If tourism is producing massive income for New Zealand why are John Key and Bill English putting it in their “back pockets” and distributing just a few “coins” to the real earners?

“That’s exactly what they did this year by giving local councils just a paltry total of $12 million funding over four years to support their infrastructure costs,” says New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“Meanwhile, the government has collected GST from international tourism of $1.1 billion.

“The government is out of touch with the burden put on ratepayers. In small town NZ tourist coaches, rental cars and campervans are parked up at the toilet blocks where they don’t pay a cent, and too few spend in the town on food and drinks.

“Tekapo has an $800,000 cost for its toilet project, Hot Water Beach at Hahei used paid parking to fund toilets and Kaikoura is now wondering how to pay for toilets near the popular seal pup waterfall north of the town.

“Last year, a local government working group revealed that they spent $140 million on the tourism industry mostly in funding promotions, events and I-Site visitor centres. That excluded toilets, sewerage costs, extra water costs and bylaw enforcements.

“Why isn’t a slice of the government’s take being diverted to communities to help pay for infrastructure that support tourism?” says Mr Peters.

“A Lincoln University study estimated that in 2015 councils spent $37.90 per head of population on the tourism industry, that rose to $59.60 per head in areas with less than 10,000 people and in some councils, such as Mackenzie and Waitaki, it was over $80 a head.”

A New Zealand First release