No moral high ground on Saudi sheep deal

ACT Leader David Seymour responds to the Auditor General’s report on the Saudi sheep deal:

“Wasteful deal-making like this is the natural consequence of a culture of corporate welfare,” says Mr Seymour. “The Saudi sheep deal only escapes being labelled ‘corrupt’ by virtue of how common these arrangements are across all New Zealand Governments.

“This Government had already supported deals for SkyCity and Warner Brothers, and deserve to be embarrassed now that a deal has gone balls-up. But it’s a bit rich for the Opposition to claim outrage, when they’ve supported deals to support Kiwirail, green energy investment funds, the racing industry, and much more.

“These deals tend to rip off taxpayers as the business interests seek to maximise profit while the Government is distracted by political incentives.

“The role of government is to achieve sound regulation. If it wasn’t for the on-again-off-again regulatory uncertainty over live sheep exports, none of this would have happened. When regulations aren’t up to scratch, politicians start picking winners, resulting in cronyism and waste.

“Only ACT opposes corporate welfare as a matter of principle. Only ACT will have the leverage to prevent these types of deals in the next Parliament.”

ENDS

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