Editorial: Budget a triumph of complacency over content

So much does the Minister of Finance seek to persuade New Zealanders that they are relatively well off that "she'll be right" seems the major theme of the 2002 Budget announced this afternoon.

So determined is Dr Michael Cullen to avoid rocking the boat in an election year that the chance for innovation has been wasted.

For all the talk of economic transformation, there is little to point the way forward.

The only major new announcements are in education, where a Tertiary Education Commission will be responsible for that sector's contribution to social and economic development.

Courses, programmes and providers that cannot demonstrate "strategic relevance" will not be funded.

Therein lies the most chilling note in a bloodless Budget.