Get ready for the belt-tightening Budget 2026

Energy security. Financial security. International security. Social cohesion. These are the government's priorities for Budget 2026 that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon laid out earlier this month. Finance Minister Nicola Willis says this Budget will lay out a clear plan. Where the country is now, where we're headed, and the road we'll take to get there. So, what should we look out for? How does this position the Coalition for the election? Will the spending be worth the thousands of public sector jobs being cut to pay for it? Today on The Front Page, University of Otago Honorary Research Fellow, Dr Michael Swanson, is with us for a pre-Budget 2026 chat. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea Daniels Editor/Producer: Richard Martin Producer: Jane Yee

You can listen to Get ready for the belt-tightening Budget 2026 online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Get ready for the belt-tightening Budget 2026 is an episode from The Front Page by NZME.

This episode is 23:36 long.

This episode was published on May 27, 2026.

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