Yesterday I expressed disquiet about the proposed ownership scheme for Pita Sharples' tupperwaka. While the government would be paying for almost all of it, Ngati Whatua will end up owning it. A friend who works in the public service has pointed out an explanation for this:
There is however an explanation for the ownership structure and that is that no government agency wants to wear the capital charge, depreciation and operating costs for an expensive idea that has come out of the blue, unbudgeted at a time when everyone's budgets are shrinking and when the government has no use for it after the tournament. People would have been falling over themselves to not own it.But while that explains why no government department wanted it, it doesn't explain why it is being given free to Ngati Whatua rather than sold to the highest bidder. And that aspect smells of a sweetheart deal for a powerful iwi in a marginal electorate.
