It's easy to call government spending "wasteful" in the abstract. But could you honestly look a creative worker in the eye and tell them their salary is "waste"?
If you believe creative workers in Aotearoa...
"... deserve fair payment for their work"
... then you agree with the Greens, who want to...
"... ensure that all artists working on publicly-funded projects receive at least the living wage. They would also increase paid artist residencies..."
https://policy.nz/2023/party-vote/policies/media-culture-and-recreation