Responding to news that the cost of salaries in the public sector has increased by 13 percent in just one year, New Zealand Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says:

"Funneling ever more taxpayer money into the state sector is not sustainable, necessary, or fair. It's outrageous that government agencies are padding their own salaries while families and businesses cut costs in the wake of a pandemic."

"Public sector staff are paid significantly more than private sector workers, and the pay gap is increasing. It's not enough for a few state sector bosses to take temporary pay cuts: pay cuts need to go wider and deeper."

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