Finance Minister Nicola Willis talks to Mike Hosking about the week's big issues after the budget announcement last week. 

Health New Zealand's aiming to perform more than 30-thousand elective surgeries by June 2026 by outsourcing more straightforward cases to private hospitals. 

Willis says getting doctors and specialists on longer term contracts will get more people the care they need sooner. 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon last week announced his intention to raise the retirement age. Willis says no discussions have taken place yet, but says the Government would need to be upfront with their plans. 

"At some point, a future government is either going to have to slap a lot more tax on people or it's going to have to front up to whether the settings can be tweaked a little bit," she says. 

LISTEN ABOVE. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.