Spa Pool Grant for Iwi Group
Spa Pool Grant for Iwi Group
20
MAY 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
The Taxpayers’
Union is slamming the latest round of corporate welfare
announced todayby the Prime Minister.
One of the grants sees $350,000 of taxpayers’ money being
given to Pukeroa Lakefront Holdings Limited, a commercial
arm of Ngati Whakaue, to build a spa complex.
Jordan
Williams, Executive Director of the Taxpayers’
Union, says:
“This is taxpayer money going to build
a spa in Rotorua. That’s not innovation, it’s corporate
welfare at its very worst.”
“The problem with these
sorts of grants, is it allocates taxpayer money to the
industries and regions favoured by politicians.”
The
grant documentation says that the aim of the project is to
'reclaim Rotorua’s historic role as New Zealand’s
Wellness Capital’. “That is code for pulling tourism
out of other regions to bolster a favoured business,” says
Mr Williams.
The Taxpayers’ Union report, Monopoly Money, the cost of corporate
welfare since 2008, shows that if the Government
abolished corporate welfare, the company tax rate could be
reduced from 28% to
22.5%.
ENDS