'They're going to lose the next election big time.”

That's the verdict from New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, after the government announced Budget 2017 today.

In parliament this afternoon he labelled the government ‘useless' and ‘hopeless', calling Steven Joyce's delivery ‘the longest suicide note in history' – a phrase once used to describe the UK Labour Party's 1983 election manifesto (an election they lost badly to Thatcher's Conservative Party).

Speaking of the jubilant National MPs, Winston says, 'I have never seen so many sheep going to the slaughter clapping.

'They believe in globalisation and mass immigration… and the very last thing they'll ever do is stand up for you.”

Labour leader Andrew Little calls it ‘an irresponsible election bribe'.

'This is simply cynical electioneering that does nothing to address the shortfalls in health, housing and education, and in fact makes them worse. It's not a budget for the future, it's a budget for September 23,” he says.

'We can't afford National's election bribe when young couples can't buy their first home, when our hospitals are turning away patients, when kids are living in cars, when education standards are slipping, and when roads are clogged.

'For all National's talk about tax cuts, the reality is that a single cleaner on a minimum wage will get just $1 a week extra. It's the One Dollar Bill Budget.”

Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff labels the budget ‘a missed opportunity to make New Zealand a more equal place'.

'This budget lacks ambition, it lacks leadership and most importantly it lacks a vision and commitment to making life better for all Kiwis,” he says.

'It restored only a little more than half the value of Working for Families that has been stripped from it by the National government since 2010. People will pay for the tax cuts in deteriorating public services, while people on higher incomes get more in dollar terms than those who most need it.

'We estimate the Health budget is $300 million short of the funding it needs to cover rising costs, strong population growth, the aging population and the new commitments the government has made.”

Even ACT Party leader and coalition partner David Seymour finds the budget unsatisfactory.

'An adjustment of tax brackets is a welcome compensation for the last seven years of bracket creep. ACT has been talking about this for years. But the adjustment is underdone,” says David.

'The most any taxpayer will save is $20 a week. And it's ultimately more of a tax reset than a genuine tax cut. Bracket creep will eventually cancel out this tax relief because National refuses to permanently tie brackets to inflation.”