Dame Cath Should Hand The Money Back
Thursday 1 Nov 2001
ACT Fisheries Spokesman Rodney Hide said today that Dame Cath Tizard's Ministerial Advisory Committee's report "Healthy Sea: Healthy Society" is so trite that Dame Cath and her committee members should hand back the money they have been paid to prepare it.
"I said it was a complete waste of money from the start but I have to say that I am still shocked just how bad the report is.
"Dame Cath has spent $750,000 to discover that New Zealanders want: * Clean water * The ocean to be healthy and productive * Intrinsic and intangible values protected * The ability to enjoy economic benefits without compromising the well-being of the oceans
And so on....
"I told the government that all for free back before the Committee had spent a dollar. I predicted every part of it before a word had been written.
"Dame Cath has been paid $800 a day and the seven members of her team have each been $600 a day to produce a trite and useless document. They should pay the money back. And if they are not prepared to pay the money back, the Minister should demand it," Rodney Hide said.
ENDS