Jordan Williams: Taxpayers Union defends taking wage subsidy

The head of the Taxpayer's Unions has admitted it is embarrassing but necessary that they accepted Government money. The lobby group, which is focused on lower taxes and better public spending, has always vowed it would never take taxpayer support. However, it was revealed last week it had received over $60,000 from the wage subsidy scheme. Executive Director Jordan Williams told The Weekend Collective that he never thought they would be in this position. "Like every not for profit around New Zealand, we're totally reliant on the goodwill of New Zealanders supporting us and donating to our work, and the choice was between laying off staff versus swallowing the principles and saving jobs." He says that only 15 per cent of their funding last year came from corporate groups. He says that before the wage subsidy was released, they had released a report calling for the government to use taxpayer money to support businesses and frontline workers. "This is the rainy day. It is right for the government to be supporting and compensating organisations because of this government's mandated lockdown." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.