Commenting on a Wellington Water employee posting footage of themselves on social media bragging about ‘slacking off’, doing no work whilst still getting paid, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“In November alone, of over 3,800 leaks in the region, around 3,050 were left unattended. 44% of the region’s water is lost to leaks, and now residents are being told to buy emergency 170-litre water tanks to tide them over during a looming summer water crisis.

“Whilst Wellingtonians panic over how they’re going to get by this summer, the very same people who are responsible for this situation are filming themselves swanning about at the gym, going to the cinema and meeting up with friends all the while pretending to be working.

“The council engineer’s self-proclaimed wagging-off routine of lounging around on the sofa whilst ‘working from home’ or staring blankly at an empty computer screen should have been obvious to any manager worth their salt.

“The evidence is clear and the engineer must be fired without delay. But clearly Wellington Water’s problems go much deeper than one lazy engineer, and a full investigation is needed to root out any more bureaucrats who feel like the ratepayer owes them a free living.”

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