Don Brash Writes - No. 84, 14 July 2006

I believe, and have consistently argued, that the Government has a responsibility to keep a careful watch on how it spends the hard-earned taxpayer dollars it takes from New Zealanders.

At the election last year National campaigned hard against Labour's over-taxation and its wasteful spending of taxpayers' money. Since the election, even more examples have come to light.

In response to this I am pleased to launch a new website today, www.wastewatch.co.nz, highlighting examples of Labour's wasteful spending.

The website records some of the classic examples of Labour's wastefulness, including the millions spent to little effect at Te Wananga o Aotearoa, the $26,000 spent on the hip-hop tour and the millions spent on various tertiary courses that had no educational value - like radio sing-along courses and homeopathy for pets.

New examples are also noted, including the $490 million blowout in the cost of building the four new prisons, the $11 million in landscaping of the prisons, and the $1 million given to the 211 phone line pilot scheme where staff answer an average of just three calls a day.

The latest example comes from the Ministry of Agriculture, which spent $14,724 for 40 senior managers to attend an "organisational planning feedback session" at the plush Boomrock Lodge near Wellington last November.

That cost $7,302 for catering alone, an incredible $182 a head for a one-day course!

The website will be continually updated as new examples of waste come to light, and I encourage people to send in their own examples of wasteful spending by the Labour Government.

For too long Labour has been happy to watch your money go down the drain.

You can be assured that National in Government would eliminate wasteful spending of taxpayers' hard-earned money, return some of it to those who earned it, and ensure the rest is spent wisely.

Don Brash http://www.donbrash.com http://www.national.org.nz

ENDS

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