Winston asks where the $14b went?

Winston Peters writes:

We left office in October with $14 billion left in the Covid fund. We argued in our letter for prudent stewardship of public money in the event of a future shock.

Minister Robertson agreed and, in his public announcement, said the remaining $14 billion in the fund was being set aside for such a purpose. To quote the Minister, “The fund is not there to be used for any old project in the never-never.” …

If that $14 billion worth of spending had been solely Covid-related then so be it, but the connection between the virus and cameras on fishing boats, prohibitively expensive free school lunches, or a billion-dollar-plus “Jobs for Nature” programme, and ongoing cost of living payments and fuel discounts into the never-never, well, is not obvious.

It turned into the biggest slush fund in the modern era.