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  1. Are our priorities right in Tonga?

    This morning we received the following press release from the Government:NZ to contribute to the upgrade of Teufaiva StadiumJohn Key4 JUNE, 2014Prime Minister John Key has today announced New Zealand will contribute around $2 million towards upgrading Tonga’s national stadium in Nuku’alofa ahead of the 2019 Pacific Games.Why are Kiwi...

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  2. Happy Tax Freedom Day

    Today is Tax Freedom Day – the first day of the year when Kiwis stop paying for the state and start working for themselves. The Taxpayers’ Union believe that it is high time ordinary people saw the rewards of hard work going into their pockets, not the taxman’s.Congratulations...

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  3. Taxpayers' Union calls for changes to the Official Information Act to include trusts

    Trust investigates 'irregular payments' claim The New Zealand Herald - 27/05/2014A taxpayer-funded South Auckland disability support provider which received $30 million last year is investigating its own accounts, after claims from New Zealand First leader Winston Peters of "irregular payments".… The Taxpayers' Union called for changes to the Official Information...

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  4. Te Roopu Taurima O Manukau Trust shows need for OIA reform

    The NZ Herald has picked up our comments in response to the recent scandal surrounding "irregular payments" at the taxpayer-funded South Auckland disability support provider, Te Roopu Taurima O Manukau TrustTrust investigates 'irregular payments' claim NZ Herald 27 May 2014Trust investigates 'irregular payments' claimA taxpayer-funded South Auckland disability support provider...

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  9. NBR: Ratepayers underpin vested interests’ development ambitions

    With all the focus on yesterday's budget we nearly missed this piece in yesterday's NZ Property Investor.Ratepayers underpin vested interests’ development ambitionsThe Taxpayers' Union says councils around the country are not telling ratepayers about the cost of capital that ratepayers are underwriting for local authority subsidies.Jordan Williams brought...

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  12. Autotalk on electric vehicles

    White elephant says Taxpayer’s Union, not so says APEV Autotalk - 01 May 2014The Taxpayers’ Union says it has uncovered what is probably the most expensive staff car park in the country, located at Z Energy on Customhouse Quay in Wellington.However the Association for the promotion of electric vehicles (APEV)...

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  14. Union welfare at Parliament

    This morning's Herald on Sunday carries a story on bonus for Parliament's unionists:The agency in charge of parliamentary staff has agreed to a cash bonus for union members, despite John Key's National Party previously denouncing such deals as discriminatory.An email obtained by the Herald on Sunday shows union members will receive...

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  16. The Dominion Post picks up Taxpayers' Union criticism of Government funding the America's Cup

    Taxpayers' Union criticise Government funding $36m towards the America's Cup The Dominion Post - 28/03/2014Government claims that last year's America's Cup campaign has paid for itself more than twice over have been criticised by the Taxpayers' Union.Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce yesterday released an independent report into the "direct...

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  17. John Bishop on Judith Collins

    Being involved in political activity makes it tempting to comment on each and every movement in the political dimension. Early on, the Taxpayers’ Union decided that it would focus on instances of waste and extravagance in central and local government spending, and on cases where spending had clearly not achieved...

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  18. Turning a blind EY

    You may recall that back in October, allegations of misspending within the commercial arm of the Te Kohanga Reo National Trust came to light as a result of an exposé by Maori TV’s Native Affairs programme. Allegations included a staff member spending Kohanga Reo funds on a wedding...

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  19. Game On - 194 days

    The Prime Minister has announced an election date of 20 September. The role of the Taxpayers' Union through the next 194 days is to make sure politicians are promising value for money - and not vote buying through pork barrel politics and government waste.Without fear or favour, we intend...

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  21. Update on Dunedin Mayor’s “Gentleman’s agreement”

    We now have more details of the deal uncovered by the Taxpayers’ Union over the weekend between Dunedin’s Mayor Dave Cull and former MP, Pete Hodgson, which the Mayor described in the media as a “gentleman’s agreement”.This morning’s Christchurch Press editorial analyses the deal:Editorial: Gentlemen sign contracts too...There is no reason to...

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  22. Internal Affairs misleading public with five year passport justification

    Earlier in the month, we launched Jordan McCluskey's briefing paper on the lousy deal New Zealand passport holders are getting. Following the briefing paper, and our presentation to the Parliamentary select committee considering a petition to reintroduce ten year passports, we've learned just how thin the justification is for the current...

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  23. Payments by Dunedin City Council to former MP with no documentation

    This morning the Taxpayers’ Union went public with material concerning a payment (or payments) totalling $3,400 by the Dunedin City Council to former MP Pete Hogdson with no documentation or contract.We're questioning the internal controls at the Council after the uncovering the payment following a recent media report that Mr Hodgson had...

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  24. Fizz using Health Research Council's logo without permission

    The Taxpayer’s Union has discovered that the 'Fizz' group of academics campaigning for a ‘sugar tax’ on soft drinks appears to have been falsely claiming the endorsement of the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC).A group of academics who have received a lot of publicity recently, calling themselves "Fizz" and...

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  26. Minister wrong on claim he's returned passport tax to New Zealanders

    TV One’s Breakfast this morning had the Minister of Internal Affairs, Peter Dunne, interviewed about the figures provided in the briefing paper we released yesterday.Mr Dunne told Rawdon Christie that the profits the Government has made from passports have “been returned to people via a lower fee” (click here to watch the...

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  30. Consular cost supporting political 'Arctic 30' political activists

    Last month 3 News reported that Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, was investigating ways to recoup costs to the taxpayer of providing assistance to Australian members of the Arctic 30:“Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australian taxpayers were entitled to ask why they should be covering the cost of assisting Australian...

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  32. Stick to the cake stalls

    This morning the NZ Herald reported that the Green Party want taxpayers to foot even more of the bill for political parties:“The Green Party believes the rules could be amended further. It wants an inquiry to investigate state funding for election campaigns.A spokeswoman said: "We see partial public funding of...

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  37. Policy victory

    Last week we released material showing that millions of dollars is being wasted in a CTU/Business NZ deal for health and safety training that, according to ACC's experts, for every dollar spent 84 cents is wasted. As you'll recall, the Minister of ACC, Judith Collins, labelled the scheme a 'sham' and...

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  38. Pressure builds on Len Brown

    Pressure builds on Len Brown Newstalk ZB - 20/1/2014Len Brown's opponents continue to apply pressure on the Auckland mayor.Security guards protected Mr Brown from hecklers as he opened a railway station at Panmure on Saturday.New Zealand Taxpayers' Union executive director Jordan Williams says if the mayor feels he needs...

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  39. Fiscal rules

    Readers will be aware that Australia is facing huge deficits, despite the promise of the previous Government to get into surplus.As a response to this, the Centre for Independent Studies has proposed some fiscal rules to bind future Governments.They are:require the federal fiscal balance to be maintained within a range...

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  42. Why is the Government picking losers?

    Yesterday Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced research and development grants that are set to cost taxpayers $140million over three years. The Herald reports:More than $140 million has been earmarked to go to 31 New Zealand tech companies in research and development grants.Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce yesterday named companies awarded R&D...

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  43. $19m wasted on health and safety training with 84c per dollar wasted

    Health and safety training 'a waste of time' ONE News - 14/1/2014 The ACC Minister is promising to scrap a Government-funded health and safety training scheme.Judith Collins agrees with a taxpayers' lobby group, the Taxpayers' Union, that the 10-year-old scheme has been a waste of money.Click here or the image...

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  44. ACC cans useless scheme publicly, but extended the contract within the last month

    Yesterday it looked like the Taxpayers' Union struck up it's first win, with ACC announcing that it would scrap the health and safety training scheme which has cost levy holders $19million to date, with 84 cents per dollar being wasted (even with optimistic assumptions).ONE News, 3 News, the Herald, Stuff, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB all reported...

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  46. ACC wastes millions on a cosy deal with Business NZ and the CTU

    Material released by the Taxpayers’ Union show a cosy deal between Business New Zealand, the Council of Trade Unions ("CTU") and ACC has cost ACC-levy payers $19 million since 2003.The documents, available and summarised below show ACC knew that millions paid to Business NZ and the CTU to provide health and safety training...

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  48. Oops - looks like DoC isn't the only 'supporter' of the AAE caught unaware

    Further to my discovery and blog post earlier today that DoC is in fact not supporting the Australian Antarctic Expedition ("AAE") - despite being listed as such on the AAE website, the Australian blog "Watts Up With That" reports that the Australasian Antarctic Devision (i.e. a division of the Australian Department of the...

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  49. Good work DoC - but questions about AAE claiming support

    Following the well publicised case of global warming scientists being stuck in record pack ice in Antarctica (ironically the expedition was intended to study the dwindling sea ice) and the efforts to rescue them, the Taxpayers' Union began enquires late last year to find out precisely how much taxpayers' money the NZ Government "supporters" listed on the expedition's website had...

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  51. The Herald on the iTax

    This morning's NZ Herald covers an opinion poll it commissioned on public support for lowering the threshold GST is applicable to for purchases made on foreign websites:A Herald-DigiPoll survey this month found that almost 55 per cent of the 750 New Zealanders polled had bought goods from foreign websites.Of...

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  55. EXCLUSIVE: Tip off to Taxpayers' Union uncovers IT stuff up and cost overrun at DOC

    The tip line worksJust after publicly launching in October, the Taxpayers' Union received an anonymous tip off that there was a massive cost overrun of a mismanaged IT project jointly commissioned by DoC and Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).  The National Property and Land Information System (“NaPALIS”) had allegedly...

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  59. Competition winner announced

    Yesterday the Taxpayers’ Union  announced the winner of its competition for the Aucklander with the highest percentage increase in rates and user-charges.The winner is Mrs Glenys Smith of Howick, whose rates have more than doubled since 2003.Mrs Smith is a classic example of an Auckland householder paying more but...

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  63. Open letter to Jacinda Ardern

    Yesterday the Labour Party confirmed its proposal for a new Children's Ministry and Minister. The Taxpayers' Union emailed Jacinda Ardern, the party's Spokesperson for Children.Dear Ms Ardern,We understand from your public comments today that the Labour Party is proposing a new “Children’s Ministry” and “Children’s Minister” (refer to http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1312/S00106/report-slams-government-inaction-on-protecting-our-kids.htm).The Taxpayers’ Union supports all evidence...

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  64. Kaipara District Council’s wastewater project - an expensive audit failure?

    The report of the Auditor-General’s inquiry into the EcoCare wastewater project was released on Tuesday. It revealed serious failures in the management of the project, and strongly criticises Audit NZ. Inaccurate record keeping, mismanagement of the project, lack of financial advice and expertise, and reliance on private partnerships saw a huge...

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  66. State sector CEO pay

    Pay top state bosses even more: report - DominionPost 30/11/2013Jordan Williams, executive director of the Taxpayers' Union, said the report acknowledged the "tenuous" connection between performance and pay in the public sector, but overlooked difference with the private sector."Traditionally public sector employees have expected less pay in exchange for...

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  68. Waste Watch: Transpower spend $1.2million on a cafe and reception

    What's the difference between a 'cafe-style space' and a cafe?Not a lot, but according to the government-owned monopoly Transpower, a $1.2million 'cafe-style space' is value for money unlike asking staff to visit the dozen cafes within a few hundred metres of its Wellington office building.In 2012, the taxpayer owned...

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  69. Friday the last day to get entries in for Auckland rates competition

    Entries close tomorrow for our competition for the householder who can provide evidence of the highest percentage increase in Auckland Council rates and user-charges.  The prize is a lawnmower - just perfect for mowing those berms.At the same time the Auckland Council is reducing services, a quick flick through the...

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  70. Update: Auckland Council finally responds to allegations of lying about Mayoral trip to China

    Well it's taken a few weeks, but Auckland Council has finally responded to the Taxpayers' Union 'please explain' letter regarding a reported instruction by the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Phil Wilson, to refer all enquires about a secret January 2013 Mayoral trip to China to his office, and appears to be a...

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  71. Taxpayers' Union on MP's pay rise

    AUDIO: Politicians "don't deserve" payrise RadioLIVE - 22/11/2013Politicians' pay rises and more on way DominionPost - 22/11/2013Jordan Williams, executive director of the Taxpayers' Union, said MPs were getting a "Christmas bonus" at a time when the Government was borrowing millions of dollars a day to cover its spending.He said Errington's...

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  73. Living Wage - higher costs, less diversity, job losses?

    We've been looking into the claims by Auckland Council politicians relating to promises of a 'living wage' for Auckland Council employees.An Auckland Council internal report obtained by the Taxpayers’ Union raises questions about the potential for job losses and casts the $3.75m price-tag for the policy into doubt. The Council’s report...

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  76. Secret parliamentary mortgage payments an entitlement too far

    The Taxpayers’ Union has today welcomed the New Zealand Herald’s investigation revealing six MPs claiming $78,000 per year in taxpayer-funded subsidies for their investment properties.The Taxpayers' Union believes that taxpayers are entitled to know what personal benefits and remuneration MPs receive.The Herald reports that Simon Bridges was ‘given clear advice’ from Dame Margaret Bazley to...

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  78. Taxpayers' Union offers prize to Aucklander with largest percentage rates increase

    The Taxpayers’ Union this afternoon announced that it is offering a lawn mower to the householder who can provide evidence of the highest Auckland Council percentage increase in rates and user-charges.We understand that some Auckland residents have suffered cumulative rate increases of over 30 per cent in the last few...

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  79. Nearly $3m for NZTA to treat drivers like children

    The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that the New Zealand Transport Authority's 'Drive Social' campaign cost taxpayers $1,492,395 on advertising, $985,019 on communications and advertising consultancy fees and $301,872 in other related costs.  This website alone cost $186,142.The 'Drive Social' campaign was organised by NZTA to educate road-users that they “share...

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  80. The Nation on the Taxpayers' Union

    Union not a party in the making The Nation - 2/11/2013Union not a party in the making The National Business Review - 2/11/2013The country’s newest union will never become a political party, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union co-founder.Jordan Williams, who co-founded the union with Kiwiblog’s David Farrar, said it...

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  81. Council website 'astronomical' cost

    The Marlborough Express covers the figures on website spending released by the Taxpayers' Unionshowing that Marlborough District Council spend three times as much as Nelson / Tasman / West Coast combined.Council website 'astronomical' cost 'Marlborough Express - 31/10/2013Council website 'astronomical' costThe Marlborough District Council has spent more than $400,000 on website redevelopment over the past...

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  84. Taxpayers’ Union welcomes Labour Party pledge

    The Taxpayers’ Union has welcomed Labour MP Jacinda Ardern’s announcement that if elected, Labour will scrap the Families Commission quango.Government funding for an organisation churning out reports such as ‘Eating Together at Mealtimes’, is better spent on the frontline. We support Labour’s stance.The Families Commission was only ever a result...

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  86. Taxi chits probably cheaper than visiting Marlborough Council website

    Since July 2011, the Marlborough District Council has paid $410,550 for website design maintenance and development costs.  In comparison Dunedin City Council spent only $35,520 over the same time period.“The only council that spent more on web design than Marlborough was Auckland Council” says Jordan Williams, Executive Director...

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  88. No to corporate welfare

    Over the coming months we'll be exposing corporate and union welfare we think is wasteful or unfair on Kiwi taxpayers.  If you have an example you think our researchers or members should look into, please let us know via our online tip line. 

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