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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

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