Heather du Plessis-Allan: I thought National was supposed to be good with our money?

I’ll tell you why I don’t like the money we’re spending on Sunny Kaushal and the Retail Crime Advisory Group: it’s not a good deal. 

I haven’t got a problem with Sunny Kaushal, but he was offering his ideas to the Government for free. 

If someone offers you something for free and you then decide to pay for it, that is a bad deal. 

And it’s not bad coin we’re paying either. 

Sunny Kaushal is earning $920 a day. 

Between March 1st and June 10th, which is 102 days, he earned $95,112. 

He can claim up to $920 dollars a day. 

Now my sums tell me that means he’s been working and claiming seven days a week. For 102 days straight. 

Nearly $100,000 for three months work ain’t bad. 

Then there's the personnel cost of $330,000 for, what Sunny told us yesterday, lawyers and policy work. 

That's work which can mostly be done in-house by Government departments and ministerial offices, who do this all the time, and have probably already done work on some of the ideas pitched by the retail crime fighting unit. 

Frankly, at the cost of $330,000 I think we can all see someone’s taking the mickey with their bills. 

Now, if you are offered something for free, why would you pay for it? 

That’s how the Government gravy train works. 

Good for Sunny Kaushal. If I was offered that much money by the Government for doing what I was already doing, I would take it. 

But I expected better from National, given that we are broke and they are supposed to be careful with money. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Listen, I tell you what I don't like about the
money that we're spending on Sunny cul Sial and the
Retail Crime Advisory Group. It's not a good deal. That's
what I don't like. I don't have a problem with
Sunny Caucial. In fact, I like most of the ideas
that he pitches quite a lot, actually, but he was
pitching these ideas to the government for free. If someone
offers you something for free and you then decide to

(00:21):
pay for it, that's a bad deal, isn't it. And
and we are paying very very good coin for these
ideas that were free five minutes ago. Sonny Caucial can
claim apparently for his work nine hundred and twenty dollars
a day now between March first and June tenth, which
is one hundred and two days. One news reckons he
earned himself more than ninety five thousand dollars. Now, my

(00:43):
suns tell me that ninety five thousand dollars divided by
nine hundred and twenty means that he has been working
and claiming that money seven days a week, every single week,
for one hundred and two days straight. And then there
are some other money there that I cannot explain that's
on top of that. Now, nearly a hundred thousand dollars
for three three months work is not bad, is it?

(01:04):
And then never mind that, but look at the personnel
cost of three hundred and thirty thousand dollars, which Sonney
told us yesterday was for lawyers and policy work work.
I would say that mostly can be done in house
by government departments and ministerial officers, because they do this
kind of thing all the time, and in fact, they
have probably already done work on some of these ideas
that have been pitched. Given that the ideas have been
pitched in the past beforehand, it's not all that novel

(01:25):
right now. Frankly, at the cost of three hundred and
thirty thousand dollars for three months work of policy and
legal work, I think that we can see that someone
is taking the mickey here, aren't they. Now? This fundamental
question behind all of this SILVISI is if you're offered
something for free, why would you pay for it? And
the simple answer is because that is how the government

(01:45):
gravy train works. Good for Sonny Caucial If I was
offered that much money by the government for doing what
I was already doing. I would take it, but I
expected better from National given that we are broke as
a country and they are supposed to be careful with money.
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