Anderton Must Face Facts

ACT Finance Spokesman Rodney Hide said today it is time for Jim Anderton to stop the bulldust and bluster over his "Jobs Machine".

Fact 1: Industry New Zealand made a grant of $75,000 to The Warehouse Ltd "To help the business implement strategies for business growth" (Reply to Question for Written Answer No. 11629 (2002)).

Anderton's bluster: "Warehouse not the end recipient of funding" (Anderton Press Release, 31 October 2002).

So why did The Warehouse receive the funding?

Fact 2: Industry New Zealand made a grant of $100,000 to Gaming Machine Distributors Ltd "To help the business implement strategies for business growth" (Reply to Question for Written Answer No. 11629 (2002)).

"Gaming Machine Distributors Ltd is a distributor for pokie machines throughout the South Island" (www.gmd.co.nz ( http://www.gmd.co.nz/) )

Anderton's bluster: "By promoting gambling we deprive other businesses of precious revenue while increasing costly social problems" (Hon Jim Anderton Speech 26 July 2001).

"There was a grant of $100,000 for a Timaru company to develop a system to effectively monitor gaming machines" (Hon Jim Anderton Press Release 7 November 2002).

But why give the money to a pokie machine distributor?

Fact 3: "Little more than a year after winning a $1.6 million commitment of funding from the Government, Wellington technology joint venture Ericsson Synergy is being wound up" New Zealand Herald 7 November 2002).

Anderton's bluster: "Ericsson Synergy didn't get $1.6 million. They received $355,000 which produced $7 million of foreign exchange and a significant international contacts and knowledge for the New Zealand company Synergy. They failed to qualify for any more funding as they didn't meet further milestone requirements including employment targets, due to the international downturn in telecommunication companies." (Hon Jim Anderton Press Release 7 November 2002).

How come a company that could turn $355,000 into $7 million in a year went bust?

"It's time Jim Anderton faced facts: We can't build a strong economy taxing hard the majority of New Zealanders to provide handouts to the favoured few," Mr Hide said.

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