When John Key raised the idea of his corrupt little deal with SkyCity, he did it on the basis of jobs, promising "800 jobs on completion, 1000 during construction" [PDF]. Now it looks as if he pulled those numbers out of his arse:
Job numbers touted by Prime Minister John Key for a proposed international convention centre at SkyCity are much higher than official estimates.This is Key the used-car-salesman in action, sexing up the numbers to make the sale. The problem is that its deceitful and wrong and erodes trust in government. Politicians wonder why we think they're all liars? Its because of bullshit like this, and their systematic failure to correct their collective behaviour.Mr Key has said a deal allowing SkyCity more gambling facilities in exchange for funding the convention centre would provide 900 construction jobs and work for 800 people at the centre.
But the figures are much higher than those in a feasibility study done for the Government by hospitality and travel specialist analyst Horwath Ltd.
Horwath director Stephen Hamilton said he was concerned over reports the convention centre would employ 800 staff - a fulltime-equivalent total of 500.
He said the feasibility study put the number of people who would be hired at between 318 and 479.
"That's not the number of employees at the convention centre. That's the number in the whole economy. Some will be at the convention centre, some will be in the hotels and some will be additional taxi drivers."
