Wallowing in extravagance
Written By:
- Date published:
10:22 am, October 23rd, 2015 - 16 comments
Categories: accountability, national, Parliament, parliamentary spending, Steven Joyce -
Tags: extravagance, MBIE, spending, steven joyce
Gosh, how predictable was this:
Super-ministry’s $800,000 bill for media monitoring slammed
An $800,000 bill for media monitoring at the Government’s business super-ministry has put its spending in the spotlight again, with Labour accusing it of “wallowing in extravagance”.
…
The big bill is just the latest embarrassment for MBIE in a series of financial misfires this year.In June, the ministry was the subject of ridicule in Parliament, after it emerged it had spent more than $67,000 on a new sign in front of its Stout St headquarters in Wellington, $140,000 on a 3.5m curved screen in its reception, $74,000 on a reception desk and $70,000 on a sculpture. It had also installed hair straighteners in the women’s bathrooms, although later reports suggested they had been removed. A $560,000 bill in September for an MBIE website overhaul also caused an outcry, with the Taxpayers’ Union saying it was “an extraordinary amount to spend on a website, and it’s not even that good”.
Labour state services spokesman Kris Faafoi said MBIE had “become a bloated caricature of itself, wallowing in extravagance and having a whale of a time at the expense of taxpayers”. …
I don’t think I have anything to add to Faafoi’s summary. This is a government that is thoroughly comfortable spending up large with taxpayer’s money – on itself.
In related news, the media is having a great time with data on MPs (and ex MPs) spending.
Gerry Brownlee spent $2100 a day on 5-star hotel room
Todd Barclay tops the latest list of backbench MPs spending
Ministerial credit cards: Who are the big spenders?
Revealed: Former MPs who travelled on the taxpayer
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- Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world
Break out the punchlines and dust off your meme folder: Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Ballot yesterday. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
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- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ must pursue independent foreign policy
The Green Party says the need is greater than ever for Aotearoa New Zealand to pursue an independent foreign policy. ...2 weeks ago
- Record number of submissions received on granny flat proposal
Nearly 2,000 submissions have been received on the Government’s proposals aimed at making it easier to build a granny flat of up to 60 square metres without a resource or building consent, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk say. “This is the highest number ...46 minutes ago - District Court Judge appointed
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Rebecca Guthrie as a District Court Judge. Judge Guthrie was admitted to the bar in 1997 following her graduation from the University of Canterbury in 1996 (LLB, BA). She commenced her legal career in Hastings in 1997 before moving to London in ...1 hour ago
- Appointments strengthen Predator Free 2050
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- New facility in Christchurch will improve the lives of young New Zealanders
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey today opened Kahurangi, an innovative and much-needed facility for Canterbury’s Child, Adolescent, and Family Mental Health Services. “The new state of the art outpatient facility opened today will be a gamechanger for the way mental health is delivered for young people in Canterbury,” says Mr ...3 hours ago
- Driver safety screens to be installed on Auckland buses
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- Government action provides Southland farmers more time to meet plan requirements
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- Bill reaffirms Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending
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- Critical milestones for earthquake buildings review
Fairer, more sensible rules about managing earthquake risks are a step closer with the passing of legislation and the appointment of an independent chair to provide expert advice, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The Government is committed to reinvigorating our cities and regions to support economic growth, ...21 hours ago
- State of the art radiology machine for Auckland
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- Foreign Minister to visit Europe
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- First arrests made under gang patch ban
Police have made their first arrests under the new gang patch legislation, with two gang members arrested, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “Just before 11 this morning, Police in Wairoa apprehended a gang member for wearing a patch to the supermarket. He has been arrested and will now face enforcement ...23 hours ago
- Better support for victims of sexual violence
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- MSA pilot participant update
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- Fighting for Kiwis in Trade
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- Improving the lives of young New Zealanders
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- Government continues work to reinstate livestock exports by sea
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Tēnā koutou katoa – it is a pleasure to be here today. I would like to begin by acknowledging the important leadership role you all play in ensuring a quality health system New Zealanders can trust. There is enormous clinical expertise in this room covering a wide range of disciplines. ...2 days ago
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- New Zealand supporting loss and damage fund
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- Gang crackdown begins at stroke of midnight
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- LGFA increases borrowing capacity to support high growth councils
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- Temporary Traffic Management costs revealed
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- Jurisdiction of Disputes Tribunal to double
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- Protecting New Zealand from foreign interference
Legislation that will specifically criminalise foreign interference and strengthen espionage offences has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “It is normal and appropriate for states to interact and work to influence one another. This encourages cooperation and can have mutually beneficial outcomes. “However, the reality ...3 days ago
- Significant milestone for Canterbury Road of National Significance
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- Health survey results to help drive change
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says findings from the annual Health Survey highlight the need to continue driving better health outcomes for New Zealanders. The New Zealand Health Survey is an annual snapshot of key metrics measured from July 2023 – July 2024. Findings released this morning include: In 2023/24, ...3 days ago
- Final push needed to get to Smokefree 2025
A renewed effort to get people to quit smoking will build on what has worked to date and target the groups who most need support, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said today. “The latest New Zealand Health Survey results show the daily smoking rate at 6.9 per cent and we ...3 days ago
- New diplomatic appointments
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced four new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign ...3 days ago
- Next steps for Regulatory Standards Bill
Regulation Minister David Seymour has today announced the next steps in the Government’s plan improve the quality of regulation by opening consultation on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill. “New Zealand's low wages can be blamed on low productivity, and low productivity can be blamed on poor regulation,” says Mr Seymour. ...3 days ago
- Red Tape Tipline goes live
Minister for Regulation David Seymour has today announced that the Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline is now live. “We want to hear about your red tape horror stories. From today, New Zealanders will have a say on how they are regulated through an online portal,” says Mr Seymour. The ...3 days ago
- Youth Parliament 2025 announced
The Minister for Youth Matt Doocey has today announced the eleventh Youth Parliament will be taking place in 2025. “Youth Parliament offers a unique youth development opportunity to young people from across New Zealand to experience the political process and learn about how government works,” says Mr Doocey. “The two-day ...4 days ago
- Police stats show promising change
After nearly a year in Government, Kiwis have seen significant change across law and order with promising early results shown across some Police statistics, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “In August 2023, I told New Zealanders that if they had not started to see a change in public safety within ...4 days ago
- Better coordination of anti-scam efforts
With the launch of Fraud Awareness Week, the Government is committing to new coordination efforts across industry and government to combat online scams, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Online financial scams are a growing problem for New Zealand. New data released today shows that Kiwis lost nearly ...4 days ago
- Minister to consider 7AA select committee report
Minister for Children Karen Chhour will consider the recommendations made by the Social Services and Community Committee in its report back to Parliament on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill. “I want to thank the people who made submissions and those who appeared before the committee in ...4 days ago
- Defence Minister to attend ASEAN meeting
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Vientiane, Laos. “We need to take every opportunity to engage with our international partners, given the increasingly unstable geo-political situation,” Ms Collins says. “New Zealand has a long-standing commitment to this ...4 days ago
- Launching the White Ribbon Ride
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- Construction to begin on next stage of Papakura to Drury
Construction on the next stage of the SH1 Papakura to Drury project will begin early next month, with the contract for works awarded to Fulton Hogan, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. "SH1 Papakura to Drury is a key project that will drive economic growth and productivity, reduce congestion, and enable people ...6 days ago
- Gang patch ban: The first 24 hours
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The committee plans to hold hearings in the week starting Monday, 27 January and the weeks starting 10, 17 and 24 February 2025. ...2 hours ago
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Its strange that Todd Barclay tops the list, even though hes from a larger electorate. Someone like Kelvin Davis , like the top third of labour MPS has important duties beyond his electorate so travels all over the country.
WE dont get where and when Mps travel, but is Todd Barclay travelling all over the country too- more specifically to Auckland where he once worked ?
Apart from its statutory functions like Immigration, and admin stuff like Tourism, I cannot for the life of me figure out what MBIE actually delivers.
Bring back the old Ministry of Economic Development, which actually worked with the regions to make good and interesting business happen in regions that needed it.
I have a friend who works for MBIE, no longer does he not understand the title, he no longer understands it’s purpose.
Before National, he felt he had a job to do !!!
Swings & roundabouts.
What Gerry & MBIE spend will be off-set by Judith saving the taxpayer thousands driving her dealership sponsored Peugeot.
Which will be off-set by he flag referendum.
How about the PM appears with a Sky City, Roading transport, Big business T shirt with all his sponsor logos on it every time he appears in public.
At least it is transparent!
Sarc.
Liddle NZ leading the way in the privatisation of government…. one morally corrupt politician at a time.
No there isnt any savings. They get an allowance to cover electorate expenses including vehicle. If she doesnt spend it on petrol shes free to spend it or not
So she gets to keep it.
Meaningless small target criticism of the Government. At a guess, the Labour caucus costs the tax payer $800K every 4 weeks or so. Are we getting our monies worth.
CV – agreed.
The essentials for every human being to survive are air, water, food, shelter, health.
A government which denies its citizens these essentials is corrupt.
Yes, I say “denies” because these necessities are available in abundance in New Zealand. But the rich have brainwashed us with their immoral excuses for why it is “normal” for some of us to be denied access to these necessities.
What the rich worship as their “free market capitalist economic system” is nothing more than a creed of greed. They say it is blasphemy to protest or try to create a less corrupt society.
The same was said about slavery.
**Gerry Brownlee spent $2100 a day on 5-star hotel room**
Let’s get real here. He probably needed the extra space to move about!
+100
was probably a days hire for the crane so he could move about.
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
MBIE or is it NIMBY by the way they can spend and not be accountable without further expense to the nation’s taxpayers
Well the Mobie staff clearly feel they are not being given the lead they want as they are going on strike.
And the word around town is that the hair straighteners where left on and fried themselves useless and nobody any where near the place is allowed to utter the second word of “Mobie dick”
It irrelevant whether or not they have followed the rules. THEY make their own rules.
The question is, “Should parliamentarians be sovereign over everyone else? Or should the people have the ultimate say?”
If what parliamentarians are doing is excessive/unethical, the majority of the people should have the power to stop them. If we had such powers, they’d smarten up in a hurry.