Parliamentary Services is a Kingdom of Waste
Parliamentary Services is a Kingdom of Waste
23 JANUARY
2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that Parliamentary Services purchased hundreds of copies of an animal-inspired self-help book, apparently “packed full” of tips.
In the glossy 115-page
book, Parliamentary staff are encouraged to be like
animals:
“The Wolf is courageous and stable. If we can learn to keep our confidence stable and be courageous enough to have it we will be like the Wolf.”
“Frogs are super flexible. Let’s try be like one.”
“Gorilla’s [sic] are known for their raw power and dominant poses. When you power pose think of the Gorilla.”
“We chose the bear because it uses sleep to recover and heal. Much like we should.”
Taxpayers’ Union Executive
Director, Jordan Williams, says, “If Parliamentary
Services thought there were some valuable lessons in Your
Kingdom they could have distributed a link to the
website of the publisher where it’s available to read
online for free. Instead, they’ve wasted $14,000* buying
700 copies of a children’s book for adults.”
“This book and its spending is an insult to taxpayers and we look forward to the Speaker explaining to the public how this offers value for money.”
“We’d love to know what else Parliamentary Services is spending our money on, but thanks to a special carve-out Parliamentary Services’ spending is mostly secret. Politicians just don’t want the public to know how they spend public money. We only found out about this as a Parliamentary staffer was so enraged they kindly forwarded us their copy.”
*“According to their website, Parliamentary Services employs approximately 720 people. At the listed price of $20 a book, that brings the total cost to over $14,000.”
ENDS