OPINION: Grant Robertson is walking a tightrope above three crises and this budget is his balancing act.
As the Finance Minister wobbles on, at one end of his spending pole hangs the cost of living. An acute, immediate crisis forcing families to do without thanks to record inflation driving up the price of everything, just as winter starts to bite.
It was putting intense pressure on the Government to help Kiwis through it. And Robertson knows it. Our latest Newshub Reid Research poll showed more than three quarters of the country didn't think the Government was doing enough to address the cost of living crisis. A clear fail grade.
The problem? He'd already promised his $6b in new spending to the other two crises - health and climate change.
But Robertson found an extra $1b down the back of the COVID couch - namely the COVID-19 Response fund. The urgency of one crisis subsiding, freeing up cash to throw at another.
It means he can give two million Kiwis a $350 sugar hit from August 1, keep tax cuts on petrol and half price public transport fares for another two months.
Every Kiwi who earn less than $70,000 and who isn't eligible for the winter energy payment will get around $27 a week. For a two-income household of $140,000 that's an extra $54. It's not huge, but a help.
Just over 80 per cent of all working age New Zealanders will be supported through this Cost of Living Payment or the Winter Energy Payment.
For the other 20 per cent, they're on their own besides it being cheaper to get from A to B. The Opposition will likely say this doesn't go far enough for the "squeezed middle" - but four in five Kiwi workers getting support is impressive.
Robertson's COVID/Cost of Living cash swap is a masterstroke.
Because as the Minister of Finance's treds on at the opposite end of his balancing stick hangs the other two almighty crises - health and climate change.
Robertson's clearly also raided the climate change package to boost the one for cost of living. On Monday, Newshub revealed the Government was scrambling to work out whether to include half price fares in the Emissions Reduction Plan - where it belonged - or announce it on today as part of a cost of living package.
But health was always going to be the biggest winner of this Budget.
He's set aside more than $11 billion to wipe district health board debts, set up Health NZ and keep the lights on, another $1.3 billion to build hospitals, $188m for GPs and community care to take pressure off hospitals.
And drug buying agency Pharmac gets a record increase of $191m over two years but it's still not the $300m advocates want.
While the $1 billion Maori package will be enough for the caucus to take on a roadshow - but when you drill into the details, the spend on Maori health is just a fraction of what will be spent on the wider health system.
Robertson's clearly learned to be nimble with his Budgets after two years of managing a pandemic and today's surprise $1b cost of living package shows that yet again.
Though when you're giving yourself just shy of $6 billion of extra cash to splash, there's a lot more wriggle room for balancing.
Amelia Wade is a political reporter for Newshub.
