Finance Minister Bill English has failed to present the written copy of his 2013 Budget today after he left it at home, citing the malfunction of his printer as the reason he couldn’t bring it.

At a private media event unveiling the Budget this afternoon, English told reporters that he was “completely gutted” about the fact his printer broke, and described it as “pretty much the worst luck ever.”

English explained how disappointed he was after going to print his budget just this morning, only to find that his printer wasn’t processing paper correctly, and also was out of ink. He assured media that, although the Budget wasn’t here right now, there was “lots of really good stuff” in it and they would “really like it” if they saw it.

Later in the day, when asked to stand and deliver his budget address in Parliament, English initially pretended not to realise what was going on. But upon being pressed further, he quietly whispered to Prime Minister John Key that he didn’t have it.

“Mr. Speaker,” said English, standing to address House Speaker David Carter, “my printer broke. I don’t have my budget today. I’m really sorry. I’m super gutted because I spent literally weeks working on it. I was so excited to present it this afternoon, but I just couldn’t get it here.”

He then asked if someone else could present their budget in the meantime, and sought leave to table a note from his mum.

English said that he would be getting his printer fixed tonight, and that he would “definitely” present the Budget tomorrow. He just hoped he didn’t get sick or anything, because he was starting to feel a little bit ill.