A Treasury paper out today argues for lower tax and less government spending, saying the size and the structure of government plays an important role in economic performance.

The Government is being accused of taking a slash and burn approach to spending after Finance Minister Bill English signalled cuts to public services and new figures showed substantial job losses in the sector.

With the Government planning to axe all new spending in the upcoming budget, ministers are making "good progress" finding areas to cut spending so it can be reallocated to health, education and justice in the budget, the PM says.

Let political miscreants go quietly into the night.

The Government's coalition partners have been warned their pet projects will not be exempt from the drive for savings in this year's Budget, with funding for the Act Party's taskforce and Maori Party's Whanau Ora scheme under review.

The Government's budget cost-cutting is likely to wipe out or delay a wide range of programmes and projects including those initiated by its support parties, ministers indicated today.

A proposal to put an iconic Coromandel beach into public ownership has been withdrawn, but a new estimate that halves the land's value has given the Green Party hope a deal could still be done.