Independent Parliamentary Budget Office is a victory for
taxpayers 20 AUGUST 2019
The Government’s decision
to establish and independent Parliamentary Budget Office,
outside of Treasury, is a taxpayer victory and will improve
democracy, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union.
Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says,
“It's not often we support new spending initiatives, but
this one is a goodie that we’ve been backing for years.
The operation of the Office should actually save taxpayers
money in the long run: political parties will be less likely
to commit to low-value spending when the effect on taxpayers
is clear.”
“We've pushed for this Office ever
since we launched our popular Bribe-o-meter, and were
pleased to see the Green Party join the cause. However, we were less supportive of the Greens’
plans to house the unit inside Treasury, instead of as
an independent office of Parliament. Taxpayers will welcome
the decision to rectify this, ensuring costings are not
biased by the Government of the
day.”
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