Toby Manhire (Gone by Lunchtime) and Bernard Hickey (When the Facts Change) join forces to weigh up the just-released 2022 budget.

Follow When the Facts Change on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast provider.

Just moments after emerging, rubbing his eyes and famished after his 14th budget lock-up, Bernard Hickey patches in for a quick-fire conversation with Toby Manhire on the headline revelations.

The headline announcement was $350 cash payments to tackle the cost of living crisis. Bernard’s big take? “This has the words ‘squeezed middle’ written all over it … It’s a bit of a sprinkling of a few things here and there. It’s not a flood of cash. And that was the problem here: some cash to people who say they need it, but also didn’t want to give too much cash, otherwise it would be accused of splashing the cash and pushing up inflation pressures again.”

Among the other questions confronted: What does the health spend tell us about the restructure ahead, especially the Māori Health Authority? Did Grant Robertson deny James Shaw the most crowd-pleasing bits on climate? Will the supermarket land-banking legislation make a difference? Does David Seymour have a point when he says “brain drain budget”? And is this the kind of budget that will turn the dial in the polls? Plus: how were the snacks in the budget lock-up?

Follow Gone By Lunchtime on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast provider.