Basically, I'm going to let Nicola Willis do the opener for me this morning.

After the discussion we had earlier this week about the absolutely callous disregard with which local and central government treat our money, how timely was this report from the Auditor General's office?

They were charged with deciding whether the $640 million spent on projects during Covid, left over from the Provincial Growth fund, whether that was money well spent.

Fair question. Money was allocated. Was it well spent?

Auditor General's office can't tell us. “We have no position on whether the PGF does or does not represent good value for money. At the moment, we can't see how it's tracking.”

Funding was approved for several projects, including in the rail ports, construction, renovation and workforce training sectors but there was little to no evidence of record keeping or note taking.  

It’s just the way they cannot account for where any of it goes!

If I was paying that wack of taxes, as I have been for most of my working life, and knew it was going to pay nurses more, improve resources for schools, that it was going to create an infrastructure that would see New Zealand into the future – fine!

Even some of these half-asked Mickey Mouse policies that Labour has come up with, if they were working OK, fine. But there is no evidence there is there is. No evidence of where half of the money they've spent has gone.

And that is not money from a money tree. That is money that you and I have gone out and earned.

Some of you have to get up and the early hours of the morning and work through the day. Some have to get up in the middle of the night, some have to go out in weather like this. And the Government takes that money and doesn't give a damn about how you've earned it.

About how hard you've had to work. Because we are, we’re just warm ATMs. I am so sick and tired of it and it just doesn't seem to stop.

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