The Government’s decision to pour another billion dollars into KiwiRail shows terrible business acumen, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.
Taxpayers’ Union Economist, Joe Ascroft, says, “As a State Owned Enterprise, KiwiRail is required to be as profitable as possible, yet
it has never paid a single cent in dividends to the Government – despite receiving more than $5 billion of Government
funding since 2008. Pouring an additional billion dollars into KiwiRail will not change reality – KiwiRail will never be
a profitable company.”
“There are plenty of profitable business in New Zealand that would have appreciated $1 billion in tax cuts to allow them
to grow and invest. Instead, the Government is allowing nostalgia for rail to shape economic policy, when in reality $1
billion for KiwiRail is the equivalent of lighting taxpayers’ money on fire.”