The Taxpayers’ Union has slammed the revelation
that government agencies and State Owned Enterprises are
spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on
lobbying firms as revealed by Radio NZ this
morning.
Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager,
Callum Purves, said:
“Taxpayers’ money should not
be used to pay for sock puppets to lobby the government on
behalf of government agencies.
“SOEs, and Government
agencies already have special access to decision makers.
Paying the well connected, insiders and lobby firms
doesn’t offer value for the public – nearly always they
are serving the interests of the agencies and their
bosses.
“While media commentary is often on the
apparent need for a register of lobbyists, that doesn’t
fully address the problem. It is very clear that former MPs,
Ministers, and Parliamentary staffers are profiting from
their connections. New Zealand is unusual in that there are
no controls on regulators, government staffers or MPs from
leaving their jobs and going straight into lobbying. That is
where New Zealand’s law needs to catch
up.”
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