Labour leader Andrew Little has used a pre-Budget speech to accuse National of neglecting 'middle New Zealand' and promised a Labour government would do more for housing affordability and health. He said Housing Minister Nick Smith was "flailing round with gimmicks" such as special housing areas and releasing Crown land for housing. Mr Little said if Labour was in charge of this year's Budget it would invest heavily in new infrastructure to kick kickstart the economy. Instead he accused National of favouring "those at the top" through policies such as allowing foreign trusts and tax on multinationals. Mr Little contrasted National's last eight Budgets with those of the last Labour Government, which delivered legacy programmes such as Working for Families and KiwiSaver.

Source: New Zealand Herald May 21, 2016 21:52 UTC