Ryan Bridge: We don't have the money for corporate welfare

A $60 million corporate welfare cheque for Golden Bay Cement is fixing a symptom but not the disease.

It's taxpayer money. It's not a loan – it's free money. Owner Fletcher Building has agreed, in return, to keep the thing open till 2040 and invest $150 million, phased over time.

David Farrar: Air corporate welfare

James Meager announced:

Golden Bay Air will be the first airline to receive a loan from funding ear-marked for at-risk regional air routes, Associate Transport Minister James Meager says.

The airline will receive approximately $1.1 million from the $30 million package set aside by the Coalition Government from the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF), designed to stabilise the sector and support regional routes in the short to medium term.

Bryce Wilkinson: Government profligacy is unkind

Last week’s government Budget increased projected government operating spending over the next four years by $8.4 billion while projected revenue fell by $10.7 billion. Projected government borrowing rose by $20 billion.

Treasury now projects net debt in June 2027 to be $84 billion higher than in June 2019.

Those are massive sums when spread over less than two million households.