Happy Saturday,
It's been another busy week. Let's get into it.
Common sense prevails: TWO Taxpayer Heroes in one week! 🦸♂️💥
Firstly, in a move designed to make us fall out of our chairs, someone in the Wellington bubble made a good decision this week.
Taxpayer Hero Brooke van Velden has stopped Internal Affairs from blowing money on yet another pointless rebrand. Instead of wasting taxpayer cash on consultants and design agencies, Brooke made sure the job was done quickly and cheaply. She reckons it's cost $740, instead of a whopping $50,000.
It’s a big win for taxpayers – and exactly the kind of common sense we need more of in Wellington.
Brooke, you know where to find us if you want more cost-cutting ideas.
Mary, Queen of Cost Cutting 👑
And, in a total 10/10 Taxpayer Hero move, we found out about a council CEO actually refusing a pay increase!
We did give Mary a little shout out last week for cutting the CEO salary when she replaced Dawn Baxdendale as CEO of Christchurch City Council.
What we didn’t know was that in her annual review, Mary was offered – and DECLINED – a pay increase at her annual review. In her own words, Mary said “it’s important to acknowledge the realities our community is facing, especially the financial pressures many residents are currently experiencing.”
Now, we’ll call that Taxpayer Hero behaviour 👏
e-RUC: Smarter System or Big Brother? 🚗👁️
Last week the Government announced changes to Road User Charges, including the option of “e-RUC” – a digital system that could mean vehicles are tracked in real time. It will mean cheaper gas at the pump, but new e-RUCs even for petrol vehicles.
Supporters say it’s a smarter, more efficient way to manage charges. And if you're a boatie, you'll feel some relief at the pump.
But others worry about privacy, especially if NZTA’s data security isn’t rock solid. If agencies can’t guarantee protection (remember the IRD leak?), is constant tracking a risk worth taking?
We want to know what you think: 👉 Share your view in our quick poll.
NZ On Air’s $500K encore (that Kiwis didn’t ask for) 🎸
NZ On Air think taxpayers are made of money. They’ve just set aside $500,000 for a “pilot tour fund” – but only for artists who’ve already had their big taxpayer-funded break and a headline tour.
So instead of giving new talent a shot, we’re all being forced to cough up for an encore no one asked for. Half a million bucks — poof.
Most of us are just trying to afford our own weekend plans. Maybe a trip to the supermarket, maybe a night at the movies. Sadly, none of us get to send the receipt to NZ On Air.
Taxpayer money should help fresh voices be heard — not fund second encores for the already-famous and successful.
West Coast is drowning in paperwork (and it’s all your fault, apparently) 📝
So the West Coast Regional Council is having a bit of a moan. Turns out they got 39 official information requests last quarter. Thirty-nine. That’s not even one a day, but apparently it’s enough to send staff into meltdown mode.
Nine of those requests were about the Taylorville Resource Park consent (because, surprise, people actually care about what’s happening in their backyard). A couple of deadlines were missed, an apology was issued, and some answers got redacted under the usual “commercial sensitivity, privacy, legal privilege” bingo.
The chief exec’s line is basically that people are wasting their own money with “vexatious” requests. And yes, democracy can be slow and sometimes messy. Transparency takes time.
But when councils start acting like 39 emails is the end of the world, maybe the problem isn’t the questions, it’s who is giving the answers. And with a 65.57% rates hike, it's a bit rich that they still complain about giving you answers.
As for the financial requests (such as those from your humble Taxpayers' Union)? Easy solution: West Coast Regional Council could save people having to ask by adopting a UK-style 'armchair audit' open data regime where all expenditure over $500 is put online. That would save a lot of time (and money...).
Kāpiti Council Sends CEO to Harvard 🎓
Finally, the Kāpiti Council CEO story is the gift that keeps on giving (to the CEO, that is).
The story broke last week that Kāpiti Coast District Council splashed nearly $43,000 on a six-day Harvard Business School course for its CEO, which is shocking enough as it is.
But it gets worse. It turns out that the Council didn't even bother to ensure the CEO sticks around so that ratepayers get the benifits. No bond, no payback clause, no strings attached. This is not how $40k professional development works in the private sector.
So while homes on the Coast are tightening belts, council money’s flying first class – to Harvard. It’s one thing to develop leadership. It’s quite another to let the CEO walk off with free training while ratepayers pick up the tab.
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 Tory Relf New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union |
PS. I'm all for paying less at the petrol pump, but I still can't decide whether I'm okay with the Government - or their private partners - tracking my car. Let me know what you think using our poll.
