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New Zealand's core public service reportedly spending three times more on advertising than 2017

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 9 May 2023, 5:00AM
2022 was a record year for donations. Photo / Getty Images
2022 was a record year for donations. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand's core public service reportedly spending three times more on advertising than 2017

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 9 May 2023, 5:00AM

New Zealand's core public service is spending almost three times more on advertising compared to when Labour first came into office.

Newstalk ZB can reveal $98 million went towards ads and PR campaigns in the last financial year, up from $33 million in 2017.

That includes big spends by the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Development, and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The Public Service Minister says he's satisfied with the amount of cash Government departments are dishing out on advertising.

Andrew Little says there's no reason to worry about the figures - once you exclude the Covid-19 public health campaigns.

"I don't expect there to be a lot more spending on Covid. Beyond that, I'm not sure that there's anything particularly unusual."

Andrew Little maintains any bump is related to the Covid pandemic.

"Unless I saw evidence that there was some extraordinary increase in non-public-health-related messaging, I'm not quite sure I'm going to ask departments to reduce their advertising spend." 

A spokesperson for the Public Service Commission says the increase is due to the Unite against Covid-19 campaign and vaccination drive.

National's public service spokesperson Simeon Brown - whose analysis threw up the figures - says it's time to stop masking over issues with pretty pictures.

"All Governments have always spent some money on public information campaigns, but this Government has taken that to a whole new level. This is out of control and needs to be brought back into check."

 

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