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  1. Revealed: New Plymouth District Council’s eye-watering flight expenses

    Update: New Plymouth District Council has corrected information it gave the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union regarding ratepayer-funded flight expenses in 2017/18.A Council spokesperson states:Former Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre director’s Simon Rees’ overseas travel was not ratepayer funded.  Supplied information should not have included three overseas trips by...

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  4. Porirua’s Canadian art exchange typifies wasteful travel

    The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is questioning Porirua City Council’s decision to spend $9,218 on flights to Canada for an ‘indigenous art exchange’.The spending details have been released as part of a Taxpayers’ Union investigation into 2017/18 travel expenses at councils across the country.It’s ridiculous for Porirua City...

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  5. Despite “climate emergency”, Dunedin City Council is third-highest spender on air travel

    Using figures obtained under the Local Government Information Act, the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that Dunedin City Council was the country’s third-highest spending council in terms of air travel in the last financial year.The Council spent $347,885 on air travel in 2017/18 – $214,067 of which...

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  6. Revealed: Wellington City Council’s climate hypocrisy

    The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that, despite plans to declare a ‘climate emergency’, Wellington City Council spent a massive $623,296 on air travel in the previous financial year.This makes Wellington City the country’s second highest-spending council behind Auckland City ($1,221,571). Notably, Wellington City’s air travel spending...

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  10. REVEALED: Nelson Mayor fighting climate change one Copenhagen trip at a time

    The Mayor of Nelson’s genuine concern for climate change is being questioned, with the Taxpayers’ Union revealing the Mayor flew to Copenhagen for a luxury trip primarily to view a yet-to-be-open climate change museum.An official information response shows that Mayor Rachel Reese spent four nights at a luxury...

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  13. We Axed this Tax!

    Wow!Louis and I have just returned to the office from the Beehive, where we watched as Jacinda Ardern announced she has completely and totally ruled out a capital gains tax under her leadership.This wasn't easy for the Prime Minister. She literally told the media she wanted Michael Cullen's...

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  14. Major campaign launched to beat unfair capital gains tax

    The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union today formally launches a major campaign to fight the unfair capital gains tax, proposed by Dr Michael Cullen’s Tax Working Group.The Union is encouraging New Zealanders to go to axethistax.nz and use the email tool to tell Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters how the tax will hit their family.Taxpayers’...

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  17. Op-Ed: Politicians give to Māori with one hand, but take with the other

    This month’s Waitangi festivities were marked with a string of Government funding announcements, totaling hundreds of millions for development projects intended to make life better for Māori.Some of these projects will achieve their goals. Others will just line the pockets of the politically-connected. But in every instance, these...

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  18. Report: Māori punished with world's highest rate of tobacco excise

    With tobacco excise slamming the country’s most vulnerable communities, the Government needs to urgently deregulate reduced-harm products, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union upon the release of its new report, Ka Tukuna Atu, Ka Tukuna Mai.Key findings:1) The Government annually takes $120 million more from Māori via tobacco excise than it...

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  23. EXPOSED: Palmerston North deal with Toyota costs ratepayers $391,000

    The Taxpayers' Union is exposing that the Palmerston North City Council has given an economic grant to Toyota – one of the world’s largest car manufactures - for a local warehouse expansion, costing local ratepayers $391,000.It’s great to see a business investing in Palmerston North, but they should do...

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  25. REVEALED: Taxpayer dosh paid to Ministerial spouse’s firm – with no open tender

    The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that in the last year the Government has paid $356,466.61 to the consultancy firm of Peter Nunns – the partner of Associate Transport Julie Anne-Genter – without a single open tender process.The firm in question is MRCagney – for which Mr...

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  26. Op-ed: Leave the Super Fund alone

    When Sir Michael Cullen’s Super Fund was established, its explicit purpose was to help ensure that superannuation would remain fiscally sustainable long into the future while the population ages.It’s an expensive scheme. The Government has devoted $15.45 billion to the Fund since inception, approximately $8,935 per household in...

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  27. Cancel the hui, cut off the koha

    The budget blowout for Kelvin Davis’ Māori-Crown Relations engagement meetings shows the danger of taxpayer-funded ‘hui’ and koha payments. Calling a meeting a ‘hui’ shouldn’t be an excuse for lavish catering and bureaucratic extravagance. Besides, the fact Kelvin Davis had to hold 33 meetings to figure out what his new job...

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  28. New report: The Bitter Truth

    The Taxpayers' Union's new report The Bitter Truth: Why don't sugar taxes work?  focuses on the regressive economic effects of sugar taxes and responds to the central claim from public health lobbyists that sugar taxes will improve health outcomes. Whatever the good intentions the evidence shows that unfortunately sugar...

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  29. Guest Post: Larry Mitchell on Auckland Council examples of getting it wrong

    The previous guest posts I have discussed the ills of Auckland Council focussing upon their wasteful and inefficient approach to the control of their costs. I, along with many commentators believe that Auckland Council's costs are totally out of control.One of the key reasons they are out of control...

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  30. Shadbolt knocked off perch: new winner in race to buy most expensive vehicle in local government

    The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that Horizons Regional Council Chairman Bruce Gordon cost ratepayers $97,000 with the most expensive vehicle for a local government elected representative – a swanky BMW X4.The Union asked every council in the country for expenses associated with their vehicles. The full spreadsheet of...

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  31. Revealed: The most extravagant mayoral vehicles

    Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt drives the most expensive ratepayer-funded mayoral vehicle in the country, the New Zealand Taxpayers Union can reveal. The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has asked every council in the country for expenses associated with their mayoral vehicles. The full spreadsheet of expenses is available here.Invercargill District Council topped the chart for...

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  32. Taxpayers’ Union launch report at Parliament with inaugural "Jonesie Waste Awards"

    Today at Parliament the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union presented the inaugural Jonesie Waste Awards, recognising the best of the worst in government waste revealed in the last 12 months.The full details of the 2018 Jonesies are available as a report, which was launched at the awards ceremony (see below).The Jonesies...

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  35. Canterbury catering costs revealed: Christchurch City Council spends $51,000 on milk

    Christchurch City Council spent $350,208 on entertainment, gifts, and catering in 2017 – including $51,572 on milk, reveals the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.This makes Christchurch City the council with the highest level of ‘indulgence spending’ in New Zealand (aside from Auckland Council, who say they are unable to...

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  36. VIDEO: Porky protests the taxpayer-funded bonus for union members

    On Tuesday, the Taxpayers' Union team visited the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment offices to see if staff are willing to take the new taxpayer-funded $500 bonus for joining the Public Service Association – a union that helps the Labour Party during election campaigns.Sign the petition against this rort...

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  37. EXCLUSIVE: Labour-led Government give taxpayer-funded bonus to union mates

    The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is using taxpayer money to bribe workers into joining the Public Service Association. The following email was circulated to all MBIE staff and has been passed on to the Taxpayers’ Union. It reveals that, as a result of recent pay...

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  38. 2018 Ratepayers' Report published

    The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union, in partnership with the Auckland Ratepayers Alliance, have today published this year's Ratepayers' Report  – online local government league tables – at www.ratepayersreport.nz. With these league tables, New Zealanders can easily compare their local council performance and financial position against similarly sized councils and types.By setting out more than two thousand data points,...

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  42. Hastings District Councillors must all be skipping breakfast

    As reported in the Hawke's Bay Today, a New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union analysis of catering costs at Hawke's Bay councils has revealed Hastings District Councillors to be guilty of ratepayer-funded gluttony.  Hastings District Council spent $50,375.88 on catering for its elected members in 2017 – or about $1,000 a week.  Across all of...

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  43. Christchurch City Council buckles: releases $1.2m “touch wall” spending

    After being faced with legal action from the Taxpayers’ Union (and potentially the Attorney General), Christchurch City Council has buckled and confirmed the amount spent on its seven-metre ‘touch wall’ – $1.245 million.This was an eleventh-hour backdown from the Council. We literally had the affidavit signed, papers prepared, and were ten minutes...

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  44. Taxpayers' Union welcomes Ombudsman judgment against Christchurch City Council

    The Ombudsman has invited the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union to bring enforcement proceedings to the High Court over Christchurch City Council’s failure to release the spending figure for the seven metre ‘touch wall’ in its new library. He has also asked the Attorney General to consider doing the...

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  45. Taxpayers’ Union welcomes Rex Nicholls to Board of Directors

    The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is pleased to announce that former Wellington City Councillor Rex Nicholls has joined the organisation's board of directors. Rex’s background is in engineering, project management, and property investment. His mix of civic and private achievements place him perfectly as an ambassador for taxpayers.Rex says:“I’ve...

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  48. Winston is in!

    With Jacinda Ardern now on maternity leave, Winston Peters has finally grasped the wheel of power.However, Mr Peters has had significant control over spending since the Government was formed late last year. Since then, Winston has negotiated for an array of projects, policies, and prizes for him and...

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  51. Amazon’s exit from Australia a warning for NZ – Australian taxpayer advocate

    Amazon’s decision to pull out of Australia in response to a new online shopping tax shows the peril of the New Zealand Government’s plan to introduce its own ‘Amazon tax’, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union, in conjunction with its sister organisation the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance. Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance Director of Policy Satya Marar...

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  52. Winston's Dowry

    In the coming weeks, we will be launching a new project: Winston's Dowry. Marriage can be expensive, but normally the guests aren't given a bill at the end of the ceremony. In a political marriage, the cost of attendance can be significant. The aim of Winston's Dowry is to calculate the...

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  57. Budget win for the Taxpayers’ Union with announcement of independent costing office

    The Taxpayers’ Union is celebrating that a policy it has pushed for since 2014 has been adopted by the Government. Jordan Williams, the Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ Union, says: “Since we launched our election ‘Bribe-O-Meter’ we have argued that New Zealand needs an independent election policy costing office.  This increases transparency, improves...

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  58. Megan Woods breaks word – gives into Callaghan self-interest.

    The Taxpayers’ Union is fuming that Minister for Research, Science and Innovation Megan Woods has broken her word and capitulated to Callaghan Innovation’s pressure to keep its precious corporate welfare grant schemes, rather than phasing them out in favour of the new R&D tax credit.Taxpayers' Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says,...

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  59. A billion dollars a year for 900 fewer tertiary students. WTF?

    Treasury has ripped off the political veil and exposed the Prime Minister’s flagship ‘free’ tertiary education policy with Budget showing that the numbers in tertiary education set to decline by 900 in the 2018/19 year. Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says: “The whole reason the Prime Minister pushed ahead with...

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  60. Government acknowledges merits of full capital expensing – but why just bloodstock?

    The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the underlying principle in the only tax change announced as part of today’s Budget 2018 to promote economic growth: full capital expensing of bloodstock. “Allowing full expensing of capital investments is the best tax reform no one has heard of,” says the Union’s Economist Joe Ascroft. “This is...

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  61. Labour delivers predictable budget in sweet economic times

    From the Budget 2018 lock-up, the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming Labour’s adherence to its pre-election ‘fiscal rules’ despite delivering significant Labour-Party style sweeteners in the Budget delivered today. Taxpayers’ Union Chairman, Barrie Saunders, says: “This is a classic Labour Party Budget, in probably the best economic times inherited by a...

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  65. Taxpayer-funded health activists bully Youthline against advice

    Taxpayer-funded health activists ignored advice from the Ministry of Health, Auckland Council, and Auckland Transport, to bully a company into dropping a promotion to raise money for Youthline, reveals the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Healthy Auckland Together (HAT), a coalition of public agencies and taxpayer-funded health groups, used taxpayer money...

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  69. National Party leadership

    Wellington has seen a flurry of activity this week as Bill English declared that he would be stepping down as National Party Leader and resigning from Parliament. We thanked Mr English for his service on behalf of taxpayers, noting his success in cutting taxes in 2010 and making...

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  70. Four months late: Callaghan releases latest spending figures

    Five months after it was requested under the Official Information Act, Callaghan Innovation has now released its 2016/17 entertainment expenses.The bill increased from the previous year, going from $304,675 to $308,969.It’s another long laundry list of taxpayer-funded purchases, largely of booze, fine dining, and flat whites for Callaghan...

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  75. EXPOSED: Bureaucrats party with drag queens on taxpayer dollar

    The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that a small government agency spent over $300,000 on ‘entertainment’ in 2015/16 – including a drag queen dinner and show for staff.The Union gained receipts for Callaghan Innovation’s entertainment purchases via the Official Information Act.From a laundry list of receipts from bars, cafes,...

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  76. MEDIA RELEASE: Tax Working Group Should Be Tasked With Fiscal Neutrality

    14 DECEMBER 2017FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWith the Budget Policy Statement indicating fiscal restraint, and the Government not signalling increases in revenue over and above nominal growth and fiscal drag, the Tax Working Group should be tasked to offer fiscally neutral solutions says the Taxpayers’ Union. Jordan Williams, the Union’s Executive Director,...

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  77. MEDIA RELEASE: Labour’s Mini-Budget Delivers Fiscal Restraint

    14 DECEMBER 2017FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE“Grant Robertson’s pre-Christmas spend-up appears to tie his hand in years to come, and offers a welcome dose of fiscal restraint,” says the Taxpayers’ UnionExecutive Director, Jordan Williams, reacting to today’s Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update. “Today’s HYEFU was a mini-budget – it changes the...

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  78. MEDIA RELEASE: KiwiBuild Spending Mostly Crowds Out What Would Be Built Anyway

    14 DECEMBER 2017FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEBy the next election, the Government will have spent two billion dollars on KiwiBuild, but only a little more than a third of that will have translated into additional houses according to Treasury analysis pointed to by the Taxpayers’ Union. New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Economist Joe Ascroft, says,...

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  79. MEDIA RELEASE: Winter Energy Payment Is Universalism At Its Worst

    14 DECEMBER 2017FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWith the Budget Policy Statement indicating fiscal restraint, and the Government not signalling increases in revenue over and above nominal growth and fiscal drag, the Tax Working Group should be tasked to offer fiscally neutral solutions says the Taxpayers’ Union. Jordan Williams, the Union’s Executive Director,...

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  81. $190,000 per student

    $380 million = $190,000 eachEarlier this week, the Government announced the details of its plan to make the first year of tertiary study free fully taxpayer funded. For the princely sum of $380 million, an extra 2,000 students are expected to pursue tertiary study from next year – that’s $190,000...

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  82. Ratepayers' Report reveals the two NZ councils without Audit and Risk Committees

    Our 2017 Ratepayers' Report - local government league tables - has identified Otorohanga, and Grey District Councils as the only two local authorities in New Zealand to govern without an Audit and Risk Committee.Earlier in the year, Ratepayers' Report showed that Otorohanga, Grey and Waitomo District Councils were the only New Zealand councils failing to...

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  85. New Report: Fare Game? Flagging Down the Cost of Public Servant Taxis

    Our new report, titled Fare Game? Flagging down the cost of public sector taxis, shows that bureaucrats choosing more expensive taxi services over ride-sharing apps like Uber have cost taxpayers at least $9.81 million since Uber’s introduction in mid-2014.Currently, the 28 tier-one public service departments spend about $9.3 million a year on...

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  87. False START at IRD

    Inland Revenue’s new IT system, implemented in February for their GST services, has been a disappointment. According to official data from IRD, the time spent handling GST related enquiries increased by 50% when the system was first introduced in February earlier this year. As of August, months after implementation,...

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  88. Auckland Council second highest rates in NZ (and they tried to hide it)

    Auckland Council has been caught out providing false information regarding the average rates paid by Auckland households, with revised figures showing that Aucklanders pay the second highest rates in New Zealand.Over multiple years, officials have provided incorrect information to the Taxpayers’ Union and Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance researchers under...

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  89. It's the corporate welfare which is the problem 

    An article published last week by Fairfax has left an incorrect impression on the reason why the Taxpayers' Union objects to the Government signing an R&D cooperation agreement with Israel. The Union wishes to clarify that it is the nature of the agreement – that Callaghan Innovation's corporate welfare R&D grants will favour companies working with...

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  90. Apology from LGNZ

    The Taxpayers’ Union has accepted a settlement and apology from Local Government New Zealand President Dave Cull relating to public statements he made about the accuracy of the Taxpayers’ Union’s local government league tables, ‘Ratepayers Report’, and honesty of the organisation.While we make no apology for our research being hard hitting and won’t...

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  91. Should Bob Simcock resign?

    Today's Waikato Times covers our call for Waikato DHB Chair, Bob Simcock, to follow his disgraced Cheif Executive, Nigel Murray, and resign for the lack of oversight and expense scandal, we've been bombarded with feedback from our members and supports in the Waikato region on the issue.We've been looking...

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  93. Barrie Saunders appointed to Taxpayers' Union Board

    Well known former Wellington lobbyist and former journalist, Barrie Saunders, has been appointed to the board of the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.Barrie retired from the government relations consultancy, Saunders Unsworth, in March 2015, after 25 years as a government relations consultant.  The company specialises in the management of public policy...

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  94. Bribe-O-Meter Update: Adding Up the Cost of Potential Government Coalitions

    In the final Bribe-O-Meter update before the election, the Taxpayers’ Union has put together the combined manifesto costings for a range of potential coalitions. These figures will allow voters to gain a better understanding of the fiscal implications of a potential Government over the next three-year parliamentary term. This week we have put together...

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  99. Bribe-O-Meter Update (Week 6)

    National Party Doubles New Spending Promises In Just Seven DaysNational spends-up large...The National Party has more than doubled its new election spending in the space of just one week. Since last Monday, the National Party has increased promised spending from $2.5 to $6.8 billion across the next parliamentary...

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  100. 2017 Ratepayers' Report published

    This morning, in partnership with our sister group, the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance, we published the 2017 "Ratepayers' Report" - our local government interactive league tables. The tool allows ratepayers to see how their local council performs on metrics including average rates, staff numbers, liabilities per resident, and even CEO salary.Ratepayers'...

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