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# Taxpayers Are Set to Pay for Hollywood Propaganda
- URL: https://goodoil.news/taxpayers-are-set-to-pay-for-hollywood-propaganda/
- Published: 2021-06-18T22:32:00.000Z
- Updated: 2021-06-19T08:56:12.000Z
- Author: General
- Tags: Featured, Movies, NZ, NZ Politics, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-17 01:54

**Taxpayers’ Union**  

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Taxpayers could fork out millions in subsidies for a new film about Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s response to the Christchurch mosque shootings.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/f4/31f4e20a-0315-499e-83ff-139e8eab53bf/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/imageedit_34_6616493481.jpg)

Rose Byrne to play New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in upcoming film They Are Us. Image credit The BFD.

It’s been reported that the production team [intends to apply](https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/r?u=YqgukYA3Mrlri-dqG7I8Ti90TEZVQFTNOdslmL9vbst-h8sXgO-QYUV1Chj3%5F74DK5T50iL8Me64CS-lnLqTYbjmDfo-XVDE6JGyp2wJwqk&e=60a74dab4ddca719e78a0482505556ed&utm%5Fsource=taxpayers&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=210618%5Ftu%5Fnewsletter%5Flouis&n=15) for a Screen Production Grant from the New Zealand Film Commission.

**If Jacinda Ardern gets the Hollywood treatment while she’s still an active politician, that looks suspiciously like propaganda. Taxpayers should not be forced to fund it.**

We say the Film Commission needs to update its processes to ensure that party-political films aren’t eligible for funding.

In fact, if the film is screening during the 2023 election period, it may cross the line into election advertising. Remember the infamous ‘[Aroha](https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/r?u=JW39XyEPijeopXCz3qaoRSWGWvj6wr1d5fPbJH3tWHkyaz3AKv5Q-SWqWupKQLSYxwUGzPSVmqSqjVga9jOkHtmtkZsWqS%5FqlN-4UKalyQWjTLHFwGCSOXa%5F4bj7pZTgDZFRbz6xZIEyuI421wmlow&e=60a74dab4ddca719e78a0482505556ed&utm%5Fsource=taxpayers&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=210618%5Ftu%5Fnewsletter%5Flouis&n=16)’ posters?

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/f4/31f4e20a-0315-499e-83ff-139e8eab53bf/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/unnamed-1.jpg)

The BFD

Our friend Eric Crampton at the NZ Initiative think tank has [a good article on these issues here](https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/r?u=5xNnogsdD9yGIfGEM2rlXQfNZHZqhqQvWEsYDsb5jcaZhO1C06FbzmmXV7LxsSxfanXBRMYZ-M0F7liUGeaFVN-D9xFceXYZgyp8YtgihTuAJjon7O39dhckrEx0kYDHK4xI6-04I9hVDtJ2YaKJXi7dnHa%5FIFB4vhPW0zT2HXY&e=60a74dab4ddca719e78a0482505556ed&utm%5Fsource=taxpayers&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=210618%5Ftu%5Fnewsletter%5Flouis&n=17).

There are other good reasons for the Government to distance itself from this film. Families affected by the shootings have understandably [denounced the film](https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/r?u=P3K5%5FWy%5FKQatCrF7mNfuSGUzCHQyXTFCmd6TBeX8uGtqD2CNSo%5FoDRrZvaPB6%5Fp7g9--ld-GPz7t1HKCStQ8QKPsUCAiriJWsK6ofk2tG9vlC3HXeVGqCXKTPelj8tBq3rS%5FZtFhb7xmoR7K7DaBqQ&e=60a74dab4ddca719e78a0482505556ed&utm%5Fsource=taxpayers&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=210618%5Ftu%5Fnewsletter%5Flouis&n=18) as exploitative. Taxpayers shouldn’t be made complicit in a production that profits from a community’s grief.

**Please share so others can discover *The BFD.***