Clarification: Since this story was first published, the Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee – who answered the Written Parliamentary Question – has since provided Newshub with further information.
He said $15,000 was spent on the video conferencing equipment, with the remainder spent on IST equipment.
Some of the IST equipment is yet to be installed and not all of it may be destined for the Prime Ministers office, but it was all charged on the same invoice, therefore the Speaker felt he should report the full amount in response to the written question.
The carpet replacement in the office came in on top of this cost at $17,000 - this was necessary due to moving some shelves to make room in the space.
Brownlee told Newshub that since 2022 $287,000 had been spent on IST equipment in the buildings bringing the technology up to date, and that the same video conferencing equipment was available to the Leader of the Opposition.
An updated story follows:
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has slammed the Prime Minister's costly office upgrade while the public sector stomachs cuts.
Newshub revealed on Tuesday an answer to a Written Parliamentary Question says more than $50,000 of taxpayer money was spent doing up the Prime Minister's Beehive office when Christopher Luxon took over.
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.
