Labour's $750,000 Artworks Spend-up

ACT New Zealand Associate Finance Spokesman Deborah Coddington today revealed that Labour has spent more than $727,000 of taxpayers' money on works of art to decorate Government departments and Ministries since coming to office.

"Answers to my written Parliamentary Questions have revealed that, from 1999-2003, the Government spent $727,284 acquiring artworks for display in its departments and Ministries," Miss Coddington said.

"This figure may not sound like a lot to a government that has built a reputation on extravagant spending - but to thousands of hard-working New Zealanders, finding it hard to make ends meet, it's an insult.

"The priority for public spending should be in the areas of greatest need. Money spent on these artworks could have saved lives by providing more beds for dangerous psychiatric patients, provided a speedier justice service for crime victims, or it could have saved families the expense of paying for NCEA fees.

"New Zealand continues to slip further down the OECD ladder, while the Government spends taxes on luxuries," Miss Coddington said.

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