technology Advisory Council, among other non-science line items, and disestablishing Callaghan Innovation. The reaction of experts has been crushing. They were also critical of the funding for tertiary education, given that this is an important part of the NZ science system and the greenhouse & incubator of the next generation of scientists and academics who will produce many of the necessary new ideas and innovations. Indeed, alarm bells are ringing for tertiary education, but these have been ringing continuously for years and falling on deaf ears with the powers that be. The tiny crumbs of extra funding are ringfenced for STEM(M) courses in a narrow-minded dogmatic approach to growing the economy. The break-up of Te Pūkenga (Polytechs) is another money black-hole that’s worse than the ferry-disaster caused by the Coalition because it’s wasting so much time & effort of good people who have been in survival mode trying to weather blustery conditions of an emergency situation.

The Coalition is treating the economy as an amateur bodybuilder. There’s a lot of pump & grunt with artificial diets and supplements trying to achieve some kind of success embodied by a dehydrated body with unhealthy low body-fat, a weakened immune system, stress on internal organs, painful barefoot walking, etcetera. Willis’ budget is giving a struggling bodybuilder access to unlimited anabolic steroids to grow muscles quickly but without any medical supervision or guidance – it’s so irresponsible that it’s dangerous. All this is form over substance, superficial quick gains for the sake of visual appeal that you would expect from a selfie-taking TikToker. There’s no functional strength and natural range of motion – many bodybuilders struggle to do a set of decent pull-ups (a simple basic exercise pulling up your body with your arms) with good form and they may even hurt a muscle. Of course, this is unnatural, unhealthy, and unsustainable.

Willis’ Roundup Budget targets investment funding to fast monoculture crops for quick harvest for export and sale overseas and directs investment away from growing new varieties, diversity, and riskier but potentially more rewarding endeavours in the long run. It’s a far cry from building a flourishing society.

11 comments on “Willis’ Roundup Budget will not grow new shoots of the economy ”

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  1. Drowsy M. Kram 1
    24 May 2025 at 4:58 pm

    It’s a far cry from building a flourishing society.

    True, although the lucky (sorted) few who benefit directly from Lady Willis' (w)reckless "ticking fiscal time bomb" may allow those benefits to trickle down – enriching in some small measure even the lives of bottom feeding Kiwis – one day (oh glorious day!)

    Powered by Atlas, ACT and other tools of the sorted, Aotearoa NZ has shifted onto a downhill backtrack – maybe it’s happened before and I was too preoccupied to notice.

    https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/05/11/an-ode-to-king-lux-2/

  2. AB 2
    24 May 2025 at 6:12 pm

    Businesses will likely choose investing in assets and equipment over investing in recruiting & hiring new staff but they might train & upskill selected staff to operate new machinery. The result is likely more machinery and fewer employees

    Possibly – but high unemployment and the use of immigration to fill gaps opened up by disappearing Kiwis, will both put downward pressure on wages. So, it will still be tempting to just stick more bodies on the line if they are cheap enough. We could argue that this shows a contradiction in government policy, i.e. encouraging capital investment might lead to higher productivity, skills and earnings, but giving employers the easy option of low wages will do the opposite.

    I suspect the government doesn't see this as a contradiction though, because despite the rhetoric, they really don't care about higher productivity, skills and earnings. They see both lower wages and investment subsidies as positives that are working in the same direction – providing free gifts to private sector business owners and managers. They really don't have a plan for the nation state as a whole – they are just shoveling wealth in the direction of their donors and supporters.

    • tc 2.1
      25 May 2025 at 11:37 am

      "They really don't have a plan for the nation state as a whole – they are just shoveling wealth in the direction of their donors and supporters…."

      +100 they never do and it shits me the electorate falls for it as their health system is now being destroyed, no new public housing, housing land being flogged, fast track backhanders, forget freshwater, actified education etc

  3. thinker 3
    26 May 2025 at 7:57 am

    Watched a 'shoot-em-up' movie on Netflix last night. There plot wasn't very deep. This sniper was on the run for a crime he didn't commit and somehow managed to obtain new hightech guns and napalm from thin air, as he massacred what used to be the US special forces. Anyway, I digress.

    Right near the end there was this senator who made a most profound comment that really got to the core of the ACTlas philosophy.

    He said "There's no rich or poor, Republicans or Democrats, there's just Haves and Have-nots", and I couldn't help but think how a simple comment like that really told it all. However much I have if I see some more I must have it, if only to stop you having it and bidding for some of the resources I have.

    More so, even if you and I think a billion is plenty, were have-nots, not playing the same game, which is the 'haves' bidding against each other to be the top power broker.

  4. Res Publica 4
    26 May 2025 at 8:57 am

    This budget is a textbook case of ideological economics. One that prioritises investors and asset-holders while wilfully ignoring the deep, structural failures hollowing out our society.

    Rather than investing in productivity, decent wages, or essential social infrastructure, it tinkers with depreciation schedules and tax loopholes that overwhelmingly benefit speculators and landlords. Meanwhile, people are freezing in their homes, food banks are overwhelmed, and our economic engine is stalled.

    Our most skilled and mobile New Zealanders are already leaving. Not because of high taxes, as the right loves to claim, but because we've become a country starved of vision. They look around and see a nation unwilling to build, to care, or to lead.

    And once they’re gone, capital is sure to follow.

    The tragedy is that it doesn't have to be this way. But it will be, until we stop letting economic “orthodoxy” dictate the boundaries of what we’re allowed to imagine. What passes for common sense in our current government isn’t reasonable or a sign of good stewardship: It’s nothing more than austerity dressed up in technocratic language.

    Verity Johnston was right: treating the country like a household doesn’t make us responsible. Instead, it makes us smaller.

    If we keep clinging to that myth, all we’ll have left is a nation of houses, but no one left to call them home.

    • Incognito 4.1
      26 May 2025 at 4:04 pm

      Thank you for your comment that touches on many sore spots (and a few personal ones as well).

      The omni-present TINA narrative justifies austerity measures that stifle innovation and long‑term growth. The Coalition together with its support-network of influential media voices has a bigoted mindset that equates fiscal restraint with sound stewardship, and they not only limit public debate but also marginalise evidence and alternative visions at every opportunity. For example, in the context of NZ science there’s the recent Science System Advisory Group (SSAG), which I’ve written about before, that contains many recommendations and signposts for a different vision. But the Coalition has largely ignored it.

      As usual, the Coalition’s austerity policies manage to avoid and escape rigorous challenge because they are entrenched as dogma. When economic orthodoxy is dressed up in technocratic lingo, it becomes inconvenient and virtually impossible (and certainly not career-enhancing within the ruling establishment structures) for anyone to advocate for counter‑narratives – keep your head down, your mouth shut, and don’t make a fool of yourself.

      The strict adherence to austerity can reflect and reinforce the general cultural and political mindset aka the Overton Window. This rigid thinking and talk of economic ‘common sense’ don’t leave room for anything new or experimental – it’s a beige boring one-size-fits-all prescriptive model. This drives away the very talent and vision that could drive NZ forward, IMO, more so than pay considerations.

      The Coalition’s anti-democratic moves are aimed at cutting off any challenges to its domineering narrative and even more so when there’s evidence to suggest that there are alternative approaches that might better serve long‑term societal and economic interests.

      At times I feel quite disillusioned about writing blog posts or comments because it feels so utterly futile when nobody seems to want to hear and listen to a counter-opinion and counter-evidence.

      Get rid of these dangerous clowns in 2026!

      • Patricia Bremner 4.1.1
        26 May 2025 at 10:46 pm

        You are not alone. Many do not say too much as they are threatened with losing employment. Marilyn Waring and the women in that group show many are now questioning the priorities and the processes.

        • Incognito 4.1.1.1
          27 May 2025 at 8:52 am

          Yes, fear for losing one’s job or damaging one’s career (prospects) has always been the neoliberal weapon of choice in defending itself. After all, it’s all about personal choice and responsibility, isn’t it?

          Losing funding, e.g., to undertake research, is another bogeyman.

          I’d say that neoliberalism is, at its foundations, a system of primitive urges fear and greed (cf. FOMO).

      • Res Publica 4.1.2
        27 May 2025 at 7:14 am

        At times I feel quite disillusioned about writing blog posts or comments because it feels so utterly futile when nobody seems to want to hear and listen to a counter-opinion and counter-evidence.

        Such is the lot of every political thinker and writer. It often feels futile: until, little by little, person by person, piece by piece, conversation by conversation, we start to build a shared consensus around our vision and our values.

        That’s the long, slow work of politics. Not always seen. But always necessary.

        Real change, just like rebellion, is built on hope.

        • Incognito 4.1.2.1
          27 May 2025 at 7:27 pm

          I tend to be too focussed on [the] outcome and should see it more as an eternal process – I do want develop & grow, so I won’t want to write the same kind of stuff over and over again (variations on a theme). I do have interests other than politics that I want to learn & write more about but politics is almighty interesting and inescapable.

          I’m very comfortable with being in the background and not being seen – it suits my personality type perfectly.

  5. gsays 5
    26 May 2025 at 11:43 am

    Great post with illuminating metaphors.

    There is so much to hold in contempt about this mob.

    A rudderless 'leader' fronting a minority party antics eg Treaty Principles Bill and Pay Equity Annihilation to minusters holding very important positions woefully out of their depth. Think Willis in a scrapping ferries and needing abhorrent, retrospective, urgent legislation to get the budget to balance. And even then it doesn’t by the tune of $700 million.

    The Round Up image is appropriate,unfortunately our economy is not sufficiently GMO to be Round Up resistant. Although a property port-filio will help shelter one from the harsher impacts.

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