Did anyone else in the last 24 hours wonder whether Adrian Orr was butt-covering for Grant Robertson yesterday? 

Adrian Orr went out of his way yesterday to defend the Government’s budget. He made a point of saying the Budget was a friend, not a foe to his fight against inflation.

And for the first time in a year and a half, he said there were no more hikes coming, which frankly shocked us all.

It was such a step change from what he’d said before. In February he warned against the Government taking on any more debt in the Budget, and yet when the Government took on $20 billion more in debt, he didn’t have a problem.

In February he warned against spending too much. And yet, when the Government blew the second biggest operating allowance in history, he didn’t have a problem.

While the economists of retail banks lined up to say the budget was inflationary, and was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’, Adrian didn’t agree.

Now look, I can’t say for sure that Adrian’s wrong. Adrian might be right and everyone else might be wrong, including ANZ and Westpac who still today say there are probably more hikes coming.

And I can’t say for certain that Adrian is definitely covering Grant’s butt ahead of the election. 

But the fact that I'm even thinking it and prepared to say this out loud to you is exactly why Adrian should you never have been reappointed to the job last year.

Because he looks politicalised.  Whether he is or not, he looks it.

There have been too many letters of permission and memorandums of understanding jointly signed by Adrian and Grant.

There have been too many denials that either he or the Government got anything wrong by printing money and handing out cash during Covid.

And then there was Grant outright ignoring the opposition asking him not to reappoint Adrian for a full five years.

Adrian might not be covering for Grant. He might actually be doing his job properly, we’ll only find out in the fullness of time. But he’s lost the perception of independence.

And this is proof of why that should never happen, because I'm not sure whether he made the right call for the economy yesterday- or for the guy who reappointed him despite political pressure not to. 

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