The Taxpayers’ Union is warning that the latest spending announcement from the Government will create more corporate welfare bums and lock recipients into a cycle of Government dependency. Responding to the announcement that the Government will spending a further $15 million of taxpayers’ money over the next four years on commercialising what Steven Joyce calls “new clever technologies,” Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams says:
“While Bill English is fighting social welfare dependency, Steven Joyce is increasing the dependency of businesses on Government. In the last Budget alone corporate welfare increased to a staggering $1.34 billion dollars – $752 per Kiwi household.”
“Mr Joyce says that the funding will speed up commercialisation of new technologies. Any entrepreneur would tell you that investors back ideas that they think are commercially viable. Under Mr Joyce’s regime the Government will leave bureaucrats and politicians picking winners with taxpayers’ money.”
“In one of his final columns Sir Paul Callaghan warned the Government about meddling and looking to subsidise the next big thing saying there was a “huge danger in the application of political bias to the ‘smart economy’”. Here the Government’s meddling robs working people and successful businesses so that Mr Joyce can shower money upon favoured industries, just as the late Sir Paul warned.”
“It’s not like the Government has even done well at picking winners. There was the $2.9 million to the French software company that went bust, the grants to SAP, hand-outs to Oracle racing and countless more corporate welfare rip-offs.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is an independent and membership-driven activist group, dedicated to being the voice for Kiwi taxpayers in the corridors of power.
