Richlister Peter Jackson should refuse corporate welfare to allow more funding for Pharmac instead

The Taxpayers’ Union congratulates Sir Peter Jackson on coming in at number 5 on this year’s NBR rich list and urges him to refuse any corporate welfare for his upcoming films so that the government can fund Pharmac instead.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Taxpayer money should go towards medicine not movies. Sir Peter’s films have already received hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate handouts thanks to the New Zealand taxpayer. With a combined net worth with his wife of an estimated $3 billion, it is clear that Sir Peter has benefitted significantly from generous taxpayer support – it’s time he returned the favour.

“While a good first step is refusing to take any further money, we encourage him to go further and return all of the taxpayer funding he has received so that the money can be used to increase the Pharmac budget to fund the life-saving medicines New Zealanders need.

“This gesture would hardly break the bank for Sir Peter but would go a long way to delivering more life-changing medicine to those battling illness. As an indication of what this money could do, the amount of money spent on film and gaming subsidies each year is approximately $30 million more than what it would cost to fund 13 new cancer treatments in New Zealand.

“Obviously funding decisions should be made by Pharmac, but it should be clear to all what is a better use of limited taxpayer funding – we hope Sir Peter Jackson agrees.”