The Labour Party leader David Cunliffe does not expect New Zealanders are going reap any great benefits from tomorrow's Budget.
Finance Minister Bill English said it would contain initiatives to help close the gap between the rich and poor.
But Mr Cunliffe said New Zealanders were looking for jobs, affordable houses and decent incomes.
"If the best the Government can do is trumpet a smoke and mirrors surplus as somehow the be all and end all of economic management, then they simply lack the vision that New Zealanders have worried they lack," he said.
"We understand that they're only going to get to it by using a bunch of tricks and tracks like they did last year, and possibly some new ones."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Key is floating the possibility of future tax cuts as part of National election campaign platform.
When asked where potential tax cuts might be directed, Mr Key said middle-New Zealand was an obvious group which paid a fair bit of tax and did not get a lot in return.
