Sunday, February 26, 2012

Go further Banks

John Banks is making noise about the proposed $1.6 million tax-payer funding of New Zealand's Got Talent.
John Banks is unimpressed at the injection of $1.6 million of taxpayers' money to help fund 'New Zealand's Got Talent'. Part of the cost of making the series is coming from public arts and culture funding. But the ACT leader says while the show is nice to have, it's something the country can't afford when we're borrowing millions a week to stay afloat. He thinks a commercial sponsor should be found.
Of course I agree, but would nevertheless make this observation. If I had to choose where I least minded the 'arts and culture' funding going it would probably be on a mainstream popular show like this. Rather than some avant-garde, minority-taste 'art' of which we have seen many dreadful examples. At least a talent show which ultimately rests on  public voting  can actually sort out the wheat from the chaff. Unlike those elitists who accept funding applications for pointless installations at public galleries - the only kind that will host them.

But Banks should really have gone further (and may have but not been reported) and objected to the entire arts and culture budget which has grown obscenely during the recession. Heritage, Culture and Recreation spending in millions from 2007 to 2012 (final year is an estimate):

2007 $844
2008 $1,107
2009 $1,002
2010 $1,281
2011 $1,966
 2012 $2,490

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

$2.4 billion? You are kidding me!!

Disgraceful. And under a Nat government.

FF said...

The arts usually find a way to privatise the gains and socialise the losses.

Anonymous said...

$2.4 billion? You are kidding me!!

Yeah. that's right. slightly more than two weeks of borrowing!

The arts usually find a way to privatise the gains and socialise the losses

It's heritage, culture and recreation. Don't suppose you can think of any fucking Hellen-Cullen boondoggle late last year that was paid for last year & this year?

surprised you didn't show the net few years of the spending:

2012 1,542
2013 1,494
2014 1,738

Someone had to pay for the fucken ruckby.

baxter said...

In her final year Clark upped the ante for her favourite elements, and it rightly fell in National's first year but the subsequent escalations are obscene.

Will be a fluke if I get your long unreadable codewords.