“They say if you ask a stupid question, you get a stupid answer. In the case of Kris Faafoi, his stupid questions came with a hefty price tag,” says ACT Leader David Seymour
“The Broadcasting Minister commissioned a report from consultants PWC at a cost of $400,000.
“The gist of the report is that the internet is changing media and communications. I’m not sure even Clare Curran would have needed that pointed out to her.
“It’s staggering that Faafoi, a former political television journalist asked for a report that explained to him that ‘news and press are commonly referred to as the fourth estate.’ The report also told him who the Chief Executives of TVNZ and Radio New Zealand are.
“Why did Faafoi need to hire expensive consultants to tell him this? We have 40,000 strong bureaucracy in Wellington – why were they not able to tell the Minister who is running our state broadcasters. Worse still, why doesn’t he know already?
“This is just another example of the Government showing contempt for hardworking New Zealanders who pay their taxes.
“ACT believes we should cut back on wasteful spending. Every cent of taxpayer’s money should be spent wisely, $5000 a page for this report was not value for money.”