Taxpayers and Ratepayers Subsidizing Irresponsible Property Investors

Responding to news that the Government has pledged $15 million towards the restoration of the St James Theatre in Auckland, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Callum Purves, said:

“The Government’s offer to provide $15 million in funding towards restoring the St James Theatre - in addition to the $15 million already pledged by Auckland Council - is an incredibly brazen waste of taxpayer and ratepayers’ money.

“The tax burden on working families is spiralling out of control, and Auckland Council has just recently passed its largest ever rates rise. This is a time to be making hard financial choices about where to cut back spending, not committing vast sums of the public’s hard-earned money to local nice-to-haves.

“The owners of the theatre chose not to insure the building. Taxpayers should not be subsidizing the poor financial decisions of property investors.”