A good corporate welfare expose
The Spinoff becomes an unlikely fiscal conservative:
Tourism minister Louise Upston was excited when she announced that Robbie Williams will play two shows in Auckland and Christchurch later this year. “It’s fantastic to welcome a showstopper act like Robbie, giving fans the chance to see him entertaining us,” she said in a press release.
The Robbie Williams concerts will receive funding from the government’s $70m major events and tourism package. Upston was definitive that the government funding was essential in securing the concerts: “Without government investment, New Zealand would not have been part of the global tour,” she said.
The fund was in part a response to the public perception that a number of high-profile international acts had skipped New Zealand in recent years, including Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. But does Robbie Williams really fall into that category?
The two concerts this year will be the 13th and 14th times that Robbie Williams has performed in New Zealand. In 28 years, Williams has never toured Australia without including New Zealand.
Excellent point.
Linkin Park were among the first recipients of the government fund, announced in December. They performed to a packed crowd at Spark Arena last week. It was their fifth show in Auckland and their fourth at the same venue. Auckland is far from the most obscure city the band is visiting on their 100-stop From Zero tour – the upcoming leg features Nürburg, Germany, Donington Park, England, and Werchter, Belgium.
So the fund is really just corporate welfare for bands.
You can make a case for film production subsidies because films can only be made in one location, and there is a globally competitive market.
But subsidies for major events are not needed, in my opinion. Bands will come to NZ if they think the revenue they will gain from doing so is greater than the marginal cost of adding us onto an Australian tour.
Investing in infrastructure such as Eden Park, so they can perform at a large venue can be worthwhile. But simply paying them money to come over, is not.
The post A good corporate welfare expose first appeared on Kiwiblog.