Major Events Fund Misuse

Afternoon. Welcome to the show. Coming up today, we've got Chris Hipkins on Chris Lux and going all anti-migrant on the business community. Nickel Ravishanka, the Air New Zealand chief executive on the massive projected loss. And we'll get you across the all-white squad name for the World Cup. Here's a question for you. How badly did we get ripped off if it's true that we paid three million dollars to get Robbie Williams here? Now we don't know for sure, for sure that that is the amount of money that the government paid out of its major events fund, but that is what Maine Wayne Brown, the mayor of Auckland has revealed today in a fit of peak at the government. And so far nobody's publicly denied it, not even Louise Upston, who's the minister in charge of the money. And privately, we at this show have had at least one what I would call soft confirmation that the amount is correct. Now, if that's true, three million dollars for as Wayne Brown calls him, a tattooed palm is a lot of money. And it's too much money. We're wasting taxpayer money here. For a start, as excited as I personally am to be going to Robbie's concert in November, I don't think a 90s pop star is what we imagined the major events fund would have been used for when it was set up after we missed out on Taylor Swift and Oasis and Lady Gaga. I mean, two of two in that list are proper A-list stars, and one is a massively overdue reunion. Completely different league, completely different league to Robbie. An offshore promoter told us three million dollars is way too much to pay for Robbie. Singapore, this will put it in perspective for you. Singapore reportedly paid three million dollars New Zealand for six Taylor Swift concerts two years ago. Now, if three million dollars buys you six Tay Tays, how did we end up blowing three million dollars on only one Robbie? We've been ripped off good and proper here, and the proof is in the fact that the tickets are apparently not selling very well at the moment. But then again, then again, bear this in mind, okay? Maybe this is what we just need to get used to and stop fighting it. Robbie and Lincoln Park may well be just the best that New Zealand can do now. Big stars like Lady Gaga and Oasis and Tay Tay and Harry Styles are going to go to Australia, not here, and they're going to expect us to come to them, and we will. I'm flying to Harry Styles. I flew to Oasis. Heaps of people flew to Tay Tay. That's how it works now. And if we're going to want a former boy band member who peaked in the 90s to come to New Zealand, we are simply going to have to pay a lot of money for him.