Look, I hate wasteful spending as much as you do, but yeah, I'm just not getting that excited about the money that's been spent on that dance competition.

I just don't think that the comparisons between the money that was put into that and the nonsense that councils get up to are fair. I mean, that is certainly what the Taxpayers Union is trying to say.

They're making the comparison. They're pretty hot under the collar about it and they've suggested the government can hardly tell councils one day to rein in their spending and then the very next day have one of their ministers, Melissa Lee, go and spend $750,000 worth of taxpayer money on bringing a global dance competition to Auckland but it's just not the same thing by any stretch.

I mean, what the Councils are doing is they're chucking money into stuff that does nothing. It returns nothing. An expensive bike rack that no one uses that's just sunk money. You're not going to get money out of that. It's just sunk money. It's just sitting there now. A garden on the roof of a bus hub that's just money gone. That's not going to make you any more money. A cycle way even is just wasted money if no one uses it. But putting money into a dance competition actually returns money because it brings people from around the world to Auckland, where they then spend money. So that's $750,000 spend by central government is estimated to bring New Zealand, not counting Auckland, just New Zealand around Auckland, $3,000,000 now it's not a lot $3,000,000, but then neither, frankly is $750,000 on the event, right? Just put a little bit. In you get a little bit back. And frankly, the Taxpayers Union knows this. They know that this is how events work around the world. People only come here if you pay for them. The FIFA will World Cup, last year, we paid for that to come. Barcelona paid to take wherever it went. In the end, the Americas Cup office, right wherever it goes, that place is taking it because they're spending for it. You basically have to subsidies them in order for them to come. This is just how events work. That's why we have a thing called a major events fund. That is the fund that Melissa Lee was using. That's what it's for.

Now I'm happy to have a debate about whether Auckland Council should have stumped up what it put in, because it's only put it's putting in $750,000, which is the same amount of central government. But it's only getting an estimated $1 million back in return. Now that's a little bit on the line as to whether they're actually gonna get their money back, but the government's contribution is not throwing money away, it's an investment. And that's very different to what councils are doing.