REVEALED: Children’s Commissioner Spends $140,000 on Self-Promoted Campaign

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through an Official Information Act request that the Children’s Commissioner’s “Dear Children” campaign cost $139,880.25 (GST inclusive).

While advocacy is part of the Commissioner’s role, the campaign places Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad front and centre, raising questions about whether this is public service messaging or publicly funded self-promotion.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, said:

“Advocacy is part of the Children’s Commissioner’s job and at first glance this looks like a worthy campaign. Yet spending nearly $140,000 on a campaign led so prominently by the Commissioner looks to cross a line into self-promotion.”

“This campaign is built around the Commissioner’s personal message and profile, rather than the full focus being on delivering a safer future for children.”

“On top of this, the goal was to reach as many adults as possible and start national conversations. So instead of measurable outcomes for children, they got 18,000 new users to the Dear Children website, with just 21 percent signing the letter.”

“Taxpayers deserve confidence that their funding is being used to improve outcomes for vulnerable children, not promotional advertising.”

One of the billboard advertisement can be found here