Richardson's first Budget, which she had jokingly dubbed the "Mother of all Budgets"a term that would haunt her political career—compounded this unpopularity, as it significantly cut state spending in many areas as an attempt to bring deficits under control. Her policies were widely known as "Ruthanasia". While she remained Finance Minister for the whole three-year term of the first Bolger government, this was a period marked by increasing tension within the Cabinet. Tax policy was an area where Richardson and the more moderate members of the Cabinet often failed to agree even the basics. Although National was re-elected in the , it was by the narrowest of margins (1 seat) and many people within the party believed that Richardson's presence was damaging to the party. In addition, Bolger and his allies had still not been reconciled with her. In order to partially reflect the strong discontent in the electorate with the reform process (National arguably only won because the opposition vote was split between three parties) Richardson lost her role as Minister of Finance, and was offered the role of Minister of Justice. Richardson refused, preferring to take a role on the back-benches then called a by-election. She was replaced by Bill Birch. Though her period as Finance Minister was comparatively short, Richardson's legacy in subjects such as Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Liberty is large. Many of the reforms she championed have endured and remain an example for a modern Public Financial Management. As an example, with the first public sector balance sheet produced it was used to avoid a double down-grade to the Sovereign credit rating. In fact, New Zealand remains the only country that has introduced modern accounting and integrated its balance sheet with the budget, as a tool for its budgeting, appropriations, and financial reporting. Since these public sector reforms New Zealand has achieved and maintained significantly positive net worth, notwithstanding several chocks to the economy including the Financial crisis of 2007/08 and the Christchurch earthquake in 2011, where most comparable governments like Australia and Canada, or larger countries such as the UK and US, have a negative net worth. Perhaps most importantly, the Fiscal transparency of the New Zealand government remains unparalleled among developed economies with The Treasury publishing monthly and annual (year end) financial statements. The Treasury is also publishing a Fiscal Risk Analysis, which means no future New Zealand government will be faced with the fiscal shock that the Bolger government experienced in 1990. The Fiscal Responsibility Act (now part of the Public Finance Act) requires the Treasury to disclose the fiscal risks facing an in-coming government prior to every election.