Tim Walker’s Overpaid

Who else but the revered New Zealand Government could bring themselves to pay thirty thousand dollars for a door?

Reports have it that a simple door providing division between two rooms – speculation is it’s so Labour party members aren’t continually facing intimidation from their National counterparts – is costing the taxpayer thirty grand.

Supposedly this door is made of pretty expensive timber though so, you know.

Seriously, if there is one NZ institute who like to ensure they always pay top dollar for goods or services that a layman would know is not even worth middle-dollar, it’s our ministers. These guys somehow find single pairs of underpants worth almost a hundred dollars, taxi fares worth thousands of dollars, airfares worth tens of thousands, hotel rooms worth more tens of thousands; company cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars…

You’re alright, guys, taxpayer’ll get it.

On top of this travesty, somehow our Government found a way to spend millions of dollars fixing up some high country abode when I know a team of builders who would have done the same renovation over a long weekend for a couple of boxes of beer, also the knowledge that the favour would one day be returned.

Minister for Economic Development, Steven Joyce, is running one hell of a misnomer with that ‘economy’ tag he wears so proudly – reportedly spending $70 thousand on convivial signage out the front of MBIE headquarters; Minister of Earthquake Recovery, Gerry Brownlee went through a stage early in Christchurch’s rebuild where as much money as he burned through nothing really appeared to change and in fact, one might have assumed that he was following the advice of Prime Minister John Key and spending his days literally ‘throwing cash at the problem’; Minister of Transport, Simon Bridges, is no better, somehow finding ways to pay approximately ten times the value of cars, buses and well, just about every-bloody-thing.

I almost understand the desire of a politician to throw around cash, to make it rain and such forth – shit, when your wallet is continually filled with a seemingly endless flow of money why would you not? – although being one of the people funding this frivolous expenditure; this outright wastage of the nation’s money, honestly, I don’t think I’m alone in my exasperation.

 

 

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by Phru Val Luss

Photography by Polly Tish-Onn

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