Corrections has spent over $305,000 on slushy syrup and maintaining frozen ice machines in the past six years.
The news comes as proposed job cuts ravage the public service with 3460 jobs set for the chopping block, as part of the cost savings drive.
The slushy machines caused controversy in 2019 when it was revealed Corrections had spent over $1 million of taxpayer money on 193 slushy machines.
The then-National leader Simon Bridges called it “irresponsible and wasteful spending” at the time but then-Corrections minister Kelvin Davis said was about health and safety.
Since then the slushy fund has continued with 160 of the 193 original machines still in use and $305,906 spent on syrup, maintaining them.
This is a dog-whistle.
It’s a rounding error amount of the corrections budget, and cost-effective.
Buried in here is criticism of how much is spent on corrections and that we should be spending less (i.e. have poorer quality prisons for inmates and staff).
Remember every tax dollar spent was stolen from businesses and the bourgeoisie.