Photo: UNDP Charles Abel was reacting to strident criticism of last week's Budget from the opposition.

Hardly surprising, therefore, that some of the most strident criticism comes from within the Republican foreign policy elite.

This doesn't fit at all with the Greens' focus on public transport and its strident criticism of the previous government's road building projects.

He argued some of the more strident criticism is serving to undermine New Zealand's health response, which is still among the best in the world.