Governor-General costs us $7m: same as a real head of state
The Estimates of Appropriations for the 2011 Budget have shown, one again, that the office of New Zealand's Governor-General costs New Zealand taxpayers about the same as an actual head of state. The office has seen a cut in its budget by 3% to $7,092,000 million. The de facto head of state costs every New Zealander around $1.65 each.
Meanwhile, the President of the Republic of Ireland, a country with a parliamentary system of government and with a population roughly the same size as New Zealand, will cost Irish taxpayers around $5.4 million New Zealand dollars (see "President's Establishment" - converted at today's Euro - NZ Dollar exchange rate) over the next year.
| Cost of the Governor-General |
||
| Expense |
2010 - 2011 (actual) |
2011 - 2012 (budget) |
| Support Services and Maintenance of the residences |
$4,318,000 |
$3,514,000* |
| Depreciation Expenses on Government Houses |
$1,708,000 |
$1,962,000 |
| Remuneration and Travel |
$1,279,000 |
$1,616,000* |
| Total | $7,305,000 | $7,092,000 |
*due to the Governor-General Act 2010, these figures are now split off into different categories.
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Lewis, any ideas where the differences between the expenditures on Ireland's President and New Zealand's GG arise? Should I go and have a poke around in the accounts? Perhaps Ireland's President doesn't have such flash houses (and thereby incurs lower expenses for depreciation).
"Meanwhile, the President of the Republic of Ireland, a country with a parliamentary system of government and with a population roughly the same size as New Zealand"...but the country is physically much smaller meaning travel expenses would be less. Also, that means that there has not been the same need to have as many residences as in NZ. Plus Ireland is not geographically as remote as NZ, hence overseas travel expenses would not ge as great. Your desire to equate the Irish experience with NZ seems to ignore the important differences.
As I've pointed out before - and you continue to ignore - the travel costs of the president of Ireland are actually about the same as our Governor-General.
As you can see from the time I posted this, I didn't get a chance to go and look for the break-down of the costs of the Irish president, other than last year's figures.
" Perhaps Ireland's President doesn't have such flash houses (and thereby incurs lower expenses for depreciation)."
Wellington Govt House has had an expensive refit...which probably caused a surge in costs. I doubt a Presidency would see a reduction in housing costs. I would imagine the costs of the extra residences in NZ would be a large factor in NZ expenses.
It all depends on your depreciation policy. The cost of the rebuilding of Government House Wellington is not included in the $7m figure.
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