The
second Labour government took office in 1957, the
32nd Parliament. Within a year, the government was confronted with a
balance of payments crisis caused by the collapse of the price of butter in
Britain (New Zealand's largest export market at the time). Nordmeyer's colleagues were reluctant to cut government spending or break expensive
election promises, so Nordmeyer was left with little option but to raise taxes, which was recommended by both the Treasury and Prime Minister
Walter Nash (himself a former minister of finance). The budget increased social security benefits but was very unpopular, not least with
Labour's traditional
working-class supporters. The term 'black budget' is believed to have been coined by union leader
Fintan Patrick Walsh, but was taken up by the
National Party opposition, and became the commonly used term for the budget. Rises in income tax levels hurt single earners and childless families the most. The government's popularity never recovered from the budget, which is generally believed to have cost it the
1960 election. Nordmeyer was forever tainted by the 'black budget', which gave him a reputation as a puritanical 'wowser' who was opposed to simple working class pleasures such as automobiles, beer and cigarettes. Despite this, he became the leader of the Labour Party in 1963, but was replaced by the more popular
Norman Kirk only two years later. ==Popular culture==