The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming today’s announcement from Judith Collins that the Government is doling out more corporate welfare via Callaghan Innovation instead of cutting waste and delivering tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders.Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Any hope that this Government would be one for the taxpayer rather than caving in to crony capitalism and its special interests is fast going out the window.

“Grants like these simply pick winners by gambling with taxpayer money rather than allowing the market to determine what businesses should succeed based on their ability to provide a product people want at a price people are willing to pay.

“Arguments that we need more taxes, such as the app tax, ring hollow when millions of dollars are frittered away giving millions in handouts to those who need it least. Wasteful spending like this simply fuels the cost-of-government crisis, driving up inflation for the struggling taxpayer.

“Judith Collins and Christopher Luxon have some serious explaining to do – are they going to be a government that supports free markets and private enterprise or one that puts a select few special interests ahead of the taxpayer? We urge the ACT Party to stick with their historically principled stance of opposing corporate welfare and push from inside Cabinet for this kind of buffoonery to come to an end.”

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