City Council Lights Out... And Nobody's Home

9 September 2015

The Taxpayers’ Union is questioning the procurement practices of Invercargill City Council which has flown three council staff to China for six days to purchase new Christmas lights for the city. Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says:

“Since when did you need three highly paid council officials to pick Christmas lights? This is a council purchase, not a family outing.”

“While no one would argue against lights during the festive season, ratepayers expect value for money not international junkets.”

“With e-commerce sites such as China’s Alibaba, there is no reason why council officials should be wasting ratepayers’ money on these expensive overseas trips. Maybe one engineer is justified, but a roading engineer, graphic designer and bean counter is surely taking the Mickey.”

ENDS

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