Blind belief in privatisation fails taxpayers again

The Government’s blind belief that privatisation will save the taxpayer money has been proven wrong once again and it needs to face the facts before we sell off further assets, says Labour’s Associate Education Spokesperson Chris Hipkins.

“Figures quietly released by the Ministry of Education show that the much vaunted Public Private Partnership to build the Hobsonville Schools in Auckland will actually cost the taxpayer more than it saves.

“No wonder the Government tried to keep these details undercover. The $2 million saved over the next 25 years is pocket money compared to the savings John Key boasted PPP’s would bring.

“In fact the savings are far less than the $3.5 million which has been spent on developing the business case for this privatisation deal.

“For a Government that professes to be focused on cutting back office waste, this is a stunning waste of money from our education budget,” said Chris Hipkins.

“Private consultants have been the real winners from this deal, not taxpayers; KPMG and Castalia have pocketed $995,000 and $152,000 respectively for their roles in developing the business case.

“That the Government has now moved on to spend $120 million on advertising and PR to sell off our state assets shows they are still refusing to remove their collective heads from the sand,” Chris Hipkins said.