Tuesday, 22 August 2017, 10:42 am Press Release: Taxpayers' Union
Jacinda Arden shouldn't just trim, she should scrap
Callaghan Innovation
22 AUGUST 2017
- The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming
Labour Leader Jacinda Ardern’s acknowledgement that
Callaghan Innovation doesn’t provide companies with real
value or boost R&D, as reported by NBR yesterday ($).
Jordan Williams, Executive Director of the
Taxpayers’ Union, says, “Politicians and
bureaucrats picking favourites, such as the grants handed
out at Callaghan Innovation, are a waste of money. The OECD
has even argued that these schemes crowd out more productive
private R&D.”
“Ms Arden is right to point out
hand-picked R&D grants are flawed, so we can’t work out
why her spokesperson, Dr Megan Woods, said in the same
article that there 'will always be a place for' an R&D
grants agency under an Ardern Government.”
“An
obvious taxpayer-friendly policy for Ms Ardern to campaign
on would be to dismantle Steven Joyce’s corporate welfare
empire and commit to scrapping Callaghan Innovation’s
wasteful grant programmes."
"That is certainly something
our 26,000 members and supporters would
endorse.”
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