I just don't think that the comparisons between the money that was put into that and the nonsense that councils get up to are fair. I mean, that is certainly what the Taxpayers Union is trying to say.
They're making the comparison. They're pretty hot under the collar about it and they've suggested the government can hardly tell councils one day to rein in their spending and then the very next day have one of their ministers, Melissa Lee, go and spend $750,000 worth of taxpayer money on bringing a global dance competition to Auckland but it's just not the same thing by any stretch.
I mean, what the Councils are doing is they're chucking money into stuff that does nothing. It returns nothing. An expensive bike rack that no one uses that's just sunk money. You're not going to get money out of that. It's just sunk money. It's just sitting there now. A garden on the roof of a bus hub that's just money gone. That's not going to make you any more money. A cycle way even is just wasted money if no one uses it. But putting money into a dance competition actually returns money because it brings people from around the world to Auckland, where they then spend money. So that's $750,000 spend by central government is estimated to bring New Zealand, not counting Auckland, just New Zealand around Auckland, $3,000,000 now it's not a lot $3,000,000, but then neither, frankly is $750,000 on the event, right? Just put a little bit. In you get a little bit back. And frankly, the Taxpayers Union knows this. They know that this is how events work around the world. People only come here if you pay for them. The FIFA will World Cup, last year, we paid for that to come. Barcelona paid to take wherever it went. In the end, the Americas Cup office, right wherever it goes, that place is taking it because they're spending for it. You basically have to subsidies them in order for them to come. This is just how events work. That's why we have a thing called a major events fund. That is the fund that Melissa Lee was using. That's what it's for.
Now I'm happy to have a debate about whether Auckland Council should have stumped up what it put in, because it's only put it's putting in $750,000, which is the same amount of central government. But it's only getting an estimated $1 million back in return. Now that's a little bit on the line as to whether they're actually gonna get their money back, but the government's contribution is not throwing money away, it's an investment. And that's very different to what councils are doing.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
4 comments:
There is that simple thing called “value for money”. But it only exist in a world driven by merit not optics.
I totally agree, although the required return for other groups wanting government funds to bring international events here is normally a lot higher.
Good grief. The so-called TaxPayers Union getting all worked up over $750,000 for a cultural event. I may be wrong, but I don't recall them protesting about the national kapa haka festival Te Matatini being given almost $50 million in funding in Budget 2024. Or the $131 million spent by High Performance Sport New Zealand in the run-up to the Olympic Games which is as cultural as its possible to get in New Zealand.
So we can't feed the hungry , house the homeless, heal the sick, generate enough electricity to keep the lights on or factories open,. We can't educate our kids to even average first world standards, and we now hear that 20 % of kids cant string more than 5 words into a sentence when they start primary school.
So no we shouldn't fund $750,000 dance festivals or $50 million worth of kapa haka festivals. If someone wants a dance festival they can pay for it themselves. And likewise if the Maori want a series of Kapa Haka festivals they can pay for them out of their own pockets. We have far more important things to spend taxes and rates on.
Economist Dr Eric Crampton tells us in this forum that Maori as a whole fit neatly into the socio economic group that already take more from the government by way of services or benefits than they pay in tax.
So maybe the taxpayers are already given them all they can , or need to.
That $750 , 000 could be better spent on the 10,000 children in the TV add that need shoes and jumpers and blankets .
Maybe $750,00 could be saved by not painting the street signs in my suburb, decile 10, in maori first then English. Maybe $50 million could be spent teaching young children to speak, properly, in English.
Luxon and the Taxpayers Union had it dead right, councils and government need to focus on the basics and removing wasteful expenditure.
Oh have you heard Heather , about the generations that can't afford homes , or the 75,000 that left NZ last year for a better life overseas.
And all we give them is a dance festival, kapa haka and street signs in maori !
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