Billion dollar boost for KiwiRail is lighting money on fire
The Government’s decision to pour another billion dollars into KiwiRail shows terrible business acumen, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.
Taxpayers’ Union Economist, Joe Ascroft, says, “As a State Owned Enterprise, KiwiRail is required to be as profitable as possible, yet it has never paid a single cent in dividends to the Government – despite receiving more than $5 billion of Government funding since 2008. Pouring an additional billion dollars into KiwiRail will not change reality – KiwiRail will never be a profitable company.”
“There are plenty of profitable business in New Zealand that would have appreciated $1 billion in tax cuts to allow them to grow and invest. Instead, the Government is allowing nostalgia for rail to shape economic policy, when in reality $1 billion for KiwiRail is the equivalent of lighting taxpayers’ money on fire.”