The calls for public health specialists for more taxpayer funding could be taken more seriously if they stopped wasting money on pointless public relations campaigns under the guise of public health, says the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union.

Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says, "Before agreeing to more money, the Government should be asking how public health units have been spending their existing funds of $440 million a year."

Public health units have in recent years used taxpayer funds to:

• Regulate “healthy options” in vending machines
• Promote tai chi and “Nordic walking”
• Promote astrology charts
• Improve workplace wellbeing with “biophilic office design” (i.e. pot plants)
• Tell us to move to a cool room when the weather is hot
• Pay Olympic athletes to promote drinking water
• Tell us to “only use your bed for sleep and sex”.

"Imagine if all this time and money had been used for pandemic planning. Public health units could have used their resources to set up contact-tracing capabilities, instead of telling New Zealanders how to live Government-approved ultra-PC lifestyles."

"Instead of handing out more money, let’s reprioritise spending away from the fluffy stuff, and onto important issues like COVID-19."

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