“The Finance Minister is catching a wave of growth and new jobs with his first Budget Policy Statement,” Opposition Finance spokesperson Bill English said today.

“The Budget Policy Statement released on Wednesday should be one of the strongest for a number of years.

“The document will show strong growth in the economy, strong job creation and good surpluses.

“The previous National led Government has left the incoming Government with a set of books in good shape and an economy creating jobs at the rate of 700 a week.

“Dr Cullen’s caucus should note that this Government will never be in as good a position to deliver on social spending than now.

“The Government should have no difficulty delivering on the high expectations it created before the election on extra health, education and welfare spending.

”In fact there should be no excuses for not delivering.

“The Labour back-bench and Alliance caucus will give Dr Cullen an easy ride this time around. It won’t be until the next Budget that the real pressure will come on Dr Cullen. By then Government MPs will realise that throwing money at problems hasn’t fixed them and they demand a better performance from Dr Cullen.

“The BPS is unlikely to signal any positive direction for Government policy for the export sector. Dr Cullen is strong on rhetoric but his moves to increase taxes and repeal a competitive ACC market show that his Government doesn’t understand the realities of the export sector.

“The BPS is likely to make a mountain out of the Government’s economic development mole-hole.”

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