Tama Potaka: Conservation Minister unpacks what the foreign tourist levy is being spent on

The vast majority of New Zealand's foreign tourist levy is being held on to by the Government. 

Budget documents show up to $139 million is being banked from the International Visitor Levy for Crown spending. 

This year's budget allocated $55 million a year to spending in conservation and $35 million to new spending in tourism from a pot of almost $230 million. 

Minister of Conservation Tama Potaka told Mike Hosking it helps cover the costs of all things used by tourists, not just things like conservation. 

He says tourists also use the health system and roads, not just conservation estates and tourism areas. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ohe the irony bit of banks around the money, speaking
of which we pull from International tourists budget papers, a
show of the two hundred and twenty nine million collected
each year. The government's banking one hundred and thirty nine
of that. So this is the levey they raised, remember,
from thirty five to one hundred bucks a year. Tim
oft Potak as the Ministry of Conservation and is with
us morning mate.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hey jim mate, how are you very well?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Are those numbers true?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, the t twenty nine was an inestimate number, and
I'm sure mays will be coming true. But importantly, tourists
come and use services, use the conservation state, a whole
range of other things, so it's important that we allocate accordingly.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
So that's what I was trying to find out. Was
the two twenty nine an estimate. So in other words,
you will, once you've got it, pass it on to
the right areas or not.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yes, well, that's exactly what we're going to do. You
might recall in the budget twenty five we said we're
going to give some more money to conservation through their ideal,
and I've got some other ideas as well about how
to make some money off thirty percent of the country,
like what like paid parking in certain areas, charging tourists
international tourists in four or five locations like maybe Cathedrall,
Milford Sound. There's some areas of the country thirty percent

(01:03):
under conservation. We make about sixty million dollars from that, Mike,
it's not good.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
Enough, okay, So just to clarify the story, what you get,
you will pass on. This is like the funding of roads.
When I go to the petrol pump, the money I
pay in tax goes to roads. This will go to conservation,
et cetera.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
The IVL was set up to allocate funds through to
conservation and tourism, right, Okay, that's the first thing. The
second thing is we lifted the dollar amounts of the
IVL from thirty five to hundred dollars. Will increase the
number of dollars that are now going conservation, but not
all of it will go to conservation and tourism.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Well where's it going.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Well, some of it will go to general Crown expenses.
It's not as if tourists come in and just use
the conservation of states and tourism areas. They actually also
use things like the health system and the roads and
a whole runge of very good point.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Did you say at the time, and I think this
is where people get exsty Did you say at the
time and putting it from thirty five to one hundred,
it will go exclusively to conservation and tourism or not.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
No, we did not say that. We were very clear
in the budget that some would go to conservation tourism
and increased amount actually, but some would go to general.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Have you got any sense of whether it's put people
off because that was one of the great criticisms of
the time. People won't come because it's a hundred bucks?
Is that true?

Speaker 2 (02:19):
No, then tourism's coming back. The numbers are branding again.
They're not perfect, but certainly in the South Island, down
Queenston and other areas. Mike, you will know that a
lot of your Australian cousins are coming over.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yes, they are well done, mate. Nice to catch up
time a po Tak and Minister of Conservation. For more
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