$80,000 of taxpayers' dollars for meaningless waffle

2 OCTOBER 2015

The Taxpayers’ Union is labelling the latest round of Community Development grants a joke, highlighting an $80,000 gift to the Methodist Mission an 'award for waffle'. According to the Government’s description, the key outcome for the project/grant is the development of a greater sense of community within Auckland's inner city. The project’s goal is to harness this energy to empower residents and the broader community to self-identify and achieve their aspirations.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says:

“Talk about an easy gig. For $80,0000 who wouldn't harness energy and be empowered to self-identify and achieve aspirations – whatever that means? It’s the sort of Government spending waffle that usually goes unnoticed, but adds up and needs to tackled.“

"When people dress stuff up in fluffy language like this it gives rise to the suspicion that it's a rort."

“Many of the grants under the Community Development Scheme are services the Ministry of Education or Health should be providing anyway. Instead of funding good quality core government services, these grants blur the line between community efforts and government funded services. It may even come at a cost to community involvement, fundraising and philanthropy."

“One of the reasons New Zealand’s communities are poor is because they are over taxed. Only politicians could think that ‘development’ means taxing more so that they can play Santa Claus and give dollops of cash to groups offering these sorts of platitudes. If community groups want to tender for something a community needs good on them, but the Government should be funding specifics, not aspirations.”

More information about this year’s grants, including media contacts for the organisations which received $80,000 are available on the Taxpayers’ Union website.

http://www.taxpayers.org.nz/taxpayers_dollars_for_meaningless_waffle

ENDS

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