The government is under fire for failing to support its Buy Kiwi Made campaign after tens of thousands of medals handed out to veterans, along with badges bearing the silver fern, were found to be manufactured in China.
Forty thousand badges were bought in 2006 and presented to war veterans that same year.
Veterans Affairs says the badges cost $2.79 each to make in China as opposed to $3.60 in New Zealand.
Fifty thousand commemorative badges were also commissioned and onsold to raise money for veterans' homes. At $0.49 each, these badges were more than three times cheaper than their New Zealand made alternative.
Veterans' Affairs says the overall saving from making the badges in China was $97,000.
But critics claim overseas purchases come at the cost of jobs for New Zealanders.
"Surely a government should actually be looking at that and thinking, well what's the point of saving...10 cents here per item, or is it better to actually keep those people in a job in New Zealand?" says Manufacturing & Construction Workers' Union spokesperson Graeme Clark.
Veteran Affairs has defended its decision and says it will not change its tendering process in the future.
"There was consideration given to [local employment] and as I said, cost was a significant factor with savings of potentially $100,000. We checked with the RSA specifically, they were happy that they would be made in China," says Veteran Affairs director Jessie Gunn.
The move has outraged the Green Party, which helped the government set up the campaign.
"I think it's a classic situation where our government does have a choice where products like this are made. They have a procurement system and that system seems to have been ignored completely," says Green Party industrial relations spokesperson Sue Bradford.
The Greens say while the government should receive value for money, they should proactively consider local manufacturers and hopes changes will now be made.
The government's economic development agency Trade and
Enterprise is yet to respond.
