Taxpayer-funded Hīkoi organiser shows Parliament’s budget a political slush fund

With one of the lead organisers of Hīkoi - Eru Kapa-Kingi - being a paid Parliamentary staffer working for Te Pāti Māori, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said “if taxpayer money is being spent, we need to see the receipts.”

“Parliamentary budgets are for helping constituents, not political campaigning. Parliament’s exceptional carve-out from freedom of information laws means we’ll never know if taxpayers had to stump up the cash.”

“Te Pāti Māori are far from the only party doing this. All parties use public money for campaigning, and then have the gall to tell us we’re not allowed to know how a cent of it is spent.”

“Taxpayers’ money is not a political slush fund. MPs shouldn’t be able to hide how they’re wasting our money, and it’s long-past time their budgets were covered by the OIA.”

"18,397 Kiwis submitted to Parliament demanding to open the books. How much longer are MPs going to bury their heads in the sand?"