Podcasts Other The Mike Hosking Breakfast Christopher Luxon: Prime Minister on the New Zealand Film Commission's spending on parties

Christopher Luxon: Prime Minister on the New Zealand Film Commission's spending on parties

Published: July 29, 2024, 8:15 p.m.

The\xa0New Zealand Film Commission\xa0has raised eyebrows by throwing two parties apiece for its outgoing acting chief executive, and for its incoming chief executive, for a total cost of $16,431.\xa0

In a\xa0kind of mirror image approval, incoming chief executive Annie Murray signed off the $8,627 price of two farewell parties for outgoing acting chief executive Mladen Ivancic; and Ivancic signed off the $7,804 price of two p\u014dwhiri (welcome events) for Murray.\xa0

The celebrations took place in 2023, several months before the October election that ushered in a new Government and a \u201csavings and efficiency drive\u201d across the public sector \u2013 Budget 2024 reduced the\xa0NZFC\u2019s baseline funding\xa0by 7.5% ($405,000 per annum).\xa0

Christopher Luxon says the Film Commission's spending on parties doesn't seem appropriate.\xa0

The Prime Minister told Mike Hosking that such spending won't do anything to attract companies like Apple, who are interested in doing film productions in New Zealand.\xa0

Luxon says for a company like Apple, what matters is that he's aware of what's going on, and that he's encouraging them to do to the project here, rather than elsewhere.\xa0

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