The Dotcom decade - and what it has cost the taxpayer
8 minutes to read
The Government s lawyers have spent 40,500 hours working on Megaupload- and Kim Dotcom-related cases over the past decade. If those lawyers were working 40-hour weeks, the effort exerted would be 19 years and six months of work - or two lawyers constantly working full time over the entire period the drama has unfolded.
If lawyers were builders, the work invested could have seen 40 houses built. If the case was theatre - which at times it has been - then 20 productions could have been staged.
Data released through the Official Information Act show that, in addition to the 40,500 hours, the case has cost $3.6 million in airfares, external solicitors fees, court fees, photocopying and other costs.
Businesses are desperate for the work but they re getting spread thin. I d love to be charging more but we simply can t, Dempsey says. People are reducing their prices so they can stay afloat during these incredibly challenging times. However, I m not able to pay my staff more, even though their costs are going up.
New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) says while we ve had building booms and skilled trade shortages before, we ve never had such extremes at the same time. It s just taken a while to flow through, and it s been exacerbated by the incredibly high volume within the industry currently. So we ve just got a perfect storm, NZCB chief executive Grant Florence says.
People wanting a specific builder or a refurbishment to their home are being told they may have to wait one to two years due to a lack of skilled tradies.
New Zealand Certified Builders chief executive Grant Florence says there s a great flow of new and eager tradies coming into the sector - but still a major shortage of skilled tradespeople.
Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
The housing boom and an ageing work-force has been exacerbated by a lack of international labour due to border closures.
Last month the Building and Construction Industry said the number of apprentices was at an all time high - 16,000 people are currently training for one of the trades.