The Green Party has raised concerns about the government's potential misuse of public money to fund political propaganda about government health targets.
“It’s concerning that the government has potentially used public money for political advertising. This is clearly a breach of the Cabinet Office guidelines, especially at this point in the election cycle” says Green Party Public Service Spokesperson Francisco Hernandez.
“These advertisements talk about the progress HealthNZ has made against government health targets that have been set by the National Party and frequently used as a political talking point.”
“These advertisements have been placed in some of our biggest newspapers like The Press, The Post, Waikato Times, Otago Daily Times, and the New Zealand Herald, and closely mirror press releases issued by the National Party just days prior.”
“The government knows their track record on health is indefensible. They’ve failed to hire enough nurses, our emergency departments are in crisis, and too many New Zealanders cannot get an appointment with a GP for weeks.”
“The scale of this campaign suggests this is not just a one-off ad placement, but rather a targeted, consistent campaign that attempts to paint National Party health targets in a positive light.”
“Instead of using taxpayer money to fund the health system, the government is using taxpayer money to try make themselves look good.”
“I’ve written to the Public Service Commissioner and Auditor General to raise these concerns, halt the advertisement campaigns and urge these offices to review the matter.”
“Public money is for the people, not for politicians to indulge in glossy advertisements.”
