PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES AND FACEBOOK POSTS ARE NOT 'YOUTH DEVELOPMENT'

The Taxpayers’ Union is questioning the Government’s decision to give $485,000 of taxpayer money to local Councils to run youth councils and workshops. Responding to Minister for Youth, Nikki Kaye’s media release, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says:

“Money that should be going to help at-risk youth is being swallowed up by local councils to create youth councils and feel good events for local politicians. We’ve previously asked a number of councils what their youth council achieves and most just gave us meaningless buzzwords like ‘empowerment’ and ‘engagement’. The better ones point to music concerts and similar events as justifying the spending, but that still seems a pretty low priority from a taxpayer perspective."

“Last year after our release of 101 ways to save money in local government a number of elected officials acknowledged that youth councils are often more about photo opportunities than useful public policy debate. What value, if any, they give to taxpayers is unclear. The kids that need the most help aren’t the teachers-pets who put their hand up to be on a youth council.”

“As an example, Dunedin City Council is getting more than $50,000 just to establish a Youth Council. That's an incredible amount for gathering together a dozen school prefects and putting on some sausage rolls. It confirms the suspicion that the Ministry of Youth Development has more money than sense."

ENDS

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