Taxpayers’ Union chairwoman and former Finance Minister Ruth Richardson is backing out of the much-hyped debate with Finance Minister Nicola Willis.

Richardson had accepted Willis’ challenge to debate after the Taxpayers’ Union’s campaign accusing Willis of fudging promises on debt and spending.

After much back and forth over who would moderate the debate and how it would be run, Richardson this afternoon released a statement saying she would not be “party to a circus or a sideshow” in light of today’s Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update, which showed a surplus out of reach within the forecast period.

“Rather than a genuine, good-faith round table discussion in a Wellington studio, the minister instead pushed for a circus at Parliament chaired by Winston Peters,” Richardson said of Willis.

“In the face of the level of fiscal failure revealed today, it is clear why she wanted such a distraction.

“The outlook delivered today is the worst in 30 years. It gets lost in the billions, but no one was expecting the books to be anywhere near this bad.”

Richardson argued the debate was intended to discuss a “credible pathway back to surplus”, but she claimed today’s data release proved Willis was ”walking the wrong way".

“I will not be party to a circus or a sideshow designed to distract from fiscal failure.”

Richardson and the union had initially demanded the debate be held in Auckland, hosted by Newstalk ZB.

After giving a deadline for Willis to accept their offer, the union backed down and agreed to a Wellington-based discussion moderated by prominent economist Cameron Bagrie.

Willis had remained supportive of debating Richardson but had preferred opening the discussion to all media and moderated by either Peters or The Spinoff’s Toby Manhire.

In a statement, Willis said she had made herself available, booked a venue and endorsed choosing “any independent moderator”.

“If Ruth doesn’t want to explain her policy proposals, that’s up to her. No further tweets need be entered into. I wish Ruth and all her team at the Taxpayers’ Union a very merry Christmas.”

Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.