No praise from opposition leader Chris Hipkins, who claims this budget will only take New Zealand backwards.

The Labour Party has unleashed a torrent of criticism over the Government's spending plans, including a lack of new cancer drugs, climate funding, and initiatives for Māori.

Chris Hipkins says this Budget is a 'missed opportunity' to provide meaningful relief to struggling Kiwis.

"The tax cuts that are being delivered for, say, someone on a minimum wage would be less than what they would have got if the Government had increased the minimum wage by the rate of inflation."

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