Another very significant aspect of the Budget was the effort that it makes to get New Zealand back to strong economic growth. This is the only way that New Zealanders can have the incomes and prosperity that they seek.

New Zealand's economic growth rate in recent years has been poor. The economy had slowed noticeably before the global fiscal collapse impacted on us. In fact, while the last decade was characterised by record global growth, New Zealand actually became less competitive. During these years New Zealand missed a huge opportunity to move forward.

The Government's approach to getting economic growth is not based on the "big-bang" theory of a few initiatives. Rather it has been to adopt a range of broad-based reforms.

The 2010 Budget was a further step in pursuing a medium-term growth strategy to pull New Zealand out of recession and into long-term sustainable prosperity.