The Finance Minister has her eye firmly on returning to surplus after a pre-election look into the books.  

Treasury forecasts predict the next two years' deficits will be much smaller, and the 2028/29 surplus nearly $2 billion larger than expected.  

But much of that improvement is down to income-tax bracket creep, and more revenue from GST and company tax.  

Nicola Willis told Mike Hosking it would be irresponsible to be talking about how they'll spend a surplus on things like tackling the tax bracket creep before it's arrived. 

She says circumstances could change, not because they won't remain focused, but because the world is volatile and forecasts could shift.  

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