Commenting on the revelation that former Kāinga Ora CEO Andrew McKenzie will walk away with a $1.066 million pay out, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman, Alex Emes, said:

"Forget the farewell card and supermarket voucher, this is just a golden handshake for failure. All for the guy who steered the ship straight into a mountain of debt."

“McKenzie was already on a $731,000 salary, but still scored redundancy and a payment in lieu of notice—despite sticking around for two extra months. Only in the public sector can you be paid to leave and paid to stay at the same time.”

“Kāinga Ora won’t even explain what triggered the extra payout. It’s cloak-and-dagger stuff—with taxpayers left holding the bag.”

“This whole saga shows just how broken New Zealand’s employment laws are. Boards can’t sack incompetent CEOs without writing them a goodbye cheque and a love letter.”

“The Government’s employment law reform Bill—would end the threat of chief executives making personal grievance claims and the need for golden handshakes. It’s time to cut the golden parachutes once and for all, and put taxpayers first.”

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