The National Government bent all sorts of rules to give $24 million to Gumboot Friday just to fulfil a coalition agreement.

“The Auditor General’s damning findings today make it crystal clear that coalition agreements alone cannot be used to justify government expenditure,” Labour mental health spokesperson Ingrid Leary said.

“The findings say the procurement process was “unusual and inconsistent” with the principles used to procure government services.

“The Government talks a big game about spending public money wisely yet used a loophole to get Gumboot Friday funding across the line without a fair and transparent process.

“They did this because they had already decided before coming into government that Gumboot Friday was an organisation they wanted to fund.

“It’s outrageous that the loophole was used to “retrospectively justify an outcome that had already been decided” which flies in the face of goo procurement.

“By pre-cooking the outcome National forced officials to use a legal loophole they know was never intended for this type of procurement.

“Ministers must stop from riding roughshod over procurement rules to maintain public trust and confidence and NZ’s reputation for public sector integrity.

“Meanwhile other mental health community groups locked out of government funding are struggling to provide critical services to their communities, and several have already closed,” Ingrid Leary said.