Last week the government ended its persecution of the Waihopai Three. So how much did this pointless exercise in vengeance cost? $93,000 according to an OIA request lodged through FYI. $87,000 of that will be billed to the GCSB; the remainder is time which will be written off by Crown Law.
This is pure waste. The damages claim against the protesters would not have achieved anything, as they had no money to extract. All it was was revenge for the GCSB's deflated ego. You can judge whether that was an appropriate use of taxpayer's money at the ballot box later this year.