Appearing on his weekly AM slot on Wednesday, Hipkins argued there was nothing wrong with the Prime Minister’s office.
“He’s got one standard for himself, which is a very, very high standard, and a different standard for others who he thinks should make do with a whole lot less.”
Hipkins criticised the upgrading while the Government simultaneously cuts public service costs.
The Coalition Government has directed the public services to cut costs by 6.5 to 7.5 percent to help reduce annual public service spending by $1.5 billion, resulting in thousands of jobs proposed to be axed across the sector. The Government said the cuts were in response to an increase in public servants under Labour.
“The Premier House wasn’t good enough for him, the Prime Minister’s office wasn’t good enough for him. He seems to have no hesitation spending money on himself while he’s telling everyone else to suck it up and stomach cuts. I think that shows that his priorities are all wrong.”
The Parliamentary Service has a replacement and upgrade cycle which is conducted every year and the $57,000 cost involved installing video-conferencing gear.
However, there was already video-conferencing equipment in the office.
Hipkins said the equipment was sufficient to run the country during COVID-19 and for former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to run APEC.
He said while time to time equipment should be updated, he wouldn’t prioritise it while laying people off.
“They are making choices to spend more money on themselves and put people out of work – I think that shows that the Government’s choices are the wrong choices.”
Watch the full video above.
Newshub.