The fifth annual Jonesie Awards were hosted at Parliament today, celebrating the best of the worst of Government waste.

New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Callum Purves says, “Every year, we host a glamourous Oscars-style awards ceremony to highlight and lament the most absurd examples of wasted taxpayer money uncovered in the last 12 months.

“Behind the tuxedos and golden piggies is a serious message: Politicians and bureaucrats in both local and central government brazenly splurge your hard-earned money on indulgent pet projects and bureaucratic nonsense without fear of consequence.

“The Jonesies serve as a shot across the bow for anyone in charge of a government credit card: Rein in the waste, or hear your name called at the next Jonesie Awards.”

Local government nominees

Wellington City Council: Paying to preach climate action

Wellington City Council’s first round of funding from the new Climate and Sustainability Fund approved $20,000 to go to Eco Church NZ. This was to help churches “understand their carbon footprint and develop climate action plans”.

Wellington City Council: Half a million dollar roundabout

Originally intended to cost $200,000, the installation of a roundabout in Hataitai went 185% over budget with a final cost of $570,000.

Wellington City Council: $130,000 spelling mistake

The latest sculpture in the Capital City is a misspelt “WELL_NGTON” sign that cost ratepayers $130,000. Intended to be shared on social media using #inwellington, only 44 people have done so in the ten months since it was created. Costs are expected to increase as the sign is relocated and repainted elsewhere around Wellington.

Auckland Council: Excellence in trough management

Auckland Council employs 3002 staff that are paid more than $100,000. Eke Panuku, the Council’s property management arm, employs 203 staff, 50 of whom are managers. Nine are corporate executives paid over $200,000, while the other 41 lower-tier managers earn an average of $143,000 each. The council has also paid more than $1.3 million in severance payments for leaving staff members.

Tauranga City Council: Frivolous Credit Card spending

After hiking rates by 15% last year, Tauranga City Council’s chief bureaucrats have spent more than $88,500 on their ratepayer-funded credit cards. Included in the expenditure is $188 on chocolate fish, $796 for an “executive team meeting” at a bar and $471 on the Chief Executive’s annual car valet.

WINNER: Wellington City Council

With a record of three nominations this year, this was an easy decision for our panel. The capital council’s excessive expenditure and lack of sympathy for ratepayers shows just how out of touch with the rest of New Zealand they are.

Central government nominees

Minister Damien O’Connor: Breakfast for one?

A staffer claimed for a room-service breakfast totalling $100 ($60USD). Were they a very hungry public servant or entertaining a guest?

NZ On Air: Another Documentary on Chlöe Swarbrick

NZ On Air is spending $220,000 of taxpayer money on a 90-minute documentary about the political and personal life of Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick.

Ministry of Youth Development: Anime Propaganda

The Ministry of Youth Development signed a $300,000 contract to produce the three one-minute anime videos that are “designed to support young people to thrive by creating and raising an awareness of wellbeing”.

Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority: The ferry with the flat battery

East by West Ferries received $300,000 from the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority to go towards buying an electric ferry, which two months ago got a flat battery in the middle of Wellington Harbour and had to be rescued by a diesel-powered boat.

Waka Kotahi: The most expensive ribbon-cutting ceremony ever

Much like the entire Transmission Gully project, the opening ceremony was a blow out. It cost the taxpayer $336,712.

WINNER: Waka Kotahi

We had a shopping list of options to choose from for our transport agency leading to a gruelling Single Transferrable Vote style runoff for the worst spending from Waka Kotahi, but the opening ceremony for Transmission Gully takes the cake.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Governor Adrian Orr is this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award Winner for excellence in government waste.

Adrian Orr in his role as the Governor of the Reserve Bank is tasked with keeping inflation strictly between 1% and 3%.

Orr became infamous during the Covid-19 Pandemic for his money printing scheme that has driven the 30-year high inflation we all experience today.

But prior to his current role, he was Chief Executive of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund where he made headlines when his salary was inflated by 36% on the back of a 22% pay hike two years earlier.

Mr Orr’s Large Scale Asset Purchase programme saw the Reserve Bank buy $53.5 billion of New Zealand Government Bonds on the secondary market between March 2020 and July 2021.

At the time, Treasury warned that Orr’s programme had the potential to suffer “significant financial losses”.

While the final cost to the taxpayer of this programme is yet to be determined, 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Grant Robertson, puts this investment’s expected loss at $8.46 billion. Treasury have been authorised to spend up to $200 million a month indemnifying the Reserve Bank’s loss.

Aside from his unique ability to make a loss while printing money, Governor Adrian Orr has demonstrated astounding creativity and dedication in his personal mission to spend Reserve Bank time and resources on his personal pet causes such as climate change and storytelling. His latest Statement of Intent for the Reserve Bank referenced climate change 51 times whereas price stability, inflation and prices were mentioned only 19 times. Orr likens the financial system to a forest of which the he is Tāne Mahuta: A good analogy for someone who believes money grows on trees.

Under his watch, the Reserve Bank recently spent $100,000 rebranding the organisation, nearly $400,000 on a sculpture of Tāne Mahuta and more than $6 million on a new website.

It is only fitting that Orr receives the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award because even after he retires, taxpayers will be repaying his debts for generations to come.

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