Responding to news that Tauranga City Council has signed a $91.9 million lease for new offices and budgeted a further $33.5 million for an interior fit-out—complete with $470,000 worth of coffee machines — Taxpayers’ Union spokesman James Ross said:
“This isn’t an office—it’s a corporate penthouse for local bureaucrats. Ratepayers are coughing up for a $125 million glass tower with barista-grade coffee on tap, while basic city services fall by the wayside.”
“Council staff already enjoy perks like $100,000 life insurance, bonus annual leave, and subsidised bus cards. Now they’re adding $470,000 in coffee machines and a Wall Street-style fit-out on the ratepayer tab.”
“Tauranga City Council needs to get back to basics. Fix roads, clear drains, and stop behaving like a Fortune 500 company. Tauranga doesn’t need a luxury headquarters—it needs accountability.”
On the news of Ray Chung’s commitment to freeze rates for the next three years following this year’s painful 18.5 percent rates hike, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Rhys Hurley said:
“Ray Chung is putting a stake in the ground and saying the Council should live within its means. Ratepayers aren’t an ATM, and Wellington’s had enough of being shaken down to fund consultants and vanity projects.”
“The pipes are leaking, roads are crumbling, and yet somehow Council always finds money for another photo op. It’s time to get back to basics and we commend Mr Chung for putting ratepayers first.”
“Anyone who says you can’t freeze rates just isn’t willing to do the hard yards on savings. The waste is obvious — it just takes guts to say no.”
"All candidates need to come up with detailed savings plans that ratepayers can hold them to."
The Taxpayers’ Union has today slammed the $5.2 million spend on consultants by Invercargill City Council for the Te Unua Museum of Southland, as part of the wider $87 million dollar ‘Project 1225’ development.
Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union, commented:
“Councillor Pottinger is right to raise concern—it’s a complete quagmire.”
“In no way should external consultant costs be allowed to go so high. Council has already lifted the budget by $13 million, and answers need to be demanded.”
“Every dollar spent needs to stand up to scrutiny and, right now, local ratepayers simply cannot afford these kinds of white elephants.”
“To say ‘council has developed a greater understanding of how to deliver’ is a bloody expensive lesson. As Pottinger prepares to dissect consultant costs at the next full council meeting, so too will the Taxpayers’ Union.”
Potential amalgamation is today in the news as the Government pursues resource management restructuring that would scale back council responsibilities.
Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union, said:
“Better collaboration between councils to find efficiencies for both service and infrastructure delivery is certainly encouraged, so long as they reduce the burden on the local ratepayer.”
“But remember, big council doesn’t always mean better council.”
“Consider Auckland’s ‘Super City’ as a cautionary tale—the only thing achieved was more bureaucracy and empire building. By all means, find the sweet spot where cost per ratepayer is effectively minimised, and go no further.”
“Key to this discussion is localism. So long as the discussion is community-driven, and locals are aware of the nuances involved with council amalgamation, the result will be better.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union can reveal, through an Official Information Act response that over eleven months the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) recorded 24 instances of staff attempting to access adult entertainment websites on government devices.
The response confirms the incidents occurred across multiple months in 2024, with a particularly high concentration in May (5), June (4), and July (7) — suggesting a consistent pattern of misuse rather than one-off mistakes.
Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley said:
“Taxpayers expect their public servants to be focused on the job, not trying to access porn at work. If the Department supporting the Prime Minister can’t even keep its staff off x-rated sites, what hope is there for the rest of the bureaucracy?”
“This isn’t a case of a single slip-up. The pattern here is showing that for months on end, some staff in our most high-profile government agencies are trying to access inappropriate content while on the clock.”
“The Department says it’s reminded staff about IT rules—but won’t say if anyone was actually held accountable. Tellingly, they wouldn’t even publish this OIA response on their website.”
“This isn’t just about smut on work time — it’s a symptom of a bloated public service with too much time on its hands and too little accountability. This year’s Budget must get staffing back to 2017 levels and restore some discipline to the public sector.”
On the news the Government is considering scrapping the $118 million-a-year Kāhui Ako (Communities of Learning) scheme.
Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross said:
“Kāhui Ako was supposed to be a revolution in school collaboration. Instead, it has shown to be a taxpayer-funded teachers’ lounge—complete with bonuses, busywork, and not a single meaningful improvement in student achievement to show for it.”
“In 2023, just 22 percent of Year 8 students met the expected standard in Maths, and only 47 percent in Reading. If Kāhui Ako were a student, it’d be repeating the year.”
“Redirecting that $118 million to learning support for kids is something taxpayers can get behind.”
“Minister Stanford’s flicked to the right chapter. Now it’s time to slam the workbook shut, expel Kāhui Ako once and for all, and invest in something that actually works."
Dunedin City Council (DCC) has refused to explain the ongoing absence of its Deputy Chief Executive, Leanne Mash, citing privacy. Questions remain as to whether Mash still receives her full salary, which is as high as $499,999.
Sam Warren, Local Government Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union, commented:
“This is a shocking lack of transparency from Dunedin City Council. Ratepayers deserve better, not a wall of silence.”
“Concerns for privacy has a legitimate place, but right now it looks more like an excuse than a reason. Council must prove otherwise and stop treating public accountability as an optional extra.”
“As part of the executive team, and having a salary up to $499,999, there’s an expectation for high-ranking staffers to be accountable. This is now all at risk. Council and Mash need to clear the air with the public covering her salary.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through an Official Information Act request that the New Zealand Defence Force has splurged $32,800 on e-scooters for Base Auckland from private operator Beam.
Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, said:
“Kiwis are doing it tough — cutting back on groceries, delaying holidays, and skipping takeaways. But while households have no money to play around with, the Defence Force is splashing out on rent-by-the-second electric scooter joyrides.”
“If zipping to the gym on overpriced e-scooters is what Defence top brass call value for money, it’s no wonder the books are blowing out.”
“The Defence Force has just been handed a $12 billion funding plan. If this is the starting point, taxpayers should buckle up — it’s going to be a rough ride.”
“With Budget 2025 exactly six weeks away, Ministers need to be going through the books line by line to root out waste like this. Because with $25 million being borrowed every day, the Government debt clock won’t slow down on its own.”
On the news that Gisborne District Councillor Nick Tupara has attended only 41.2 percent of meetings and workshops in his third term—failing to see ‘why it is an issue’.
Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union said:
“You can’t represent your community if you can’t be arsed showing up."
“And being unable to understand why locals are angry is next-level arrogance. Anyone else showing up less than half the time without giving reason would be sacked. What makes Tupara so special?”
“His absence highlights a massive problem with standing orders. If the Local Government Act doesn’t effectively address a councillor’s truancy, it needs to change.”
“We objected to an Ashburton’s Water Zone representative, Arapata Reuben, for missing two years' of meetings—and we object to Councillor Nick Tupara for thumbing his nose at ratepayers paying his salary.”
“Expecting more from an elected official is not unreasonable. Get real or get out.”
Responding to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s decision to cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 25bp to 3.50%,Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross said:
“The economy is only just starting to crawl out of recession, and interest rate relief couldn’t come soon enough for families who’ve spent years being hammered by high mortgage costs.”
“Adrian Orr squeezed the life out of the New Zealand economy, and now US tariffs are doubling down on our already anaemic growth. We’re not out of the mire yet.”
“Going for growth now needs two things – slashing inflationary overspending by the Government to put punitive interest rates firmly in the rear-view mirror, and driving real productivity gains. Lower interest rates aren't a licence for the Government to ramp up spending further.”
“If Nicola Willis doesn’t put Full Capital Expensing at the heart of a cost-cutting, pro-growth Budget next month, New Zealand will stay stuck on the path of managed decline.
The Taxpayers’ Union is responding to the Government latest supposed “Going for Growth” announcement, which will restrict Government departments and agencies to only using New Zealand wool.
Commenting on the Finance Minister’s latest move to increase government waste, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman Alex Emes said:
“If the Finance Minister is trying to go for growth by ramping up government procurement costs, she’s baa-king up the wrong tree.”
“Is this seriously the best the Government has to offer to get New Zealand growing? Not meaningful reforms like Full Capital Expensing, just taxpayer subsidies for carpet-makers?”
“The Government need to stop trying to pull the wool over taxpayers’ eyes with low-effort spin like this, and get serious about cutting costs and boosting productivity.”
On the news of the Government’s decision to wind down the New Zealand Green Investment Finance Ltd (NZGIF), which has cost taxpayers $400 million.
Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross said:
“Credit where it’s due, scrapping this expensive and ineffective green slush fund is a huge win for taxpayers.”
“NZGIF’s biggest achievement was torching $115 million on a loan to Solar Zero, a company backed by BlackRock which still managed to go under. You couldn’t make it up.”
“Subsidising businesses to reduce emissions under a capped Emissions Trading Scheme was - and is - economically illiterate. It doesn’t cut emissions. it just bungs money straight into the compost heap.”
“Budget 2024 handed out $280 million in green corporate welfare. Scrapping NZGIF is a start, but Budget 2025 must finish the job. That means axing the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s (EECA) fuel switching schemes, clean heavy vehicle grants, and every last dollar of green pork. Climate policy should cut emissions — not write blank cheques to corporate cronies.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union can reveal through a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act response that the Council is tagging information requests as “high” or “medium” risk based on who requested it.
Sitting at the top of the “high risk” list, the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.
Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator Rhys Hurley said:
“We’d almost take this as a compliment—if it wasn’t so deeply concerning.”
“Ratepayers and other groups are asking perfectly reasonable questions, yet instead of simply answering them, Council bureaucrats are red-flagging anyone who looks too closely at their bloated books.”
“Councils aren’t private companies, and shielding themselves from public scrutiny is no excuse."
"Local government exists to serve the public, so ratepayers have every right to see official information without wading through the spin doctor treatment.”
“This isn’t just about Ōtorohanga. If this Council is drawing up hit lists of who they think is dangerous for asking questions, how many others are doing the same?”
With Finance Minister Nicola Willis’s announcement of a “Growth Budget,” the Government must act now to deliver it. In a tough global economic climate, not least driven by 10 percent US tariffs further punishing Kiwis, New Zealand needs bold, pro-growth reforms—starting with full capital expensing.
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman, Rhys Hurley said:
“We need action—not talk. The Government should announce full capital expensing today to buck the global trend and boost New Zealand’s economy.”
“This simple reform lets businesses immediately deduct the full cost of new investments like machinery and equipment, rather than waiting years. That means more investment, higher productivity, and a stronger economy."
Our report on implementing full capital expensing can be found here.
Responding to the PM’s latest claims around the affordability of the latest defence spending plans, the Taxpayers’ Union is wondering where the recently announced 12 billion dollars of defence spending is coming from.
Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ Union Communications Officer, Alex Emes, said:
“While the PM has claimed ‘we can afford this’, he has yet to explain where this extra $9 billion of defence spending has been magicked up from.”
“If the Government is serious about staying on ‘fiscal track’, they need to start getting serious about cutting wasteful spending to fund this latest big-ticket spending spree.”
“Considering the debt pile is growing by $25 million a day, this Government needs to show some serious savings plans by next month’s Budget.”
The Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA) has increased the borrowing limit for Tauranga City Council from 2.8 times revenue, to 3.5 times revenue.
Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager for Local Government, Sam Warren, responded:
“If you need to borrow 350 percent of your income, you don’t have a revenue problem, you have a spending problem.”
“Mayor Drysdale’s assurance that the limit won’t be touched ‘for now’ doesn’t inspire confidence. Sooner or later, it will be. What steps are being taken to avoid more borrowing and to reduce debt for ratepayers?”
"More to the point, why can't Council live within its means under the current borrowing limit by cutting expenditure on items that aren't essential infrastructure?"
“Tauranga’s growth puts pressure on infrastructure—that’s exactly why the LGFA’s debt limit exists. Loosening the belt on debt isn’t good policy, it’s kicking the can down a very expensive road that ratepayers will eventually need to pay for.”
The latest Taxpayers' Union–Curia Poll will bring a sigh of relief for the Coalition parties as they find themselves able to form a Government again.
The poll, conducted between 29 March and 01 April, shows National is effectively static, down 0.1 points to 33.5 percent, while Labour is down 4.3 points from last month to 29.8 percent.
The Greens are up 1.0 point to 11.0 percent, while ACT is up 2.3 points to 10.0 percent. New Zealand First is also up 2.3 points to 7.4 percent, while Te Pāti Māori is down 2.2 points to 4.3 percent.
Headline results and more information about the methodology can be found on the Taxpayers' Union's website at www.taxpayers.org.nz/tucur_04_aprpoll2025
For the minor parties, TOP is on 1.5 percent (+1.0 points), Outdoors and Freedom is on 1.0 percent (+0.4 points) and New Conservatives are on 0.4 percent (+0.4 points).
This month's results are compared to the last Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll conducted in March 2025, available here at www.taxpayers.org.nz/march25_nztupollsuhg
The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right of 64 is up 6 seats from last month. The combined seats for the Centre-Left is down 5 to 57. On these numbers, the Centre-Right bloc could form a Government.
National remains the same as last month on 42 seats, while Labour is down 5 seats to 37. The Greens are up 2 seats to 14, and ACT is up 3 to 13 seats. New Zealand First is up 3 seats on last month to 9, while Te Pāti Māori is down 2 seats to 6.
Commenting on the results, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross said:
"The Coalition have been taking a beating in the polls since December, but their fortunes appear to be improving."
"This month the economy crept out of recession, and Chris Bishop's sweeping, pro-growth RMA reforms were announced. It's no coincidence that voters are beginning to swing back behind the Government."
"This Government's chances of re-election are still very much up in the air. But if there's one clear message from the polls, it's this: growth gets votes, stagnation doesn't."
"Budget 2025 is less than 50 days away. Kiwis will want to see high-impact, high-val
Commenting on the proposal to cut 478 roles at Kāinga Ora, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman Alex Emes said:
“While this is difficult time for those affected, it’s a necessary reset as the agency moves in a new direction."
“But the real savings don’t come from trimming staff—they come from fixing the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contracts so they’re bankable: safe and predictable enough for banks to confidently lend against.”
“Right now, contracts can be torn up on a ministerial whim—no wonder banks won’t go near them. Thousands of Kāinga Ora homes are nearing the end of their useful life. Replacing them will cost billions. Instead of maxing out the taxpayer credit card, let private capital carry the load. A few tweaks to the fine print and we’re talking real savings—no DIY required.”
Today, President Trump imposed a ten-percent tariff on New Zealand exports to the United States, with the possibility of larger tariffs on agricultural products in the near future. The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is warning against any moves to impose retaliatory import tariffs, as these will do more harm than good.
Taxpayers’ Union economist Ray Deacon said:
“Tariffs are just another tax – and like all taxes, they ultimately fall on the shoulders of hardworking New Zealanders. If the Government imposes tariffs in response to protectionist policies overseas, it won’t be foreign companies that suffer. It will be Kiwi businesses and families paying higher prices at the checkout.”
“New Zealand has long prided itself on being a champion of free trade, with some of the most open markets in the world. Imposing retaliatory tariffs would be a step backwards, harming New Zealand’s economy and inviting further trade restrictions from the United States and other countries.”
“Rather than punishing Kiwi consumers with higher prices, the Government should focus on expanding free trade agreements, reducing unnecessary regulations, and making New Zealand a more competitive place to do business.”
“We urge politicians to reject knee-jerk protectionism. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past by engaging in a tit-for-tat tariff war that only makes New Zealanders poorer.”
Commenting on the NZ Herald’s story about the Government’s and Council plans for congestion charging.
Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Rhys Hurley said:
“Congestion charging is great in theory to ease traffic and improve productivity, only if it’s managed properly and not used as an excuse to double-dip and squeeze more money out of motorists.”
“With the cost of living biting and fuel prices still sky-high, the last thing drivers need is another financial hit. They’re motorists, not cash cows — and if the Government wants to tax congestion, it must stop milking them at the pump.”
“Every dollar raised should be returned to motorists by cutting fuel taxes or road user charges. Otherwise, it’s just another tax grab dressed up as transport policy.”
The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming KiwiRail following today’s decision by the Ombudsman, revealing $8 million spent on McKinsey mega-consultants. This comes after continued attempts by KiwiRail executives to keep the information from the public, citing ‘commercial sensitivity’ as a reason.
"This is a shocking revelation - $8 million dollars for McKinsey to tell KiwiRail how to do their jobs shows a complete disrespect for Kiwi taxpayers."
“No wonder KiwiRail fought so hard to keep this secret and only revealed the horrible truth when forced to do so by the Ombudsman. This just illustrates further the culture of excess and incompetence at KiwiRail. It is well past time for the Government to implement a formal enquiry into KiwiRail.”
“KiwiRail has a culture of demanding more and more taxpayers’ funds and this is just another example of KiwiRail flushing money into Cook Strait. Taxpayer money needs to stop flowing overseas and stay in the pockets of New Zealanders.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union is calling on the Government to can its costly school lunch programme in light of a new RNZ-Reid Research poll revealing that 61.5% of voters believe parents should be primarily responsible for providing their children's lunches.
Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Rhys Hurley said:
"This poll confirms what we've all been saying: New Zealanders expect parents, not the Government, to feed their kids. It's time to phase out this expensive and wasteful programme."
“When even the majority of Labour supporters don’t support their own legacy programme and over $300 million being spent every year, it’s clear taxpayers are losing out.”
"No child should go to school hungry—but this scheme isn’t working. Despite the best intentions, the pig trough is overflowing and the waste is piling up."
“It's time for David Seymour to scrap the school lunch programme and use the money to fund areas like health, education, or targeted interventions for those families in real need.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request that Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) will squander $60.7 million under the plan for a new administrative headquarters.
Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator Rhys Hurley said:
"This isn’t a case of need outweighing cost—it’s the opposite. Queenstown’s plan to merge four Council offices into one was originally budgeted at $51 million, but it's now blown out by nearly $10 million. Ratepayers are being asked to foot the bill for a project that's spiralling out of control and is completely unjustified."
"This so-called deal, where Ngāi Tahu Property covers some of the cost, then shares joint ownership with QLDC is nothing more than a backdoor deal that has nothing to do with treaty obligations."
"If relocating HQ to Frankton saves money, ask yourself, who really loses? With locals opposed to the plans and most services moving online, clinging to an outdated, pricey location for staff convenience just doesn’t stack up."
"Ratepayers are facing a 15.8 percent rate hike for 2024–2025. How can you celebrate 'community spirit' when your wallet is being picked clean?"
The Taxpayers’ Union is thanking its departing Executive Director and Co-founder, Jordan Williams, following his appointment as Chair of the Government's Department of Government Efficiency Aotearoa—DOGEA—announced by Minister Willis today.
“When David Farrar and I started the Taxpayers' Union back in 2013—a borrowed office, a jammed printer, and generous support from the Atlas Network—we could never have imagined the organisation would grow to 200,000 subscribers."
“The Government’s decision to set up an agency to rein in waste shows they’re serious about getting back to basics.”
“My first job is to investigate who’s been eating all the school lunches—1News blames the school pigs, though some say the real hogs are already on the payroll.”
"I am delighted to have been tapped on the shoulder to lead DOGEA and I look forward to working productively within Government to fight for taxpayers albeit in a less publicly facing role.”
Taxpayers' Union Co-founder David Farrar says, "As New Zealand’s main voice for fiscal responsibility, I am confident that the Taxpayers' Union will continue to thrive under new leadership. I wish Jordan all the very best in his new role."
The Government has unveiled more details about its plan to buy shiny new ferries for the state owned KiwiRail's Interislander service —with no price tag and no sign of a sale.
Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman Alex Emes said:
“Taxpayers don’t buy planes for Jetstar, so why are we buying ferries for KiwiRail? Bluebridge has privately sailed the Cook Strait for decades—upgrading ships, turning a profit, and not draining a dollar from the public.”
“Meanwhile, KiwiRail treats the public like a bottomless wallet. Every time its ferries spring a leak, the taxpayer gets soaked.”
“If the Government cared about value for money, it would separate the Interislander from KiwiRail and let private operators do what they do best—run safe, efficient, unsubsidised services.”
“We already contract private operators for public buses and other ferry routes. The Cook Strait should be no exception.”
“Bluebridge proves competition works. It’s time to ditch the bailout buoy and let the Interislander swim on its own.”
Commenting on the revelation that former Kāinga Ora CEO Andrew McKenzie will walk away with a $1.066 million pay out, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman, Alex Emes, said:
"Forget the farewell card and supermarket voucher, this is just a golden handshake for failure. All for the guy who steered the ship straight into a mountain of debt."
“McKenzie was already on a $731,000 salary, but still scored redundancy and a payment in lieu of notice—despite sticking around for two extra months. Only in the public sector can you be paid to leave and paid to stay at the same time.”
“Kāinga Ora won’t even explain what triggered the extra payout. It’s cloak-and-dagger stuff—with taxpayers left holding the bag.”
“This whole saga shows just how broken New Zealand’s employment laws are. Boards can’t sack incompetent CEOs without writing them a goodbye cheque and a love letter.”
“The Government’s employment law reform Bill—would end the threat of chief executives making personal grievance claims and the need for golden handshakes. It’s time to cut the golden parachutes once and for all, and put taxpayers first.”
For once, it's been a great week for taxpayers! News that the Government is finally getting on top of the Ardern/Hipkins-created "consultant gravy train" is welcome, as are the details for what amounts to the most important thing the Luxon-led Government is likely to do to improve New Zealand's long term prosperity.
Plus, thanks to a very talented Taxpayers' Union student intern, we have an exclusive for supporters of the Taxpayers' Union: we've been leaked a recording of Christopher Luxon's recent call with President Donald Trump, where The Donald gives a lesson on growth... 😉
$800 Million Saved: Crusher Collins Crushes Wellington Consultant Gravy Train 💥🚂
As Minister for the Public Service under Jacinda Ardern, Chris Hipkins grew the core public service (i.e. back-office bureaucrats) so much that by 2023, salary costs were up by 72 percent in six years!
But that surge doesn't count what's made the Wellington partners of KPMG, Deloitte, PwC etc, very well off indeed: a boom in the so-called "cling-on bureaucracy" of consultants.
Now the new Minister, Judith Collins is crushing it, with the Beehive announcing this week:
The Government’s move to cut public sector spending on consultants and contractors is on track to save $800 million over two years – double the initial target, Public Service Minister Judith Collins says.
“We set a two-year target to cut $400 million in spending on consultants and contractors across the public sector by 2024/25,” Ms Collins says.
“The latest update anticipates savings will come in at more than $800 million by the end of June. [continue reading here]
$800 million amounts to $398 for every New Zealand household. Bravo Judith! 👏👏👏
Scrapping the RMA: The Biggest (Regulatory) Tax Cut in Our Lifetime? 🎉🥳
Time and time again, the economic gurus tell us that the biggest handbrake on growth – and therefore New Zealand's long term economic prosperity – is the Resource Management Act.
The RMA is the cause of New Zealand's housing crisis. It blocks (or, at best, seriously hikes the costs of) building infrastructure, it stifles growth, and it makes us all poorer.
So the Taxpayers' Union has always argued that scrapping the RMA isn't just mission critical. It is the litmus test of whether the political elite are serious about New Zealand ever getting back into the top half of the OECD for what we produce per capita.
Labour's David Parker tried to scrap the RMA but failed. Parker's Three Waters-style co-governed, anti-democratic 'Central Planning Committees' regime would have made things even worse! (It was so bad, in fact, that we spent a month on the road to raise awareness).
So, the Government's bolder initiative to Go for Growth and deliver planning laws based on property rights should be more than welcomed. And so far, we like what we see:
- Property rights will be front and centre — if your land use doesn’t harm others, you can get on with it.
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Standardised zoning rules will replace the tangled mess of 1,000+ local variations.
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Red tape will be slashed, with up to 45 percent lower compliance costs
According to National's Chris Bishop and ACT's Simon Court, the reforms are all about returning decision-making back where it belongs: with property owners.
That means minimising potential interference by busybody activists, politicians and clipboard-wielding council officials except where there is a genuine impact on neighbouring property owners (what economists call externalities).
Chris Bishop cites a consultant's report (ironic, we know, given above) which estimates his alternative will deliver a 45 percent improvement in administrative and compliance costs when compared to the current system.
But there's a looooong way to go yet... 💣
No changes will kick in until 2027 – and there's still a lot that could go wrong between now and the actual laws being drafted, consulted on, and passed through Parliament. Chris Bishop says his target is to get it done before next year's election.
But already, the vested interests who thrive on the bureaucratic kumbaya approach of the RMA are out there in the media complaining. A perfect example: Government’s RMA reforms an ‘open attack on Māoridom’ (Stuff.co.nz).
To our astonishment, despite being arguably the most important work stream by the Government, 1News didn't even bother to mention the announcement on Monday's six o'clock bulletin. So if you're interested in a deep dive into the detail (or don't trust how the media is reporting on it), head over to the Beehive's news item (in particular, see the "Factsheet" listed under "Related Documents").
So, let's ensure that the Government holds firm, and we hope that this announcement reflects a willingness for the Government to be bolder in "Going for Growth". 👍
(EXCLUSIVE) LEAKED CALL: President Trump's Advice to Chris Luxon on how to 'Go for Growth' 🚀💰
Speaking of Going for Growth, we've published an exclusive recording of one of our scarily talented student interns President Trump's recent call with Prime Minister Luxon.
In it, The Donald tells Luxon how he should kickstart New Zealand's economy (and I can 100 percent assure you, no AI was used for this recording).
Listen to the leaked recording here
Bang for buck, the best possible tax cut: Full Capital Expensing 🚀
In case you missed our Briefing Paper on Full Capital Expensing, head over to our website. 😉
It's the best tax idea for the Government to Go for Growth, but most people haven't heard of it. It lets businesses write off capital investments (the very things that will make New Zealand more productive) instead of drip-feeding depreciation deductions over many years.
Full Capital Expensing = more investment = higher productivity = faster growth = higher wages.
It worked in the US and Britain, and we break it down here.
Health officials lobby against...slides and sandwich boards? 🛝🥪
Public health officials have been called out by the new Health Minister for lobbying: it turns out money meant for health services is being used to employ the fun police.
Instead of tackling public health, officials have been submitting against lawful developments that have nothing to do with public health. Public Health officers have been spending taxpayer money (meant for the health service) lobbying against:
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A Mitre 10 in Petone (because it had too many car parks)
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Extremely hazardous, err, Sandwich boards outside Nelson bakeries
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A McDonald’s drive-thru in Wānaka, because... "planetary health" (yes, seriously!)
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School charity raffles in case they lead to a life of high-stakes gambling
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A children's playground in Lower Hutt (kids playing outdoors is far too risky, apparently)
- And even housing developments, because they might "block mountain views"
Every dollar spent nitpicking is taken away from actual healthcare.
So, a round of applause to Minister Chris Bishop for calling it out — and even bigger props to Health Minister Simeon Brown for finally putting a stop to it.
Predictably, the poor do-gooders taxpayer-funded lobbyists managed to find a Stuff journalist to complain: ‘It’s censorship’: Public health leaders slam ‘Trumpian’ edict (Stuff.co.nz).
We say a Ministerial instruction to bureaucrats to stop using taxpayer money to lobby for things that most taxpayers would not agree is far from 'censorship'. And (regardless of your views on Trump!) surely these taxpayer-funded lobbyists are a lost cause when they have to resort to 'Trumpian' name calling of Minister of Health Simeon Brown.
PETITION: Support equal voting rights in Local Government 🙌🗳️
The Bill extends the equal voting protections for Parliamentary elections in the Bill of Rights Act to local elections—common sense, right?
Right now, different votes can count for different amounts – whether directly through rural or Māori wards or indirectly, thanks to unelected appointees with voting rights. This Bill doesn’t fix the problem of unelected members being appointed to local council, but it's a big step towards 'unscrewing the scrum'.
Equality of suffrage is seen as bad by Radio NZ 🤪
Incredible, New Zealand's very own Pravda – the fully taxpayer funded Radio NZ news service labeled equal voting rights a ‘step backwards’
As highlighted by Taxpayers' Union Cofounder, David Farrar, over on Kiwiblog:
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell has a simple proposed members’ bill to amend the Bill of Rights Act to have equal suffrage extend to local government.
Equal suffrage is a fundamental human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also states:
To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors
So equal suffrage is a fundamental human right, included in both major global human rights declarations. It is also in the NZ Bill of Rights Act:
has the right to vote in genuine periodic elections of members of the House of Representatives, which elections shall be by equal suffrage and by secret ballot
So our law already states that equal suffrage applies to national elections. Uffindell’s bill would change NZ BORA so it reads:
Every New Zealand citizen who is of or over the age of 18 years has the right to vote in genuine periodic elections by equal suffrage and secret ballot of members of the House of Representatives; and members of local authorities.
So a very simple law change that enhances human rights in New Zealand. So how does Radio NZ report on this proposed bill. Well in this article they quote two opponents of the bill as a “backward step”, and doesn’t go to a single person (apart from the MP proposing it) supporting it for comment.
Remind me why we fund RNZ again? Because if it's objective or trusted news, taxpayers should be demanding their money back!
Unlike Radio NZ, we think this Bill is a good one, but say it should go further and ban unelected appointees from having voting powers at Council as well.
If you have 30 seconds, please back us and sign our petition calling for equal voting rights in local elections.
>> SIGN THE PETITION ✍️
ACC's latest $243,000 is a pain in the backside 🍑🤭
And in a slightly less serious vein (brought to us by an Official Information Act request thought up by yet another creative intern), the team this week exposed the amount ACC is spending on, well...
ACC shelled out more than $125,000 last year for injuries involving foreign objects lodged where the sun don’t shine – that's more than double the previous year. And with $117,799 already spent this financial year, 2024/25 is shaping up to be a record-breaker a real pain in the [redacted].
Auckland topped the list for ‘rear-end mishaps’, with Wellington, Southland, and Otago bringing up the errr rear.
But with ACC levies on the rise, and the organisation facing long-term fiscal headwinds, it’s hardworking New Zealanders who are the butt of this joke. Ouch.
Wellington City Council's $22,000 Hikoi 'flush-fund' 🚽🧻
Our investigations team have caught Wellington City Council spending $21,702 of ratepayer money on portaloos for the Toitū Te Tiriti Hīkoi protest—despite never funding toilets for any other protest or having a policy to do so.
The Council admitted this was a one-off exception, not part of any established process. Every other protest pays for its own loos, so why were ratepayers forced to cover the bill for a cause council officials happen to support?
With an 18.5% rates hike already hitting Wellingtonians, the portaloos aren't the only thing that stinks here – especially when it's public facilities/services that only appear when it's a protest the Mayor's own Green Party sides with.
Other news in brief 📰⏰
- Last week, we made our submission on Media Reform: Modernising regulation and content funding arrangements for New Zealand. Read our submission here.
- The New Zealand Defence Force has announced 374 civilian job cuts ✂️
- GDP-per-capita grew 0.4 percent, the first growth in more than two years 📈
- Western Bay of Plenty District Council the latest to leave Local Government New Zealand 👋
- The Ombudsman has called for Chief Execs to be personally liable for OIA failures 🙌
- Auckland City Councillors have been handed 150 free tickets by the owners of a stadium whose future they voted on this Thursday 🏟️ Our sister group, the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance, is rightly calling it out.
Have a great weekend.
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A meeting held on Wednesday saw unelected Iwi appointees reinstated with voting powers on Tauranga City Council committees, following a decision made by councillors in December.
Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union, said:
“In a democracy, only elected representatives have voting powers on council committees. If it’s not democracy that Mayor Mahé Drysdale wants, he needs to front up to voters.”
“Hiding behind vague pseudo-legal claims that unelected appointees with voting powers are a requirement of both the Resource Management Act and the Treaty won’t work.
"If the Mayor and councillors are confident this is what voters want, then they should put the decision to a referendum. What right do they have to sign away democracy without even asking electors?”
“This comes just days after Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell introduced a Members’ Bill to extend the same protection for equal voting rights in parliamentary elections to local government. At least one politician in Tauranga is on the side of democracy.”
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming today’s announcement from Local Government Minister Hon Simon Watts and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Hon Scott Simpson that Wellington Water will be subject to economic regulation by the Commerce Commission at the earliest opportunity.
This will require the troubled water provider to regularly report to the public and the Commission on key financial and performance measures.
Taxpayers’ Union spokesman, James Ross, said:
“Wellington Water has been a basket case – literally pouring ratepayers’ money down the drain and treating them like an unlimited fountain of cash.”
“The fact it didn’t even have a basic asset management plan says it all. Contractors ran the show while Wellington Water looked away and signed the cheques.”
“How has this slow-motion trainwreck been allowed to blunder on for so long? Ministers have made the right call stepping in and shining some much-needed sunlight on this entity’s disastrous record.”
“The real worry now is how many more Wellington Waters are lurking out there. Local Water Done Well can’t come soon enough.”
The Government has announced $150 million in cheap taxpayer-backed loans for Community Housing Providers (CHPs)—propping them up with training wheels instead of letting them ride with private capital.
Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman James Ross said:
“This is Kāinga Ora-lite—same subsidies, different logo. Taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook when private capital is ready to go.”
“Kāinga Ora’s debt is projected to explode from $2 billion in 2017 to nearly $25 billion by 2026. Now we’re repeating the same mistakes with CHPs without fixing the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development contracts that scare off banks.”
“If the Government truly wanted to empower CHPs, it would fix the contracts to make them bankable—which means predictable and safe enough for banks to confidently lend against. That costs nothing and unlocks billions in private finance—no taxpayer IOUs required. The houses get built, quality stays high, and taxpayers are off the hook."
“We already use private capital for kindies and retirement homes with no fuss or fanfare. If toddlers and retirees can handle it, so can the Minister.”
The Government’s reduction in consultants and contractors is set to save $800 million, while the public service workforce has shrunk by 4 percent to 62,968 FTEs.
Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Rhys Hurley said:
“Fewer consultants writing pointless reports and sucking up taxpayer dollars is good progress—but let’s not pretend this is some kind of fiscal detox. Back in 2017, the public service was a smaller beast at 47,252 FTEs.”
“That means we’re still paying for nearly 16,000 more mandarins to lap it up at the taxpayer buffet. These aren’t frontline workers like doctors or teachers—these are the back-office bureaucrats pulling the strings and doing the Ministers’ bidding.”
“The Government needs to go full cold turkey and ditch the extra public servants. Trimming a little off the top won’t cut it. Nicola must show she’s serious in Budget 2025 and bring staffing at least back to 2017 levels. New Zealand deserves a healthy fiscal future—not one weighed down by an overstuffed bureaucracy.”
The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through an Official Information Act request that the Ministry for the Environment has handed out $3,839,094 (exc. GST) to environmental NGOs over the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years—without a single report measuring its effectiveness.
Amongst the big winners are the Environmental Defence Society ($377,743) and Forest & Bird ($200,000)—groups that have spent the last two years attacking the Government’s policies in court and the media.
Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator Rhys Hurley said:
“This isn’t environmental protection—it’s a taxpayer-funded activist slush fund.”
“Kiwis don’t fork out their hard-earned money so lobbyists can live off taxpayer handouts. If these groups have real public support, they should stand on their own two feet.”
“The Minister has put a stop to some of this funding—but the real problem is MfE itself. It’s ballooned from 360 staff in 2017 to 939 today. Clearly, they’ve got far too much time and money on their hands.”
“These activist handouts are just the tip of the iceberg. Nicola Willis needs to take an axe to MfE’s funding in the May Budget and slash this bloated bureaucracy back to size.”
The Government’s announcement today of legislation to finally repeal and replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) is a long-overdue, much-needed win for New Zealand’s productivity. Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman, James Ross, said:
“The RMA has long been a bureaucrat’s dream and a developer’s nightmare. It’s been a lead weight around New Zealand’s neck — throttling housing, blocking infrastructure, jacking up costs and stifling growth.”
“This new system puts the right to use your own land back where it belongs — in the hands of the people who want to build and grow, not clipboard-wielding council officials or meddling neighbours from across town.”
“Councils will no longer be able to tie Kiwis up in red tape for wanting to build a deck or a granny flat. It’s a return to common sense, where resource management means managing actual resources — not micromanaging people’s lives.”
“This is the sort of bold, pro-growth reform New Zealand has been crying out for. This is a huge win for anyone who wants to spend less time filling out forms and more time laying down foundations.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request that Dunedin City Council (DCC) has spent a staggering $1.365 million over just three years on consultation with Aukaha—an iwi-owned consultancy firm—with ratepayers now hit by an average rates hike of 17.5%.
Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator Rhys Hurley said:
“Ratepayers expect their money to go toward fixing potholes, maintaining pipes, and keeping life affordable—not six-figure bills for cultural interpretations for cycleways. In a cost-of-living crisis, this looks less like cultural engagement and more like virtue-signaling with other people’s money.”
“Among the more eye-watering line items are $100,310 for Harbour City Cycleway cultural interpretation and $94,984 for George Street design work. If that wasn’t enough, the Council is cutting Aukaha a $750,000 cheque for handouts to clubs and groups.”
“The Government has rightly decided to scrap Councils’ focus on social and cultural ‘wellbeings’ and get them back to getting the basics right first, and it’s time Dunedin Council followed suit.”
“Ratepayers deserve roads that aren’t crumbling and bills that don’t break the bank—not more than $40,000 spent on consultancy for a landfill.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request that Wellington City Council flushed $21,702 (exc. GST) of ratepayer money on portaloos for last November’s Toitū Te Tiriti Hīkoi protest—despite having no policy on funding facilities for protests and never having done so before.
Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator Rhys Hurley says:
“The portaloos aren’t the only thing that stinks here - councils shouldn’t be playing political favourites with ratepayers’ money.”
"The Council have never funded protest facilities before—why now spend tens of thousands playing politics when organisers have always managed before to pay their own bills?"
“In the same year as an 18.5% rates hike, Wellingtonians overwhelmingly want their Council focussed only on delivering essential services - that doesn’t include subsidies and handouts for political causes staffers happen to agree with.”
“If the Council insists on spending ratepayers’ money on non-Council events, it needs a clear and consistent policy—not inconsistent decisions that reek of bias.”
New figures obtained by the Taxpayers’ Union under the Official Information Act request lay bare an embarrassing trend—ACC claims for injuries involving objects stuck where the sun doesn’t shine are on the rise, with taxpayers left to pick up the tab.
In the 2023/24 financial year alone, ACC shelled out $125,348 for these mishaps—a sharp increase from the previous year’s $50,093. Worse still, claims have already hit $117,799 in 2024/25, putting Kiwis on track for yet another record-breaking year of reckless insertion incidents.
In the last full year, Auckland remained New Zealand’s capital of curiosity gone wrong, while Wellington, Southland, and Otago bring up the rear in joint second place.
Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator Rhys Hurley said:
“What Kiwis do in their own time is their business, but when things get stuck, why are taxpayers stuck with the bill?”
“With ACC levies soaring, it’s taxpayers getting hit in the back pocket—making them the real butt of this costly joke.”
“But unfortunately, this is just one example of wasteful ACC spending habits. With ACC under review for performance mismanagement and ballooning costs, New Zealanders deserve a full review of how ACC funds are spent—and where to draw the line on personal responsibility.”
After eight consecutive quarters of decline, New Zealand’s GDP per capita has inched up by 0.4%.
Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman James Ross said:
“Kiwis can breathe a small sigh of relief, but it’s far from time to pop the champagne. Even after two years of declining living standards, Kiwis are still much poorer than this time two years ago.”
“The Government’s cautious approach is failing to deliver enough. We need serious reform to break out of this economic slump—starting with Full Capital Expensing.”
“Letting businesses deduct the full cost of investments immediately—rather than dragging the process out over years—put a rocket under the US economy. We need the same medicine here.”
“With Budget 2025 just two months away, Nicola Willis has a choice: settle for stagnation, or deliver a pro-growth Budget with Full Capital Expensing front and centre.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is slamming the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) for its token attempt to trim its bloated workforce, with just 64 jobs on the chopping block.
Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman Rhys Hurley said
“In 2017, DIA had 2,159 staff. Fast forward to 2024, that number had exploded to 2,871. Now they have the cheek to demand a pat on the back from the Minister for shaving off a measly 64 roles. Give us a break.”
“The Government promised to rein in the sprawling bureaucracy that has been sucking up taxpayer dollars, and a handful of job cuts won’t do it.”
“DIA’s staffing should return to 2017 levels—at minimum. And the same goes for every other department and agency that ballooned under the last government. Every cent wasted on unnecessary pen pushers is a cent that could be funding frontline services, tax relief, or paying down the growing government debt.”
“Minister van Velden must take accountability and show she is serious about delivering real savings within her Ministry, not just tinkering around the edges.”
Western Bay of Plenty District Council has today voted to leave Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) with one councillor saying it has swung ‘so far left’ that it no longer represented local views.
“Western Bay of Plenty is the latest council to ditch the increasingly toxic group” said Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union.
“Councils for years have been under the thumb of hardcore political ideologues not remotely capable of tolerating any views other than their own. LGNZ sold out the day it decided to push Labour’s divisive Three Waters plans, abandoning genuine localism for a radical, centralising agenda.”
“Under the guise of localism, LGNZ is nothing more than an activist group backing bureaucrats instead of the locals paying the enormous yearly membership fees.”
“Bravo to Western Bay of Plenty, the latest to join the ranks of six other councils abandoning the group, including Auckland, Christchurch, Grey, Kaipara, West Coast Regional, and Westland. Who will the next domino be?”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through an Official Information Act request that KiwiRail has spent $87,259 on murals—including a “kitty mural” and various cultural artworks—while Wellington commuters continue to endure delays, cancellations, and fare hikes.
Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator Rhys Hurley said:
“Wellington commuters should be fur-ious that KiwiRail is prioritising feel-good pet projects while services go to the dogs.”
“After clawing a 10% fare hike out of commuters in 2024, followed by another 2.2% increase this year and cuts to off-peak discounts, KiwiRail’s focus clearly isn’t on making life easier for commuters—it’s apparently on painting staff members’ cats all over train stations.”
“KiwiRail claims the murals will ‘bring colour, joy, and beauty’ to commuters and help deter graffiti. But if they really want to bring joy, they should cut the vanity projects and focus on delivering reliable trains at a fair price.”
As part of its Long-term Plan, Wellington City Council wants to apply commercial rates to short-term accommodation providers like Airbnbs. This would see an increase of 3.7 times more than the current rates applied to these properties.
“It’s an excuse to get more out of ratepayers” said Sam Warren, the Local Government Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union.
“They've got this backwards. Instead of working to lower rates, council's M.O. seems to be finding new ways to increase them.”
“Key to this discussion is that short-term accommodation providers are not the same as hotels. Their scale incurs no significant toll on local infrastructure that could justify applying commercial rates, nor are they constantly occupied.”
“Most Airbnbs use only a small portion of their property for guests, and are often sporadic in tenancy. Despite this fact, council really wants to apply commercial rates to the entire property? Get real.”
“The only thing they will achieve is the disappearance of short-term providers like Airbnb, as if it wasn’t hard enough finding affordable accommodation in Wellington.”
“Putting this into context—rates in Wellington over the next 10 years are expected to increase by 175 percent. More rates aren't the solution locals are crying out for."
"Instead the council needs to show that it can cut the waste, stick to the basics, and find ways to reduce the cost of living in the capital.”
Wellington City Council this week expects to confirm its long-term plan that will include a budget of $437 million for social housing upgrades over the next 10-years.
“Many of the houses are in fine shape following recent upgrades by government, and we’re in danger of seeing money spent for the sake of spending it” said Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers' Union.
“Attempts were made last year to push out these upgrades so more work could be done in lowering the cost—but was ultimately voted down. We implore the council to consider Councillor Ray Chung’s amendment before they go barrelling down another budget sinkhole.”
“By all means, fix what needs to be fixed. But given the enormous price of a quarter million per unit, or roughly $5,400 per Wellington household—far greater thought needs to be given by council in getting this number down and making sure ratepayer money is spent strategically.”
“Over the same 10-year period, Wellington locals are facing rates increases of more than 175%. We simply cannot afford more reckless spending. If hitting 'pause' for another year ensures this project is carried out in a more cost-effective way—council needs to do it.”
Responding to The Post’s front page article, the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is demanding the Government take immediate action to overturn a High Court ruling which will grind infrastructure development to a halt by making it next to impossible for NZTA to relocate or inadvertently kill wildlife.Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman James Ross says:
“This isn’t just a spanner in the works—it’s a wrecking ball that will demolish New Zealand’s infrastructure pipeline. New Zealand’s bang-for-buck on infrastructure spending is already in the bottom ten percent in the developed world, and this ruling will bind taxpayers in a wave of delays and legal challenges.”
“Tieing the country up in green tape is the last thing we need to “Go for Growth”. The only thing getting built will be more courtrooms.”
“This bombshell lands right as the Government is trying to coax foreign investors to invest billions into infrastructure projects that now might never see the light of day. How can investors take New Zealand seriously when we’re putting spiders and slugs ahead of building roads?”
“We’ve just seen NZTA waste $85,000 finding a single lizard in Taranaki, but following this absurd ruling that gold-plated gecko hunt will just be the start. The Government needs to take immediate action, or we may as well slap a ‘closed for business’ sign on the country.”
As part of the Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll, each month our pollsters ask participants "How do you rate the job your local Mayor has done since the last election? Has it been very poor, poor, average, good or very good?". The results below are based on responses to our monthly polls from January to November 2023 and February 2024 to February 2025 totalling 24,000 respondents. As cities and districts vary in size, only where we have 100 or more responses are reported below, as anything less than 100 responses would be a the margin of error (MOE) that is too large for the results to be meaningful. For further information about the methodology click here to download the report by our pollsters.
Metropolitan Mayors - changes over time
Because the sample sizes for the Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington mayors are larger, we are able to deduce trend data over time. For that analysis, click here.
Revenue Minister Simon Watts is two weeks behind the curve with today’s announcement on Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) rule changes, says Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross.
“The FIF rules are one of the biggest deterrents to foreign investment in New Zealand, and today’s changes barely scratch the surface. The real question is: why should New Zealand tax foreign assets that never even touch our shores?”
“To be competitive, New Zealand needs to scrap the FIF rules for new tax residents altogether. Tweaking them won’t cut it.”
“Any savvy international investor will see right through this. The old FIF rules still apply to overseas investments acquired after moving here, so this change is meaningless for active investors—especially the tech talent the Government claims to want to attract.”
“Two weeks ago, US President Donald Trump unveiled a ‘Gold Card’ visa, exempting foreign income from local tax. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Government is still fiddling with outdated rules that drive investors away.”
“This is a headline-grab, not a serious attempt to 'Go for Growth'.”
The Taxpayers’ Union is releasing a full briefing paper on how to fix FIF rules in the coming weeks.
The Taxpayers’ Union is reacting to 1News’ footage of unhappy schoolchildren tipping their taxpayer funded lunches into a bin subsequently fed to the school pig at a school in Nuhaka.
Taxpayers’ Union Communications Officer, Alex Emes, called this “a misuse of taxpayer-funded food. It begs the question: If the children were genuinely hungry, would they really be refusing to eat a pasta meal because it was ‘bland’ and provided too often?”
“If flavour truly is the problem, add some salt and pepper. It would be much more affordable for New Zealand taxpayers for the school to invest in some basic condiments than buying all these meals just for unionised teachers to make a show of chucking them to the pigs.”
“Nuhaka school needs to keep a register of those kids throwing away the meals, and reduce their order accordingly. Properly means-testing this programme will ensure those kids in need are still getting the food they need, without taxpayers’ money going straight to the pig trough.”
The Government has today opened consultation on new procurement rules that would prioritise contracts based on “public value”—a concept that includes social, cultural, and environmental benefits, alongside a preference for domestic businesses - rather than cost-effectiveness.
Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross has condemned the move as “irresponsible protectionism at the exact same time the Government claims to be focusing on growth and cutting costs.”
“Favouring more expensive local firms over better-value alternatives will only drive up costs. The Government’s books are already $12 billion in the red.”
“It’s worse than just protectionism. Why are we prioritising social and cultural ‘benefits’ over cost-effective Government services whilst New Zealanders are grappling with a cost-of-living crisis?”
“These new rules will give future governments free rein to mandate their own pet projects. They’re an open invitation to lock in woke, expensive contracts—funded by taxpayers who are already stretched thin.”
“With Budget 2025 two months away, we need to see pro-growth policies like Full Capital Expensing on the table, not bizarre new rules which will make growth harder.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through the Local Government Official Information and Meeting Act that Nelson City Council has spent $661,704.35 on a footbridge – with $100,518.95 of the total cost spent on cultural designs.
Local Government Campaigns Manager, Sam Warren, said:
“The bridge works out to be $50,000 per metre, with more than $100,000 spent on making it more visually appealing. This is the opposite of doing away with the nice-to-haves and doing the basics well.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a dash of culture in our infrastructure – but perhaps not during a time when locals struggle with a 8.2% rate rise for 2024-25 and a $300 per household storm recovery levy.”
“Nelson ratepayers are tightening their belts. Would it be so outrageous to expect council to do the same?”
“It doesn’t have to be barebones, but when one-sixth of the cost of a footbridge is simply on flourish, it’s probably time to pull back. The people of Nelson deserve better from their council in terms of spending decisions.”
Here are the headline results for March's Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll:
Party |
Support |
Change compared to February 2025 |
Labour |
34.1% |
↑2.8 |
National |
33.6% |
↑1.7 |
Green |
10.0% |
↓3.2 |
ACT |
7.7% | ↓2.3 |
Māori |
6.5% |
↑2.1 |
NZ First |
5.1% |
↓1.3 |
Other |
3.0% |
↑0.3 |
National is up 1.7 points to 33.6% while Labour gain 2.8 points to 34.1%. The Greens are down 3.2 points to 10.0%, while ACT are down to 7.7% (-2.3 points). New Zealand First are down 1.3 points to 5.1% while Te Pāti Māori is up 2.1 points to 6.5%.
For the minor parties, Outdoors and Freedom is on 0.6% (-0.3 points), TOP is on 0.5% (0.0 points), and Vision NZ is on 0.4% (+0.4 points).
Here is how these results would translate to seats in Parliament:
Party |
Seats |
Change compared to February 2025 |
Labour |
42 |
↑3 |
National |
42 |
↑3 |
Green |
12 |
↓4 |
ACT |
10 |
↓2 |
NZ First |
6 | ↓2 |
Māori |
8 |
↑2 |
This shows how many seats each party would win in Parliament, based on the decided vote. National is up 3 seats on last month to 42 while Labour is also up 3 on 42.
The Greens lose 4 seats to 12 while ACT is down 2 on last month to 10 seats.
New Zealand First is down 2 seats on last month to 6, while Te Pāti Māori is up 2 to 8.
This calculation assumes that National does not win more than 42 electorate seats.
The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right of 58 is down 1 seat from last month. The combined seats for the Centre-Left is up 1 to 62. On these numbers, National and ACT could not form a government even with the support of New Zealand First.
Christopher Luxon is down from last month at 20.3% (-0.4 points) while Chris Hipkins is up 3.1 points to 20.7%.
David Seymour is at 5.0% (-1.4 points), Winston Peters at 8.6% (+0.6 points) and Chlöe Swarbrick at 4.8% (-4.1 points).
Christopher Luxon’s net favourability is -10% (+2 points) while Chris Hipkins’ is 4% (+7 points). David Seymour drops to -28% (-4 points) while Winston Peters rises 5 points to -1%.
For the full polling report, covering the detailed insights the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition are use to receiving, join our Taxpayer Caucus – our club of most generous financial supporters who make our work possible.
Media Summary Statement
This poll should be formally referred to as the “Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll”.
Any media or other organisation that reports on this poll should include the following summary statement:
The poll was conducted by Curia Market Research Ltd for the Taxpayers’ Union. It is a random poll of 1,000 adult New Zealanders and is weighted to the overall adult population. It was conducted by phone (landlines and mobile) and online between Sunday 02 and Tuesday 04 March 2025, has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1% and 5.4% were undecided on the party vote question.
Notes
The scientific poll was conducted by Curia Market Research and commissioned by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. The full polling report is being released exclusively to members of our Taxpayer Caucus. As is well known, but for full disclosure, David Farrar co-founded the Taxpayers' Union and previously served on its board. He is also a Director of Curia Market Research Ltd.
The Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll was conducted from Sunday 02 and Tuesday 04 March 2025,. The median response was collected on Monday 03 March 2025
The target population is adults aged 18+ who live in New Zealand and are eligible and likely to vote. The sample population is adults aged 18+ who live in New Zealand and are eligible and likely to vote who are contactable on a landline or mobile phone or online panel. 1,000 respondents agreed to participate, 800 by phone and 200 by online panel. The number of decided voters on the vote questions was 924. There were 51 (5.1%) undecided voters and 25 (2.5%) who refused the vote question.
A random selection of 15,000 NZ phone numbers (landlines and mobiles) and a random selection from the target population from up to three global online panels (that comply with ESOMAR guidelines for online research). If the call is to a landline, the person who is home and next has a birthday is asked to take part. Those who take part through an online panel are excluded from further polls on the same topic for six months.
Multiple call-backs occurred to maximise the response rate. Those who said they were unlikely or very unlikely to vote were excluded.
The poll was part of a wider omnibus survey for multiple clients. Questions on voting sentiment are asked before any other questions. The questions were asked in the order they are listed.
The results are weighted to reflect the overall voting adult population in terms of gender, age, and area.
Based on this sample of 1,000 respondents, the maximum sampling error (for a result of 50%) is +/- 3.1%, at the 95% confidence level. Results for sub-groups such as age and area will have a much higher margin of error and not seen as precise.
The polling questions and the order in which they were asked can be found here.
More bad news for the Coalition Government following the latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll, as Labour edges ahead of National and the Centre-Left bloc increases its lead.
The poll, conducted between 02 and 04 March, shows National up 1.7 points to 33.6 percent, while Labour gains 2.8 points to 34.1 percent.
The Greens drop 3.2 points to 10.0 percent, while ACT declines 2.3 points to 7.7 percent. New Zealand First is down 1.3 points to 5.1 percent, while Te Pāti Māori rises 2.1 points to 6.5 percent.
The poll results and information about the methodology are available on the Taxpayers' Union website at https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/march25_nztupollsuhg
For the minor parties, Outdoors and Freedom is on 0.6 percent (-0.3 points), TOP remains at 0.5 percent, and Vision NZ is on 0.4 percent (+0.4 points).
This month's results are compared to the last Taxpayers' Union–Curia Poll conducted in February 2025, available at https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/poll_feb_25_basjfgas
Based on these results, the Centre-Right bloc drops 1 seat to 58, while the Centre-Left bloc gains 1 seat to 62. On these numbers, National and ACT could not form a government even with the support of New Zealand First.
National gains 3 seats to 42, while Labour also rises by 3 to 42. The Greens lose 4 seats, bringing them to 12, while ACT drops 2 to 10 seats. New Zealand First falls by 2 seats to 6, and Te Pāti Māori gains 2 to a total of 8 seats.
For the first time since the election, Chris Hipkins has overtaken Christopher Luxon as preferred PM.
Christopher Luxon drops slightly to 20.3 percent (-0.4 points), while Chris Hipkins jumps 3.1 points to 20.7 percent. David Seymour falls to 5.0 percent (-1.4 points), Winston Peters is at 8.6 percent (+0.6 points), and Chlöe Swarbrick falls 4.1 points to 4.8 percent.
Commenting on the results, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross said:
"Kiwis elected this Government to fix the economic mess. Unless the Government starts delivering meaningful growth, the polls are only going to show them slip further."
"Luxon losing his top spot as preferred Prime Minister for the first time has to be a wake-up call. We're neck-deep in the worst economic downturn in three decades, and the country needs to see a plan to rebuild the economy."
"With Budget 2025 in just over two months' time, now's the time for the Government to be laser-focused on delivering economic growth. Kiwis need high bang-for-buck reforms like full capital expensing, because managed decline has lost its appeal."
Going for Growth
What gets us up in the morning is a determination to put a stop to the economic drift - and the low productivity - that New Zealand's had for a generation.
Economic growth isn't the silver bullet to all New Zealand's problems, but it comes close! Only with growth can we afford world-class public services, to protect the environment, and economic opportunities so our kids (and grandkids) can thrive.
And with the Prime Minister now 'talking the talk' on growth, our job is to ensure the Government 'walks the walk'.
That's why, today we are launching the first of a series of Taxpayers' Union Briefing Papers: Going for Growth: Full Expensing of Capital Expenditure.
The best tax policy you've (probably) never heard of: Full Expensing 🚜🖥️
>> Read the Briefing Paper <<
Simply put, Full Capital Expensing lets businesses write off the cost of new equipment, machinery, and technology immediately, instead of dragging it out over years through depreciation schedules.
In other words, it puts money back into businesses faster, allowing them to invest, expand, and create better jobs and higher wages for hardworking Kiwis.
Here at the Taxpayers' Union, you'll understand that we love tax relief (no kidding). But this is, we think, the best type of tax relief in terms of promoting economic growth, and its driver: productivity.
Politicians often like to dangle personal tax relief (National) and entitlement handouts (Labour) in front of voters as a sweetener to get people to rush down to Harvey Norman for big-screen-TV-fuelled economic sugar hits.
In comparison, Full Capital Expensing promotes the very type of spending that serves to make New Zealand's economy more productive and labour more efficient (which is the key driver of wages).
And the best part: if introduced as part of Budget 2025 (which is less than three months away) it could serve to boost the economy immediately. Unlike most tax changes, it could come into effect straight away...
And this policy has form! As covered in the Briefing Paper, it's proven effective in the UK and the USA. More investment means more productivity, higher wages, and more tax revenue in the long run.
The 'use it or lose it' approach 😉
We think Full Capital Expensing is such a good idea, it should be done right now, and made permanent.
But if the Government wanted to really put a rocket under the economy in the short term, Nicola Willis could tell firms that Full Capital Expensing is time-limited (as happened in the UK and USA, originally).
Think about what that would mean. Say you're a business owner looking to upgrade machines or build a factory later this decade. If suddenly you could deduct the cost from taxable income (rather than do the same over a decade or more under IRD's complex depreciation rules) you'd bring the investment forward to take advantage of Full Expensing, right?
That's what makes this tool so powerful in boosting capital spending and productivity.
We set out this option in the Briefing Paper.
War on Waste 🎯 NZTA's $85,000 golden gecko wild goose chase 🦎🪿
From the 'you couldn't make this up file', the team have uncovered that Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has shelled out $85,000 to catch and relocate just one lizard in Taranaki!
Since one skink was found back in 2023, NZTA have been waiting for sign-off to send in the lizard life-savers – and we wonder why infrastructure takes so long and is so expensive...
The $85,000 includes travel and accommodation costs for our gecko guardians - because for a project in Taranaki, a Rotorua-based company was contracted to conduct the gecko hunt in New Plymouth, employing contractors from as far afield as Wellington.
We're all for conservation, but not wild goose gecko chases. But to be fair to NZTA, they've got some catching up to do – remember when we uncovered Otago Regional Council's $2.76 million hunt that nabbed just 18 wallabies?
The Reserve Bank's Orr-deal is over (finally)! 🥳🎉
Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr is finally out the door, and his resignation couldn't come soon enough. Think we’re overstating things? Buckle up.
Orr's "Large Scale Asset Purchase (LSAP) programme" (effectively, a fancy name for money-printing) lost taxpayers $11 billion because when interest rates rose after COVID the value of the bonds plummeted. Those losses (underwritten by Grant Robertson the taxpayer) could pay for four Dunedin hospitals. Per household, it's five and a half thousand dollars!).
Then there's the extreme capital rules (applicable to how banks finance themselves) that spiked mortgage costs, putting an extra $3,750 on the annual interest bill for a $1 million home loan.
And being too slow to ease up on interest rates plunged New Zealand into the worst economic downturn in thirty years.
Under Orr, the Bank's staff numbers increased 2.5x between 2018 and 2024, and the cost to taxpayers climbed with it. No wonder Nicola Willis refused Orr's demands for $1 billion of funding for the Reserve Bank over the next five years.
Good riddance.
We say the next Reserve Bank Governor needs to cut through the distractions and focus on one thing, and one thing only: keeping inflation in check.
SHOCK POLL: Chris Hipkins is now the preferred PM 🛑
The news keeps getting worse for the Government in the latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll, as the Centre-Left bloc increases their lead. Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori could form a government.
The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right of 58 is down 1 seat from last month. The combined seats for the Centre-Left is up 1 to 62. On these numbers, National and ACT could not form a government even with the support of New Zealand First.
In the Preferred Prime Minister rankings, Christopher Luxon is down from last month at 20.3% (-0.4 points) while Chris Hipkins is up 3.1 points to 20.7%. For the first time since the election, Hipkins has overtaken Luxon as top choice for Prime Minister.
In fact, it is generally highly unusual for Opposition Leaders to top "preferred Prime Minister" polls outside of an election period.
>>See the results on our website here<<
What do voters want? 🏭🤔
In last month's poll, our pollsters dug into voters' views on economic growth and policy reform. They found Kiwis are overwhelmingly in favour of boosting tourism, more international students, and (the important one) cutting taxes to drive growth.
65 percent want income tax slashed, with just 15 percent opposed.
The country’s less keen currently on asset sales. Although, as a recent report by our friends at the NZ Initiative think tank shows, there is plenty of room to recycle capital and avoid selling the family silver while increasing New Zealand's prosperity by having the Government sell off the clapped-out old car rusting in the driveway underperforming assets.
We say, all options need to be on the table in Nicola Willis’ next budget to get the country growing again, and Mr Luxon "back on track".
NZTA's $1.338 billion ticket to nowhere 🚌🎫
16 years since the Transport Agency agreed to a National Ticketing system (Motu Move), it's still nowhere in sight. An investigation by the Taxpayers' Union has revealed the scheme has already cost taxpayers $146.4 million with nothing to show for it!
All we've had so far is a test run in Christchurch, and a planned rollout in Timaru – which has once again been pushed back. What's worse – the total cost of the project is set to hit $1.338 billion - that's $700 for every New Zealand household!
All of it would be solved if we could just tap on with PayWave like most of the developed world. Nicola Willis needs to find $12 billion of savings in May's Budget to get the books back in the black - scrapping this programme would put a big dent in that target.
Enjoy the rest of your Monday,
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Going for Growth: Taxpayers’ Union urges Government to adopt Full Capital Expensing in new briefing paper
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is today launching the first in a series of briefing papers aimed at tackling the country’s long-standing under-capitalisation and low productivity. Titled Going for Growth: Full Expensing of Capital Expenditure, the paper makes the case for a tax policy with a proven track record of boosting investment, productivity, and wages.
Full Capital Expensing allows businesses to immediately write off the cost of new equipment, machinery, and technology, rather than spreading the deduction over years under complex depreciation schedules. This policy has been successfully implemented in the United States and the United Kingdom, driving economic growth and increasing tax revenue in the long run.
The briefing paper can be downloaded here (or read below).
Economic growth is not just a theoretical concept—it’s the key to higher wages, better public services, and greater economic opportunities for future generations. Full Capital Expensing is a no-brainer that would supercharge investment and make New Zealand businesses more productive.
With Finance Minister Nicola Willis set to deliver Budget 2025 in less than three months, the Taxpayers’ Union is urging the Government to seize the opportunity and implement the policy to come into effect on Budget night.
If Christopher Luxon is serious about growth, Full Capital Expensing should be at the top of his agenda. And if the Government really want to put a rocket under the economy, they could adopt the ‘use it or lose it’ approach used by Donald Trump and Rishi Sunak – making the policy time-limited to encourage businesses to bring forward investment decisions.
The briefing paper highlights the success of Full Capital Expensing in other jurisdictions and details how New Zealand can implement it effectively.
Politicians love to dangle short-term sweeteners in front of voters, but real economic growth comes from policies that drive productivity. Unlike tax cuts designed to boost consumer spending, Full Capital Expensing supports the kind of investment that lifts the entire economy.
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Kiwis who support pro-growth policies to endorse the initiative and send a clear message to the Government.
Poll after poll shows Kiwis are tired of managed decline, and they want more than fiddling round the edges from Budget 2025. Here’s a cost-effective solution which will go a long way to breaking us out of our economic downward spiral.
The Taxpayers' Union can reveal through an Official Information Act request that spending on a National Ticketing System for buses has so far cost $146.4 million (of a $1.338 billion budget over 14 years). NZTA first agreed to the project in 2009, and funding was approved for a business case in 2018.
Of the costs, $527.8 million is for design and build of the system, and further $800 million for operational costs.
Rhys Hurley, Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator said:
"16 years after the project was first agreed to, all we have is a Christchurch pilot and a local rollout in Timaru already facing problems. This project is the poster-child for how government bureaucracy bloats projects into expensive, inefficient nightmares."
"The rest of the world manages ticketing systems fine - so why in New Zealand does it take more than a decade and a half, and hundreds of millions of dollars, before we even get to the system rolling out?"
“The Motu Move system seems unable to move out of first gear, stuck in a traffic jam of complexity and disagreement."
"When the budget's $1.338 billion, taxpayers have every right to ask where the sense or urgency has been. Instead of getting value for money, we’re seeing endless delays and inflated costs, leaving commuters, councils and taxpayers to pick up the bill.”
Dear Supporter,
EXPOSED: New Zealand's best and worst Mayor. How does your local Mayor rank? 🥇
With media thinner and thinner, and community newspapers often reliant on their largest advertisers (i.e. councils) accountability in local government is at an all time low. But your humble Taxpayers' Union is here to help...
To kick-off local body election year, we've published Mayoral rankings – based on the responses of random samples of voters as part of our regular political polling.
The Sunday Star Times splashed the headline results (read the coverage over on Stuff.co.nz)
Jordan, the verdict was not good. Barely half of the country's Mayors have a positive 'net approval' among their voters.
The country's most loved is the Far North Mayor, Moko Tepania with a 39 percent net approval score.
Coincidently... the Far North District Council / Mayor Moko Tepaia, delivered the lowest rates rise of anywhere in the country this year. Perhaps a lesson there for those local body politicians who we know read Taxpayer Update 😉
Incredibly the research suggests that there are Mayors even worse than Wellington's "Night Mayor", Tory Whanau. 😲
>>> See how your Mayor compares <<<
Good news for Brown, bad news for Whanau 🗳️
Because a higher proportion of New Zealanders live in the three big cities, the larger sample sizes for the mayors of Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington allow for statistically meaningful trend data. As you might expect, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is growing his support, while it seems Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau is turning voters off the more they get to know her. Ouch.
🚨🚨🚨 Disinformation Alert 🚨🚨🚨
Public Sector Union promote myth about 'cuts to health spending'
Imagine if the Taxpayers' Union did a survey that asserted false information in the question, and then took the media results to justify complaining about the false information. We'd never get away with it (and rightly so!).
But the Public Service Commission – the self-interested union for Wellington's back-office bureaucrats – run by a former Labour Party candidate, Fleur Fitzsimons, did just that! And Stuff lapped it up! 🤦
This was splashed on Monday's front page of Wellington's The Post (owned by Stuff):
A couple of problems with that headline and the quote highlighted.
Contrary to what the bureaucrats want you to think, health funding has actually increased under the current government.
In fact, according to the Treasury's most recent fiscal update, even when adjusted for inflation and population changes, the Government is spending more on health than ever before.
They've also committed an extra $16 billion over the next three years, on top of what the previous Government was spending on health.
The only 'cuts' are cuts to back office spending that affect (you guessed it!) the back-office pen-pushers the PSA represent.
We say, the PSA are entitled to their own opinions, but they're not entitled to their own facts. Stuff / The Post should be ashamed.
And one more thing: a 'survey' is not a poll. Polls are based on a random selection of a population. A survey participants are self selected.
If the standards applied to the PSA applied to us, we could just survey Taxpayers' Union members and get front page coverage about how everyone is supporting our campaigns! But we have too much integrity to do a PSA-style campaign to mislead the public.
Yesterday, Jordan was on The Platform to discuss the PSA's false claims.
DANGER: Chris Bishop wants to give Councils a new way to tax your home! 🏠💰
Last week, Housing Minister Chris Bishop unveiled changes to how councils fund infrastructure for new housing, hoping to speed up building homes across the country.
In short, the Government wants to allow councils to 'value capture' from homes that benefit from new public infrastructure. In principle, it makes sense. In fact, value capture levies were how most of the New Zealand's infrastructure (such as rural roads) were funded in the early 20th century (they were commonly termed 'betterment levies').
Say a new road and pipeline opens up the potential for a big new housing development. It's only fair that those houses/properties pay for the infrastructure as their properties (and property values) directly benefit.
But there's a danger. Do you trust your local mayor council to decide what's good for you?
Say your council wants to build a new cycle lane or bus way to be built near your home or something else where the council may assert there's an increased value. See the problem?
So the devil is in the detail. There needs to be strong legal and economic oversight to ensure that councils don't just use a new ability to tax to continue to grow wasteful or unwanted spending. And, while this new funding mechanism could enable much needed infrastructure to be built, if it locks-in councils as inefficient monopoly providers in the actual building of the infrastructure (where other providers may be able to deliver the same for cheaper) there is also danger.
Make no mistake, this is a 'new tax'. So your humble Taxpayers' Union will be on watch.
FEEDBACK SOUGHT: Do you support a four-year term for Parliament?
The Government announced a Bill to extend New Zealand's Parliamentary term from three to four years.
Voting is about the only time Kiwis have any control of the Government. Reducing elections by a third could seriously damage accountability – something we take very seriously.
Unlike most democracies, New Zealand doesn't have an upper house or separately elect the executive government. That's why New Zealand's parliamentary term is just three years – to be the main 'restraint' on a wayward government.
On the other hand, politicians claim they are constantly in election-mode with our three year terms, and that it may damage long-term thinking.
I'll be frank with you. I'm against a longer Parliamentary term because I don't think letting politicians further off the reins is worth the risk. But it's an issue which splits the team's opinions, and reasonable minds can differ.
So we want to hear your views as a Taxpayers' Union supporter.
>> Click here to give feedback <<
Julie Anne Genter's book review for the Taxpayers' Union! 🤣
Last week, the media approached us about an incident at Victoria University's "Clubs Day" involving Green Party MP Julie-Anne Genter.
You can read The Post's summary here.
Ms Genter approached the stall of our University movement, Generation Screwed, and started berating some of our interns and volunteers who were helping out. It was the usual nonsense you'd expect from a far-left activist ("foreign shills", "billionaire funded", "Atlas propaganda" nonsense), not the sort of conversation you'd expect from an MP.
Our Comms Officer, Alex, had the quick wit to get it on tape (unfortunately the sound failed to work), but the screenshots give you an idea of Ms Genter's, errr, animation...
Given Ms Genter's very strong views about the Taxpayers' Union and our book (pictured) we asked Chat GPT to tell us what Ms Genter would say if she were to formally review the book. It was too accurate not to share with you!
The Mission: the Taxpayers' Union at 10 – Book review by Julie-Anne Genter MP
The chapters on government waste nearly made me throw my reusable coffee cup across the room. If you enjoy fiction, conspiracy theories, and being wrong, this is the book for you. Otherwise, compost it immediately. ⭐☆☆☆☆
What a review we can be proud of! Grab yourself a copy before the Green Party snap them all up!
Enjoy the rest of your week,
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In the Media: The Post, The Press Forget a tax cut, this is the change that businesses really need
The Post, The Press Julie Anne Genter accused of ‘raising voice’ at Taxpayers’ Union volunteers
Duncan Garner: Are Our MPs Spending Our Money for Travel?
Newsroom: This week’s bestselling books
Herald Local body elections
NZCPR Low Watt-age
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Reacting to the Minister of Finance’s announcement that RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr has resigned, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross stated “this resignation is not before time.”
“Orr’s work caused the single worst economic downturn in New Zealand in over three decades. He was far too slow to react as inflation increased, and far too slow to lower interest rates as inflation fell.”
“With more than two and a half times as many staff at the Reserve Bank now as in 2018, the Governor spent his time in the top seat empire-building rather than focussing on his core responsibilities.”
“This is the opportunity to take a thorough look at the Reserve Bank’s actions over the last few years, to ensure this never happens again. The replacement Governor needs to be absolutely laser-focused on keeping inflation within the target range, and we can’t see repeats of Orr’s money-printing spree.”
A report released by the Ombudsman has found Hastings District Council failed to properly maintain its streams and damns prior to Cyclone Gabrielle despite concerns raised during 2016 and 2021 reviews.
Local Government Campaigns Manager, Sam Warren, commented:
“Once again they’ve dropped the ball in meeting their most basic obligations towards locals.”
“We're seeing here a council without priorities – focusing on nice-to-haves when really ratepayers just want them to get on with the basics. Roads, pipes, infrastructure, waste.”
“The relevant issues were not addressed in time, and unfortunately, the worst happened.”
“Sure, they’ve said they have accepted the Ombudsman’s findings – but will they learn? There needs to be a drastic return of focus towards core council business. It's time to lead like adults are in charge.”
The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming Wellington City Council for planning yet another punishing rate hike, with homeowners set to face a 12.2 percent increase this year—on top of last year’s staggering 16.9 percent rise and 1.6 percent sludge levy. Ratepayers are being bled dry while the Council continues to burn through money with little to show for it.
Rhys Hurley, Investigations Co-ordinator for the Taxpayers’ Union, said:
“This Council has truly lost the plot if they think a slightly lower rates hike is going to stop the pain to ratepayers.”
“Last year’s hike was meant to fix the books, yet here we are again, with Council considering another double-digit increase. How much more do they think Wellington can take of this shambles?”
“Council should be embarrassed as Wellingtonians are seeing wasteful spending, bloated bureaucracy, and pet projects take priority while essential services continue to crumble.”
“Ratepayers shouldn’t have to bankroll this financial incompetence as they struggle with their own cost-of-living crises.”
“As empty shops sprout up across the city, leaks continue to fester over footpaths, and pensioners struggle to pay the rates, when will councillors wake up and get back to basics? Projects like the Golden Mile and Town Hall revamp must come to an end.”
The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) for wasting taxpayer money after revelations that $85,000 has been spent on a lizard relocation effort that has netted just one Gold-Striped Gecko.
Investigations Co-ordinator for the Taxpayers’ Union, Rhys Hurley, said:
“No-one’s saying conservation isn’t important, but $85,000 to find a single gecko? That’s not just bad value for money - it’s laughable.”
“Instead of these make work schemes, NZTA needs to shed its culture of waste like a gecko sheds its tail. Why is a Rotorua based company paying Wellington contractors for a gold-plated gecko hunt in New Plymouth while also employing local contractors on the side?”
“Taranaki needs its highways upgrade to deliver results at the best value possible. Pouring tens of thousands into finding one gecko will make taxpayers’ blood run colder than the lizard’s.”
Dunedin City Council argues local water bills doubling ‘inevitable’ over the next 10-years as they seek consultation on a replacement for its Three Waters department.
“What we’re seeing is the result of years of underinvestment in local water infrastructure” said Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union.
“Paying more than $4,200 a year on water – even after adjusting for 10-years of inflation – doesn’t seem at all acceptable for Dunedin ratepayers.”
“Councils long-ago have taken their eye of their core responsibilities; pipes, roads and rubbish. Doing too many other things and neglecting critical infrastructure is exactly why councils up and down the country are in this position.”
“Now, quite predictably, it’s the ratepayer copping the backlog of poor planning decisions and years of underinvestment. Better asset management and stronger focus are desperately needed in councils to mitigate these absurdly expensive blowouts.”
“Council must stop spending on all ‘nice-to-haves’ and mayoral vanity projects to reduce the impact on ratepayers. Is Council capable of exercising financial discipline?”
The Public Service Association (PSA) is misleading the public with false claims of health cuts—when the facts say otherwise, says Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Jordan Williams.
“The PSA’s outrageous scaremongering is nothing more than a desperate attempt to protect bureaucratic empire-building.”
Contrary to today’s The Post front page, which warns of the “devastating impacts of cuts to health,” the reality is clear: health spending has surged more than 24% since 2020—even after adjusting for inflation. Health NZ is hiring 4,200 frontline staff, and the Government has committed an extra $16 billion over three years.
“If the PSA knows something about the Budget that the public doesn’t, they should front up—rather than peddle disinformation.”
“This isn’t about patient care—it’s about shielding back-office pen-pushers from much-needed reforms. Their so-called ‘survey’ is a politically motivated whinge-fest designed to deceive the public and push a myth of ‘health cuts.’”
“Taxpayers want a health system that delivers results, not one that props up pointless bureaucratic sinecures. The PSA is clutching at straws, pushing fear-mongering to protect the bloated administrative machine. The public won’t be fooled.”
A report circulated this morning to Wellington mayors has made damning revelations over Wellington Water’s poor financial checks and strategic oversight that has resulted in pipework costing three times more than necessary.
“These revelations are nothing short of a scandal” said Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union, Sam Warren.
“Highlighting the period between 2017 and 2022 – concerns have been raised on this for years by officials. Warning signs have been ignored, and heads need to roll.”
“Ratepayers have been completely betrayed – and need to start being put front-and-center in every decision for publicly-funded projects.”
“It has been longly suspected the CCO has taken the public for a ride, and this report has confirmed it.”
“The lack of scrutiny and mechanisms to detect these issues in Wellington Water is appalling. Why has it taken this long to find out, and will someone be held accountable?”
“There needs to be complete reassurance that this won’t happen again. Similar issues could likely be rife throughout local government and CCOs – requiring far greater oversight in areas like procurement.”
The results are based on a series of monthly polls across New Zealand and, because the sample sizes for the Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington mayors are larger, trends were able to be deduced over time.
Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager for Local Government, Sam Warren, said:
“Of the three mayors from our largest councils, only Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has actually improved his approval score. Perhaps not so coincidentally, it is also Mayor Wayne Brown who has kept local rates increases the lowest of the three metro mayors.”
“Mayor Wayne Brown’s most recent approval score was +14 percent in February 2025 by his Auckland constituents, which puts him in good stead following his announcement to seek re-election later this year.”
“Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger’s approval has moved about the place. He had a positive first three quarters, dropped to -7 percent in December 2024, recovered – and now lands just above neutral at +1 percent approval as of February 2025.”
“Wellington City Mayor Tory Whanau had a positive score of +4 percent in her first quarter, followed by a slight decline to -1 percent. A massive drop took to -30 percent took place, and she has stayed in the negatives since.”
“Recovering to -11 percent in June 2024, Whanau took another massive fall as a result of her failure to pass her Long-term Plan that ultimately brought in an observer from Government. As of February 2025, Whanau has a -42 percent approval score and is the lowest placed mayor of the three largest city mayors – and third least approved mayor in the country on average.”
"Of the three cities, Wellington City has the highest rates increase last year on average. Rates are expected to further increase by more than 175% over the next 10 years, as is reflected by the mayor's low approval score.”
“A chart of the three metro mayors’ performance over time can be found at www.taxpayers.org.nz/metro_mayors”.
Mayor | Council | Net Approval (Feb 2025) |
Wayne Brown | Auckland | +14 |
Phil Mauger | Christchurch | +1 |
Tory Whanau | Wellington City | -42 |
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union can reveal through a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request that Wellington City Council has wasted $93,819 of ratepayer funds on the 100-metre-long 'realms to the world of light' mural at Ākau Tangi Sports Centre.The expenditure breakdown is as follows:
- $4,000: Design and commission fees
- $5,762: Contract and legal fees
- $25,711: Wall preparation
- $52,945: Mural panels
- $5,401: Installation
Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross said:
“Wellingtonians are facing their rates bill nearly tripling over ten years. 87 percent of residents want the Council to get back to focussing on the basics. So why has Council wasted $94k on making the side of a sports centre a bit jazzier?”
“The Council is once again proving how tone deaf it is - spending almost a hundred grand painting whirlpools on buildings whilst real whirlpools aren't far off forming in the CBD thanks to all the leaking pipes.”
“It’s not just artwork up there, the writing’s on the wall too. Wellington’s broke, Wellingtonians are squeezed dry, and we can’t afford these vanity projects whilst core infrastructure like pipes and roads keep crumbling.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling out the Wellington City Council for its decision to allocate $300,000 of ratepayer money to event organisers so they can pay workers the ‘Living Wage'.
The ‘Living Wage for Events Fund’ allows anyone to apply for ratepayer-funded top-ups, regardless of whether or not the event would turn a profit.
Taxpayers’ Union Local Government Campaigns Manager, Sam Warren, says:
“Ratepayers who earn less than the Living Wage themselves are being forced to subsidise wages for event workers. Pensioners, struggling small business owners, and hard-working families are footing the bill so that an event can pocket higher incomes, without the need to make any profit.”
“It’s another example of councils implementing corporate welfare to make themselves feel better. Not only are they topping up event organisers with ratepayer money, but unprofitable events now have an unfair advantage."
"From the pirate musical about Shakespeare’s ultimate lover "one bedroom still available in super sunny central wellington flat" to ‘Slavfest, the Secret Lives of Extremely Old People and Raw Meat Monday’ – everyone seems to have their hands out to council."
"But if Wellington City Council actually wants to help those struggling, they should focus on reducing rates and cutting wasteful spending – not throwing more cash around.”
Today it was revealed that Arapata Reuben, a representative from Ngāi Tūāhuriri, has not attended two-year’s worth of meetings for the Canterbury Water Zone Committee. Despite this, he was still paid his full $8000 honorarium.
“Reuben’s absence is perfectly in breach of standing orders, but both councils have not bothered to act as they say the future of the committee itself is under review” said Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union.
“Between 2023-24, Mr Reuben was at zero of the fourteen meetings that he should have attended, not even sending an apology for the last seven of these. Does Council simply does not care if paid representatives show up? What exactly does it take to get fired here?”
“Now on the back foot, both councils are ‘following this up’. Unless an awfully good excuse is found, a refund is well in order for such an appalling display of contempt towards the ratepayers footing the bill.”
Commenting on the Herald’s front-page article about academics criticising the process behind Minister Judith Collin's decision to focus the Marsden Fund on core science, a spokesman for the Taxpayers' Union, Sam Warren, said:
“Anger from academics like Troy Baisden on the decision by Minister Collins to right-size Marsden funding is a storm in a teacup.”
“The process is irrelevant if it leads to taxpayers no longer funding dubious research, such as projects aimed at “amplifying pacific girl gamer voices” or “the desexualisation of te reo Māori domains.”
“It is clear the Minister's decision to cut Marsden funding for humanities and social sciences, along with requiring 50 percent of grants to demonstrate economic benefit, is a win for taxpayers."
“The gravy train for eccentric academic ideas is coming to an end. It’s time to refocus the Marsden Fund on its core purpose: supporting chemistry, maths, engineering, and biomedical sciences for the benefit of all.
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Public Service Association to sack its Acting National Secretary after she publicly suggested women, Māori, & Pasifika people are incapable of high-performance and should therefore have pay increases automatically applied.
“Suggestions that Maori, Pacifika, and woman are incapable of high performance belongs in the 17th century, not the modern public service,” says Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams.
“We must all call out racism and sexism when it occurs, especially in the trade union movement. We are disgusted that such stereotypes are being used to suggest performance-based pay rises will see women, Māori, and Pasifika people miss out.”
“At the Taxpayers’ Union, we are baffled that in 2025 anyone would suggest that sex or race would make people less capable. Either Fleur Fitzsimons is a bad egg, or there is something deeply wrong with the culture at the PSA.”
“Fleur Fitzsimons’ comments are plainly demeaning and condescending. If the PSA won’t act, the Government should – by refusing to engage with a failed Labour Party candidate with these extreme views.”
“We must say no to hate, even when it is disguised as concern.”
Today it was revealed Health New Zealand is undergoing an urgent overhaul for its data sharing agreements on discovering they had no power to check if sensitive health data had been misused.
“The public service has an appallingly lax attitude towards data privacy” said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.
“The overhaul follows findings from Sir Brian Roche’s inquiry into the Manurewa Marae, and until now, Health NZ had no idea about its system’s weaknesses.”
“It’s not at all dissimilar to the issues we found with Inland Revenue last year, when they were caught giving sensitive taxpayer information to overseas tech firms like Facebook.”
“Sir Brian Roche is doing excellent work reorienting the public service. It’s a big job with seemingly no end for improvement. We’d strongly encourage him to take a look into Inland Revenue next, an agency that remains steeped with poor data safety protocols and an attitude completely at odds with the protection of Kiwis’ privacy.”
Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche has questioned automatic pay rises for bureaucrats, stripping powers off Chief Executives to further entrench the ‘tenure-based pay scale’ as pay rises become unaffordable.
Commenting on this, Taxpayers Union Spokesman James Ross said: “Roche has cast an unbiased eye on a serious and growing problem – the bloating of bureaucrats’ salary bills.”
“The public service salary burden jumped 72% between 2017 and 2023, and the average bureaucrat’s salary is now over $101k. Automatic pay rises, no matter what, are unsustainable under current economic conditions. ”
“Everyday Kiwis get pay rises when they earn them, and bear the consequences of their own performance. Public servants shouldn’t be entitled to special privileges, especially when everyone else is picking up the bill.”
“Rewarding time-served with automatic pay hikes subsidises mediocrity, and public sector performance pay is long overdue.”
The Reserve Bank has today slashed the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 50 basis points for the third time in a row, dropping the rate to 3.75%.
Commenting on the rapid drop, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross called this “an admission of failure by the Reserve Bank Governor.”
“The Reserve Bank being too slow off the mark to cut interest rates has driven the country into the worst economic downturn in three decades. With more than two and a half times the staff now than the Bank had in 2018, clearly too many cooks spoiled the broth.”
“To dig ourselves out of recession, we need to see serious growth. That means attracting investment, and the corporate tax reforms to fuel it.”
“With Budget 2025 just around the corner, now’s the time for Nicola Willis to be drafting plans for a pro-growth agenda, including high bang-for-buck policies like full capital expensing.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through a Local Government Official Information and Meeting Act request a total cost breakdown of Tauranga City Council $5 million destination playground.
A breakdown of costs shows $1.67 million was spent on play equipment, $1.1 million on hard landscaping, nearly $640,000 on consulting, engineering, and management costs, $361,000 on safety surfacing, and $150,000 on council staff costs.
Taxpayers’ Union Communications Officer, Alex Emes, said:
“Building a park for $5 million is one thing, but spending nearly $800,000 before a single cent is spent on actual materials, is disgraceful.
"When the fact the floor alone cost more than 1.4million it makes you wonder if its made of shredded ratepayer cash.
“Not only did Tauranga council blunder millions on this project, including exorbitant council fees but they had the gall to jack rates 13.1% this year alone. It's time for Tauranga council to understand they can't have their cake and eat it to.
“This is yet another example of local councils treating ratepayers as a bottomless ATM. Tauranga residents deserve full transparency on where their money is going and why this playground climbed so much higher than it should have.”
The Taxpayers’ Union says that the Stats NZ Chief Executive, Mark Sowden, should be sacked, not allowed to quietly leave at the end of his term following the findings of an inquiry into data breaches released by the Public Service Commission today.
“The findings are damning - if public accountability is to mean anything, the Government should be telling Mr Sowden not to bother coming to work tomorrow - not serve out another six weeks fully paid to save face,” said Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross.
“Let’s put this in perspective, the Stats boss allowed census and Covid vaccine data to be leaked and allegedly misused to favour a political party. It doesn’t get much more serious than that. Heads should be rolling, but yet-again these public sector bosses are quietly moved on to save face.”
“We saw the same with the Police Commissioner – a cushy job elsewhere in the public sector found for someone Ministers had lost confidence in. Instead of a revolving door, Sir Brian Roche needs to be making examples.”
“The situation with Stats NZ does create an awkward situation for the IRD’s bosses though. Last year, an IRD data leak saw over a quarter of a million taxpayers’ data handed to third parties completely unencrypted. The very criticisms of Stats NZ about lack of processes and systems are applicable to IRD. But the IRD breach was on a much larger scale and it appears laws were broken.”
“The Public Service Commissioner should turn his attention to Inland Revenue. The Department’s culture of burying its head in the sand won’t end unless the IRD Commissioner’s job is also on the line.”
Hi
You won't top these Golden Hogs 💫🐷
Thanks to those who joined us at Parliament last week where we hosted the 2025 Jonesie Awards for Government Waste.
In case you missed it, you can watch a replay of the red carpet, golden-glitzed (and, tongue firmly in cheek) awards ceremony here.
This year's Jonesies winners were up there with the best of them.
Spoiler alert: The who's who of government waste 🥇
This year’s winners did not disappoint. In the Local Government Category, the Hastings District Council took the bacon for its disastrous fiscal management and putting unelected kids members of its "youth council" onto its council committees and giving them voting rights.
The Central Government Winner was Dr Ayesha Verrall for her time as Minister of Science and Innovation in approving the "research" of Whale Song to cure Kauri trees costing taxpayers four million bucks.
And as for the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award – click here to watch the ceremony to see which very lucky Mayor took home her very own golden bicycle.
"Will do my utmost to never be a nominee for these awards" - says Minister 🎉
The purpose of Jonesies-style name-and-shame efforts is to discourage officials and politicians from making wasteful spending decisions in the first place.
We hope so Mr Hoggard! 😉
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Why are polls looking for gloomy for the Government? ⤵️
Off the back of last week's Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll and another poll which also showed a potential change of government, Jordan was on RNZ's Morning Report to discuss what our research says Mr Luxon needs to do. Click here to listen.
Eh?! New Zealand's closing up shop? 👀
The economy might be in bad shape, but even for the Taxpayers' Union, the latest government announcement might be slightly overselling the gravity of the situation. On Sunday, the Government announced a new tourism campaign with the slogan "Everyone Must Go".
In a sign that the Beehive's political antenna remains on the fritz, many were quick to point out the blindingly obvious: is this a closing down sale or a snazzy catchphrase to draw in Australians?
But here's the kicker. The $500,000 ad campaign was funded out of the International Visitor and Tourism Levy – a tax on [checks notes] all non-Australian tourists. So officials are using the money to attract the only type of tourism that is exempt.
Look, we're not against a little tourism promotion, but is this really the serious economic reform Luxon's been promising?
To save us from the next campaign (pictured below) surely the Government can do better, right?
Government accountability: Sir Saint Brian Roche's music to our ears 🎶🙌
Glory glory, Hallelujah! The new Public Service Commissioner is certainly singing from our hymn sheet.
At last week's New Zealand Economics Forum, Sir Brian Roche didn't waste any time sugarcoating - it was truth-bomb after truth-bomb:
- The public service has exploded by more than 30 percent in six years – accounting for 63,537 public servants 'workers'.
- Over the same timeframe, total salary costs grew a staggering 72 percent, to $6.1 billion ($3,043 per household) per year. And that doesn't include the wider public sector such as defence personnel, police, teachers, public healthcare workers.
- In terms of the public service structure (his words) "to say it's complex is an understatement". There are 46 chief executives in the core public service (again, that excludes police, teachers, frontline departments, etc).
- “The system is inefficient” “not fit for purpose” and "We’ve got too many small, overlapping agencies, eating up resources, duplicating work, and driving up fixed costs."
We've been waiting for a long time for a Public Service Commissioner who knows our government's become a money-sink. But he's only in the role until June 2027 - so there's no time to waste.
How bad's the problem? 💣
{{recipient.first_name_or_friend}}, it wasn't in Sir Brian's speech, but to illustrate the points the Commission was making, here are two factoids to bank.
The first is this comparison produced last year by our friends at the NZ Initiative (a Wellington-based think tank).
Here is New Zealand's "Public Policy Responsibility Flowchart" drawing the lines of responsibility between Ministers, departments, and major sectors of the economy.
And here is a country of roughly the same size, Norway. Notice any difference?
In the humble opinion of the Taxpayers' Union, the report should be compulsory reading for every MP: especially the former Minister for the Public Service who shepherded through Parliament the Public Sector Act 2020 and got us into this mess, one [double checks notes] Rt Hon Chris Hipkins...
The full research note is online here.
Judge for yourself: MBIE accountable to all or accountable to no one? 🥸
Here's today's second factoid for you to pull out when some left-wing media claims that reform in Wellington isn't necessary.
The screen shot below is taken directly from the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment website. Just look how many Ministers MBIE officials are "accountable" to (click for larger version):
Double check my maths, but I think that's 21 Ministers across 29 portfolios. When something goes wrong, or officials go rogue, just who is responsible? Clear as mud then.
Sir Brian, you know what to do.
$12,700 worth of bad news: the cost of just two years under performance 📉🚮
Ever wondered how poor New Zealand's growth is? Nicola Willis, take heed.
GDP per capita is $5,300 lower than Treasury forecast just two years ago. And stunted growth means another $7,400 can be shaved off where Treasury forecast we'd be in two years' time.
As the NZ Herald's Thomas Coughlan put it: $12,700 for every New Zealander - the cost of no growth.
Nicola Willis' speech at the NZ Economics Forum was significantly less inspiring than Sir Brian Roche's. Trite lines about prioritising economic growth, but still no real meat to back it up.
Budget 2025 is just 93 sleeps away. If we want growth, we need ambitious policies.
But your humble Taxpayers' Union is here to help. Keep an eye on your inbox later this week for the "best tax policy you've [probably] never heard of" ...
EXPOSED: grifting as an Art Foundation art form 🎨💰
The Arts Foundation was set up to raise private money for the arts – you know, helping young, starving artists get their shot at the big time and giving humble arts organisations a boost. Fair enough.
You’d think their funding would go toward paintbrushes, canvases, and theatre productions, right? Wrong. Instead, they’ve raked in $1,180,300 from Creative NZ (i.e. taxpayers) since 2021/22 — but not for art, not for artists, but, drumroll please… lobbying!
Picasso once said, “Art is a lie that makes us realise truth.” Well, here’s the truth: Creative NZ is funnelling millions to a private charity, which then turns around and lobbies the very government that funds it. Talk about a taxpayer-funded money-go-round.
Why paint the system when you can game it? You can read what our research team have uncovered over on our website.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
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The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through an Official Information Act request that Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) has confirmed the continued funding of the Te Kurahuna Programme, despite the disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority.
The programme, which cost taxpayers $4 million, will see 11,000 staff access the programme until at least 30 June 2025.
This revelation follows concerns raised by the Taxpayers’ Union about Te Kurahuna’s links to the Department of Internal Affairs which previously spent $375k (on top of $575,000 staff costs) to promote using indigenous knowledge to create ‘change agents’.
Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross, said:
“Taxpayers expect professional development that actually makes a difference, not just another example of taxpayer money being funnelled into initiatives with little accountability or measurable outcomes.”
“Despite the Government’s promise to root out waste like this, groups like Te Kurahuna are still receiving millions. It raises serious concerns about whether all Ministers are ensuring reforms that deliver the efficiencies and savings that were promised.”
“Health NZ should only be spending taxpayers money on what we know saves lives. Before training begins to understand traditional healing practices we need some evidence of its effectiveness over proven healthcare methods.”
“The Taxpayers’ Union is calling for Ministers to end funding for Te Kurahuna programmes and workshop grifters that have received millions in taxpayer funding, despite the Government’s supposed focus on cutting costs.”
“Minister Brooke van Velden has already shown its possible to cut spending in DIA. It’s time for the new Health Minister to also step up and do the same.”
Minister of Finance and Economic Growth Nicola Willis has today celebrated a 63 percent decrease in the amount spent annually on Big Four consultants by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment.
“The multi-million-dollar gravy train has left the station – hopefully never to return” said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union.
“Excessive and costly dependence on external consultants to provide ministries with advice has been allowed to go off the rails.”
“Peaking under the last government, MBIE spent more than $7.1 million on the Big Four in a single financial year. We’re pleased to see Minister Willis reining in a 63 percent reduction, or about $4.5 million in savings to the taxpayer."
“It’s great work, with much more to be done. Relying on the Big Four only accounts for some of the costs incurred by ministries and other agencies. Described by the Minister as a ‘consultant gravy train’, Willis says she will make sure this number tracks down – and just as importantly, stays down. More of this please, Minister.”
Responding to news that Wellington City Council is considering selling off the 26 unused electric vehicle chargers which have been sat in storage unused since they were purchased five years ago, Taxpayers’ Union Communications Officer, Alex Emes, said “it’s about time for the council to front up and admit guilt.”
“While it is in the interests of Wellington ratepayers to sell off this subsidy for the rich, it is unfortunate that it has come to this point. The council should have never spent a penny on this programme, and the $3.4 million spent is a flagrant abuse of taxpayer money.
“Wellington City Council has long known of the underutilisation of chargers. Hardworking Wellingtonians shouldn’t be on the hook for a programme that only benefits wealthy Tesla Owners.
“While the Taxpayers’ Union has already been beating this drum by breaking stories of EV charger waste left and right, it is nice to finally see a Wellington city councillor have some common sense and call out this outrageous handout for the rich.”
Recent analysis has shown every New Zealander is likely to be $12,700 worse off, on average, than forecast by Treasury only two years ago.
“These figures show the depth of the situation we’re in” said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union.
“The reality is we’re getting poorer. The government this year is leaning heavy on chasing economic growth, which is absolutely the right thing to do.”
“But what should have been done last year might be too little too late.”
“The Minister has shamelessly decreed she ‘will not be a slave to surplus’ but that only leaves us with one alternative – continuing as a slave to debt."
“From day one Willis has had every lever at her disposal to generate growth and pull us out of recession. Instead, her softly-softly approach has only played around the edges – and Kiwis are worse off for it.”
“Let’s be really clear, the government was elected with a mandate to make bold decisions, yet Willis has been reluctant to do so – and I think is reflected in the polls. We can only hope ‘going for growth’ is more than a bumper sticker and actually has some meat to it.”
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through an Official Information Act request that The Arts Foundation Te Tumo Toi has received $1,180,300 of funding from Creative NZ since 2021/22.
This includes funding for lobbying/advocacy purposes, although The Arts Foundation was set up in order to raise private funds for the arts.
Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman, James Ross, said:
“Taxpayer-funded lobbying is rife with examples across the public sector. But it especially stings when taxpayers’ money is being given to a charity set up to seek private funding, just for it then to use the cash to lobby other bits of government."
“Time and again Creative NZ have been shown to be wasting taxpayers’ money on nonsense projects including – to name a few – Indigenised Hypno-Soundscapes, a ballet called the Sl*tcracker, and Covid dance videos. This is just the latest in a long string of questionable uses of taxpayers’ money.”
“Creative NZ should’ve been for the chop long ago, and the huge ecosystem of taxpayer-funded lobbyists needs to go with them.”
The Taxpayers' Union's annual Jonesie Awards (the Jonesies) today have once again shone a light on the 'best of the worst' of Government waste. Hosted in Parliament's Legislative Council Chamber, there were laughs, there were tears, and there was more competition than ever for our coveted Golden Hogs.
You can watch the ceremony here.
Since 2018, the Jonesies - modelled on the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation's 'Teddies' hosted at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa - have awarded councils, departments, and politicians for the most weird and wacky waste throughout the year.
Commenting on the event, Taxpayers' Union Spokesman, Jordan Williams, said:
"From whalesong to training wheels, officials boozing up and lessons in sitting down - this year's Jonesies had it all."
"$4 million Whalesong FM for sick kauri trees was music to the ears of the awards committee, and Ayesha Verrall takes the prize for central government waste in approving the spend as the former Minister of Science and Innovation."
"Another shiny plaything will be adorning the trophy shelf in Hastings District Council. Congratulations to the kids running the show."
"Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau was miles ahead of the competition for the Lifetime Achievement Award – and with her shiny new golden bicycle, she'll be a tough one to catch."
"Congratulations to all our winners this year, but we've barely scratched the surface of Government waste, so look forward to seeing our contestants again next year."
Local Government Nominees:
1. Auckland Transport (taking ratepayers for a ride): Auckland Transport has found another way to take ratepayers for a ride. In order to convince people to start using their empty cycleways. Auckland Transport spent more than $450,000 on 'free' bike riding lessons...for adults.
2. Hastings Council (Where the kids are in charge): After Hastings Council purchased a $1 million earthquake-prone building only to sell it off 3 months later for only $150k, the Council needed a rebrand. Unfortunately, this new campaign rebrand cost ratepayers more than $70,000. With their new save-face campaign falling flat on its face, the council tried a new strategy: paying to put the kids in charge.
3. Auckland Unlimited (For helping Auckland find its happiness): In a misguided attempt to make Aucklanders happier about their city, Auckland Unlimited decided to spend $737,000 of ratepayer money on a video of a half-naked guy from Finland.
4. Auckland Council ($263,000 for a few (mis)(steps)): A $263,000 price tag has Auckland ratepayers asking if the council was building a stairway to heaven. With an average cost of $8,200 per step, the build is sure to "make you wonder".
5. Metlink ($1.3 million for seven luxurious loos): Instead of shoring up their shortage of bus drivers, Metlink decided to build seven toilets - exclusively for the use of bus drivers - with each one coming with an average pricetag of $185,000. Take a look at these diamond-encrusted dunnies.
The 2025 Winner for Local Government Waste - Hastings District Council!
Central Government Nominees:
1. Ayesha Verrall (Healing trees with whale sounds): Former Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Ayesha Verrall handed millions of taxpayer dollars to practice new, ground-breaking, revolutionary science - healing kauri trees with whale sounds. The Taxpayers' Union is anxiously waiting to find out exactly how many trees have been saved.
2. NZ Film Commission (For parties and propaganda): From funding Ardern and Swarbrick's propaganda documentaries, to having four back-to-back parties within a fortnight. Add on their yearly Hollywood booze-ups at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Film Commission have really been rolling out the red carpet this year.
3. NZTA (A giant cone-spiracy): The Transport Agency has cone-spired to spend more than $786 million on road cones and lollipop signs. Are they trying to build roads, or just trying to block them?
4. MBIE (For wasteful workshops): MBIE has commissioned more than a million dollars' worth of exclusive workshops for staffers. Whether it's white privilege, learning how to sit, or studying the algorithms of whiteness...the war against work never stops at this government ministry.
5. Creative NZ (for having fun "dancing"): Now we all know art is subjective. But subjecting taxpayers to pay $75k for a video that received only 60 views seems a little much. So the Taxpayers' Union has decided to help out by bringing this masterpiece to a wider audience.
The 2025 Winner for Central Government Waste - Dr Ayesha Verrall
2025 Lifetime Achievement in Waste Award: Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau
This year’s winner has experience with wasting money not only in her current position but also during her three years at the eye-wateringly wasteful Film Commission. This was followed with a position in the Green Party. This year’s winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award is Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau!
And she hasn’t slowed down. Since she was elected Mayor in 2022, Whanau has wasted more of ratepayers' money. Whether it was the Town Hall tab coming to a tremendous $4,000 per household, a planned $30 million dollar fence along Wellington’s idyllic waterfront, Ms. Whanau has shown time and time again why she is a deserving recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
But no matter her $189,000 salary or her famous 2003 lotto win, Ms. Whanau consistently reminds us how not only is she wasteful of others' money, but how she is wasteful of her own as well.
In an interview earlier this year, the mayor said that due to the tough times brought on presumably from her continually rising rates, she had to ‘sell her car’. After her car-selling sob story, the Taxpayers' Union uncovered a more than half a million-dollar taxpayer-funded bike rack installed just outside the mayor’s office, but there was one problem: despite the cost, no one was using it!
So, on the recommendation of Porky the Waste Hater, the waste-watching academy at the Taxpayers’ Union has decided to award a gift fitting of both the waste and grift Tory Whanau has imposed on the ratepayers of Wellington.
More bad news for the Coalition Government following the results of the latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll, as they fall behind the Centre-Left bloc.
The poll, conducted between 02 and 04 February, shows National up 2.3 points to 31.9 percent, while Labour has risen 0.4 points from last month to 31.3 percent.
The Greens are up 3.7 points to 13.2 percent, while ACT is down 0.8 points to 10.0 percent. New Zealand First is down 1.7 points to 6.4 percent, while Te Pāti Māori is down 0.9% to 4.4%.
The headline poll results and information about the methodology can be found on the Taxpayers' Union's website at https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/poll_feb_25_basjfgas
For the minor parties, Outdoors and Freedom is down 0.8 points to 0.9%, TOP is down 1.6 points to 0.5% and New Conservatives are up 0.2 points to 0.2%.
This month's results are compared to the last Taxpayers' Union–Curia Poll conducted in January 2025, available at https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/25jan_tuc_poll
Based on these results, National is up 1 seat to 39, whilst Labour remain on 39.
Despite this, the Centre-Right bloc has dropped 3 seats to 59, compared to the Centre-Left bloc’s 61 (+3 seats).
The Greens gain 4 seats to 16, while ACT drop 2 to 12 seats. New Zealand First is down 2 to 8 seats, while Te Pāti Māori drops 1 to 6 seats.
Commenting on the results, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross said:
“As long as the Government keeps failing to fix the current economic bonfire, they'll keep getting battered at the polls. It's no coincidence the proportion of people who think New Zealand is heading in the right direction keeps plummeting."
"If a poll showing they'd lose power if there was an election held today isn't a wake-up call, nothing will be. By burying the heads, the Government's playing a dangerous game of chicken with the electorate.
"Managed decline has lost its appeal. With Budget 2025 around the corner, now's the time to start laser-focusing on economic growth."
Here are the headline results for February's Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll:
Party |
Support |
Change compared to January 2025 |
National |
31.9% |
↑2.3 |
Labour |
31.3% |
↑0.4 |
ACT |
10.0% |
↓0.8 |
Green |
13.2% | ↑3.7 |
Māori |
4.4% |
↓0.9 |
NZ First |
6.4% |
↓1.7 |
Other |
2.7% |
↓3.1 |
National is up 2.3 points to 31.9% from January while Labour is up 0.4 points to 31.3%. The Greens are up 3.7 points to 13.2%, while ACT is down 0.8 points to 10.0%. New Zealand First is down 1.7 points to 6.4%, while Te Pāti Māori is down 0.9 points to 4.4%.
For the minor parties, Outdoors and Freedom is at 0.9% (-0.8 points), TOP is on 0.5% (-1.6 points), and New Conservatives is on 0.2% (+0.2 points).
Here is how these results would translate to seats in Parliament:
Party |
Seats |
Change compared to January 2025 |
National |
39 |
↑1 |
Labour |
39 |
nc |
ACT |
12 |
↓2 |
Green |
16 |
↑4 |
NZ First |
8 | ↓2 |
Māori |
6 |
↓1 |
This shows how many seats each party would win in Parliament, based on the decided vote. National is up 1 seat seat from last month to 39 while Labour remains unchanged on 39. The Greens are up 4 seats at 16 while ACT is down 2 seats at 12. New Zealand First is down 2 seats on last month to 8 while Te Pāti Māori is down one to 6.
This calculation assumes that National would not win more than 39 electorate seats.
The Centre-Right bloc is projected to win 59 seats, a decline of 3 from last month. Meanwhile, the Centre-Left bloc has gained 3 seats, bringing their total to 61. Based on these numbers, Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori could form a Government.
Preference for Christopher Luxon is down 3.8 points at 20.7%, while Chris Hipkins is up 2.3 points to 17.6%.
David Seymour is on 6.4% (+0.1 points) while Winston Peters is down 0.8 points to 8.0% and Chlöe Swarbrick is at 8.9% (+0.4 points).
24.5% of respondents named the Cost of Living as their top issue, followed by the Economy at 17.0%, Health at 13.9%, Māori/Treaty issues at 7.6%, Poverty at 4.7% and Employment at 3.8%.
34.2% of respondents said the country was moving in the right direction, compared to 50% who said it was moving in the wrong direction. This gives a net right/wrong direction result of -15.8% (down 1.8 points).
For the full polling report, covering the detailed insights the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition are use to receiving, join our Taxpayer Caucus – our club of most generous financial supporters who make our work possible.
Media Summary Statement
This poll should be formally referred to as the “Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll”.
Any media or other organisation that reports on this poll should include the following summary statement:
The poll was conducted by Curia Market Research Ltd for the Taxpayers’ Union. It is a random poll of 1,000 adult New Zealanders and is weighted to the overall adult population. It was conducted by phone (landlines and mobile) and online between Sunday 02 and Tuesday 04 February 2025, has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1% and 5.4% were undecided on the party vote question.
Notes
The scientific poll was conducted by Curia Market Research and commissioned by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. The full polling report is being released exclusively to members of our Taxpayer Caucus. As is well known, but for full disclosure, David Farrar co-founded the Taxpayers' Union and previously served on its board. He is also a Director of Curia Market Research Ltd.
The Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll was conducted from Sunday 02 and Tuesday 04 February 2025,. The median response was collected on Monday 03 February 2025
The target population is adults aged 18+ who live in New Zealand and are eligible and likely to vote. The sample population is adults aged 18+ who live in New Zealand and are eligible and likely to vote who are contactable on a landline or mobile phone or online panel. 1,000 respondents agreed to participate, 800 by phone and 200 by online panel. The number of decided voters on the vote questions was 908. There were 54 (5.4%) undecided voters and 25 (2.5%) who refused the vote question.
A random selection of 15,000 NZ phone numbers (landlines and mobiles) and a random selection from the target population from up to three global online panels (that comply with ESOMAR guidelines for online research). If the call is to a landline, the person who is home and next has a birthday is asked to take part. Those who take part through an online panel are excluded from further polls on the same topic for six months.
Multiple call-backs occurred to maximise the response rate. Those who said they were unlikely or very unlikely to vote were excluded.
The poll was part of a wider omnibus survey for multiple clients. Questions on voting sentiment are asked before any other questions. The questions were asked in the order they are listed.
The results are weighted to reflect the overall voting adult population in terms of gender, age, and area.
Based on this sample of 1,000 respondents, the maximum sampling error (for a result of 50%) is +/- 3.1%, at the 95% confidence level. Results for sub-groups such as age and area will have a much higher margin of error and not seen as precise.
The polling questions and the order in which they were asked can be found here.
The second Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll for the year is out, and it's not good news for the Government.
SHOCK POLL: Labour, Te Pāti Māori and the Greens would have enough seats to form Government 📊
Under these numbers, Labour, with te Pāti Māori and the Greens would be able to form a Government – that's the first time since March 2022, when the Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll last shows the left ahead.
Although National is up 2.3 points to 31.9 percent from last month, it's not enough to fend off the left block.
Labour is up 0.4 points to 31.3 percent, the Greens are up 3.7 points to 13.2 percent, and Te Pāti Māori are down 0.9 points to 4.4 percent.
Meanwhile, ACT are down 0.8 points to 10.0 percent, New Zealand First are down 1.7 points to 6.4 percent.
That means the centre-right bloc are projected to hold 59 seats, not enough to command a majority in the 120-seat Parliament. Compared to last month, the centre-left bloc has gained three seats, bringing their total to 61 seats.
Head over to our website for the 'top voting issue', preferred Prime Minister, and other data.
Watt went wrong with Paris emissions target? 🫷
As you know, the Taxpayers' Union has always supported sensible climate mitigation policy, and New Zealand's world-beating emissions trading scheme. But Climate Change Minister Simon Watts' decision to sign New Zealand up for even more aggressive climate targets than Jacinda Ardern and James Shaw is economic madness.
How can you credibly say you want to "grow the economy" when you sign up to extreme targets to cut emissions that Treasury estimate could cost taxpayers up to $24 billion – or $12,000 per New Zealand household?
Perhaps the reason this was so misjudged was because Simon Watts was talking to the wrong people (or just the side with a particular viewpoint).
Last week, we exposed the Minister for having refused to meet with the Federated Farmers for more than a year – despite agricultural emissions making up one half of New Zealand's emissions profile. According to publicly available Ministerial diaries, the Minister has instead been meeting with anti-agricultural groups such as Greenpeace!
This is consistent with what we've faced with Minister Watts's office. In fact, Minister Watts is the only Minister in the current Government to have refused to meet with your humble Taxpayers' Union!
Despite being Minister of Revenue (i.e. responsible for the tax system) the Minister wouldn't even talk to New Zealand's largest taxpayer group.
We tried to reach out again last year when the IRD was found to have leaked taxpayer information of hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders in a data breach to social media companies. No response.
Then a few weeks back, when Simon Watts was given the Local Government Portfolio. After all, Simeon Brown would bounce ideas off the Taxpayers' Union and, well, ensure he was engaged with ratepayers. But with Watts' office, again, radio silence. In fact, we understand Watts is instead meeting with the lefties Nanaia Mahuta's friends at Local Government New Zealand – the very organisation trying to undermine Simeon Brown's efforts to put a cap on rates!
So, last week, given the climate target announcement, we asked him onto our podcast. I'm not holding my breath.
Simon Watts was quite happy to hitch his cart to our 'Stop Three Waters' roadshow events, but as soon as he got the Ministerial limo, the phone went off the hook. With the Feds also being locked out, it really makes you wonder...
Watt was that?! The Climate Change Minister's train crash interview 💥
As a farmer said to me over the weekend - at least James Shaw was over the detail.
There is still time for Mr Luxon to overrule this wayward Minister: use our email tool to email the Coalition's Party-leaders and ask them to stop this economic self-sabotage and set emissions targets that are actually achievable.
Adrian Orr spends $1k a night on a hotel room and laundry. Time to bring back Don Brash? 🌟
Before entering politics, former Governor of the Reserve Bank, Don Brash established himself as a taxpayer-hero when, in 1999, the Reserve Bank released details of his travel spending. The original press release (recently purged from the RBNZ's eyewateringly expensive website) concluded with:
"Unlike many central bank chiefs, Dr Brash travels without an entourage. On all of his overseas trips and most of his New Zealand ones, he travels entirely without the aid of staff. Furthermore, as a matter of policy he flies economy class within New Zealand and Australia and business class internationally.
"In line with a Bank policy he instigated, he routinely washes his own clothes when travelling to avoid incurring the expense of using laundry services. Dr Brash is always very mindful of his accountability to the New Zealand taxpayer."
How times have changed...
The Taxpayers' Union can reveal that current Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr and a lucky colleague spent $32k on a flash foreign getaway to Washington DC, courtesy of you, the taxpayer.
Or maybe not so lucky. While Mr Orr lived it up at the front of the plane in Business Class, Premium Economy was just fine for the bag carrier.
Now here's the kicker. Both of their rooms cost a few dollars shy of $1,000 a night each!
Reading the receipts, it seems Orr's room stay ended up about $700 more expensive than his workmate's thanks to extra meals, as well as exorbitant laundry services.
Seems like the Governor was about as successful at keeping food off his clothes as he was at keeping the lid on inflation (or his expenses under control).
Adrian Orr's not the only one who's bloated... 🐖🏦
Speaking of appetites, seems like the Reserve Bank's got one to match its head honcho.
What was once a lean, mean inflation-wrecking machine even a few years ago is now the poster child for Wellington bloat. Since 2018, RBNZ has ballooned in size by more than two and a half times.
The Strategy, Governance, and Sustainability team has grown from 29 to 63, and the Transformation, Innovation, People and Culture more than tripled from 11 to 38. And even the Governor's personal retinue has gone from three to five.
The worst bit is RBNZ's got worse at its job. When it sat at around 200 staff it was the envy of the world. At two and a half times that size, the Reserve Bank's failures to properly manage inflation have seen it take all the heat out of the economy. We've suffered a longer per-capita recession than after the Global Financial Crisis and we're currently knee-deep in the middle of the worst economic downturn in more than thirty years.
Too many cooks spoil the broth?
TAXPAYER VICTORY: The stopping the workshop gravy train 🙌
Department of Internal Affairs have been caught wasting almost a million dollars sending bureaucrats to yet more workshops - this time, using "indigenous knowledge" to become "change agents."
92 staff spent 80 hours each prepping for the course, five straight days getting grilled at the marae, and then eight hours of debriefing over the next month.
Running the maths quickly, that's just shy of 12,000 staff hours at an average Public Sector salary of $48.89 an hour. Yeesh
Slap another $375k of course costs on top of those $575,000 staff costs and what do you have? A big waste of time and money.
Every rock we look under, we find more of these workshops raking in hundreds of thousands from the taxpayer. Te Kurahuna, Pakeha Project, Courageous Conversations, sitting lessons, bravery training...
Minutes after we went to the media with this one, we had a call from Minister Brooke van Velden's office. The Minister's office told us that they've now stopped all future training with Te Kurahuna Ltd.
And - get this - the Minister's already managed to save $1,316,000 through her programme scrapping just some of DIA's workshops. Other Ministers, take note. Cheers to a Taxpayer Victory!
Have a good week.
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Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has today dismissed a Better Wellington–Curia pollshowing 53 percent of locals supported any future rates rises to be capped with inflation, while only 29 percent opposed.
“It’s really quite sad that Mayor Whanau is so dismissive of her constituents” said Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union.
“Under Whanau, rates increased by 18.5 percent, on average, last year alone. Successive rates increases are still on the table to fund Whanau’s poor policy decisions.”
“Instead of listening to locals, Mayor Whanau has brushed off the poll as fake news. She instead remains committed to driving the city into the ground – literally rating people out of their own homes in the process.”
“Former Local Government Minister, Simeon Brown, was actively exploring rates capping as instrument to keep future rates increases reasonable – which the Taxpayers’ Union has long championed. We continue to push this as a key topic with local elections looming.”
“Our message to Mayor Whanau: Read the room, or locals will find someone who will.”
The National-led coalition was elected on the promise of growth and responsible spending, and “Delivering on their election promises would be better late than never” said Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross.
“New Zealand has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world. It also has next to no foreign investment, and negative growth. The connection is clear.”
“Nicola Willis’ plans for corporate tax reform needs to have more meat than the paltry income ‘tax relief’ delivered last year, which failed to even account for bracket creep.”
“If we want growth, that means a slash to the corporate tax rate in combination with high bang-for-buck policies like full capital expensing, and the spending cuts to make that possible.”
“Now’s the time to, in Willis’ words, ‘be bold.’ Kiwis have had enough of managed decline.”
The National Party was once seen as the party for farmers, but it seems that’s no longer the case. The Taxpayers’ Union can confirm that Climate Change Minister Simon Watts refused multiple requests by New Zealand’s largest farming group to meet ahead of his decision to ramp up the country’s already $24 billion Paris Agreement contributions.
Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman, James Ross, said “What is Simon Watts’ job? Because if it’s taking a balanced approach to stakeholders, he’s not doing it.”
“Publicly disclosed Ministerial diaries show Minister Watts is happy to get cosy with anti-agriculture activist groups like Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Aotearoa Circle, but his staff wouldn’t even reply to emails from Federated Farmers. Nor did Watts meet with Beef + Lamb, or even a Chamber of Commerce in formulating his Paris target.”
“Agriculture accounts for half our emissions. Forget just bad policy, not meeting with the major stakeholders in the industry the Minister has announced he plans to decimate is either extreme arrogance or severe incompetence.”
“National MPs were more than happy to join protest marches against James Shaw and Jacinda Ardern’s climate policy. It’s one thing to get into government and adopt the same policies, it’s quite another to ghost the stakeholders who got you there.”
“When are we getting a Minister who takes climate change – and the bill for tens of thousands every Kiwi household is getting stuck with – seriously? This isn’t a game, Minister.”
“More than 9,000 New Zealanders have emailed the Prime Minister, and leaders of ACT and NZ First asking them to overrule Watts’ extreme and costly 2035 target.”
Ashburton District Council has paid social media influencers $7,000 in an attempt to promote tourism in the area.
Commenting on this, Local Government Campaign Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union, Sam Warren, said:
“Rates in Ashburton increased by 17.90 percent on average last year alone. You’d think council would be more interested in working out how to keep this number down.”
“Businesses aren’t struggling due to a lack of influencers, but they are struggling with crippling rate rises, year-on year."
“There’s no shortage of areas to focus on, but ratepayer-funded holidays for social media influencers isn’t one of them. Instead, why not focus on the obscene cost overruns from the new $62.1 million library?"
"What we have is another Council trying to do too much. Stick to the basics – roads, waste and pipes."
At 8pm last night – timed, presumably, to avoid pick up on the morning news shows – Climate Change Minister Simon Watts released New Zealand’s 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution to combatting climate change under the Paris Agreement.
The target, which locks unavoidable agricultural emissions into New Zealand’s international targets, are even more ‘ambitious’ than the 2030 targets made when Jacinda Ardern/James Shaw flew to Glasgow. They will cost future taxpayers literally tens of billions of dollars in penalties.
Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said “Ardern’s 50% emissions reduction by 2030 target was ludicrous. Treasury estimates that in just five years taxpayers will be on the hook for up to $24 billion - that’s $12,000 per New Zealand household. The Government has now signed us up for another bill for five years later.”
“To not only lock this cost in, but go even harder for 2035 is economic sabotage. Watts and his Cabinet colleagues are not going to be around in a decade to have to pay the bill, but are doubling down on Paris at the very time our trading partners are pulling back.”
“Half of New Zealand’s emissions are agricultural. To achieve the 51-55% reduction Simon Watts has put NZ on the hook for would mean we either must shut down parts of our agricultural sector, or just about everything else. To say this is fantasy does Mickey Mouse a disservice.”
“The only way New Zealand avoids paying tens of billions in international carbon credits is if every square inch of Otago and Southland is planted in pine. But even the Government’s own experts advise that pathway is not credible.”
“So this decision will see New Zealanders having to stump up billions more to buy international credits in a decade’s time.”
“The Taxpayers’ Union has long supported sensible emissions reductions using our world leading Emissions Trading Scheme. But such a scheme can only operate with realistic targets and collective international action. Sacrificing our economic prosperity at the altar of good intentions when other countries are pulling back is nothing short of economic sabotage.”
“Minister Todd McClay was on radio this morning talking about how the Government want to ‘power up’ agricultural exports. He’s sure in for a shock.”
“Meanwhile, Simon Watts has just harpooned the Prime Minister’s ‘Going for Growth’ plan. Mr Luxon, Mr Peters, and Mr Seymour need to step in and overrule this decision.”
Dunedin City Council has agreed to open consultation on a $4.4 million boost in funding towards local events and festivals – described by one promotor as a ‘a drop in the ocean’.
“It’s an unfortunate lesson in corporate welfare” said Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union.
“If there was a business case for these events, pumping endless cash into them wouldn’t be required.”
“Promoters are concerned about competing with Christchurch’s events, which receives even more public funding. Christchurch will then compete with Dunedin – Dunedin with Christchurch, and so on. It’s a race to the bottom, funded by ratepayers.”
“One promotor said $4.4 million was not enough, a ‘drop in the ocean’. It’s a slippery slope that quickly becomes a money hose.”
“Last year Dunedin locals suffered a 17.5 percent average increase to their rates. Council should be looking harder at finding savings, not funding nice-to-haves.”
The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal, through an Official Information Act request, that Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr and a staff member spent $32,048.39 on a six-day trip to Washington DC to meet with central bankers from around the world.
Costs included business-class flights (for Orr), accommodation, meals and laundry.
Commenting on the high costs, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said:
“Given New Zealand is still suffering through its worst economic downturn in over three decades thanks to the work of the Reserve Bank, an ‘all hands on deck’ approach wouldn’t go amiss. Not least from the man running the show.”
“Hopefully the Governor’s $14,025 business-class flights left him well-rested. If not, spending $972 per night on his hotel surely did.”
“Seeing as RBNZ now has more than two and a half times more staff than it did in June 2018, let’s hope the rest of the bank’s employees show a bit more spending restraint than their head honcho.”
“Clearly the international jaunts and hiring sprees haven’t helped the Reserve Bank do its job. It’s time for the Governor to put his head down and focus on undoing some of the economic damage that’s set to be his lasting legacy.”
After initially declining Official Information requests made by the New Zealand Herald, KiwiRail has finally released its board members’ letters of resignation following interventions made by the Ombudsman.
“State-owned enterprises are now too comfortable burying the lead when they should be held accountable to its shareholders – the New Zealand taxpayer” said Sam Warren, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman.
“We’re seeing a growing reluctance from a number of agencies to comply with requests from Official Information, despite a clear legislative requirement to do so.”
“Hiding behind veils of bureaucracy and baseless excuses of ‘commercial sensitivity’ has allowed SOEs to game the OIA process designed to improve transparency.”
“It’s well and good the Ombudsman acted on this, but discouraging to know that this was even required. So much more needs to be done in this space to improve accountability.”
Tomorrow’s expected announcement on what the Luxon Government has signed New Zealand taxpayers up for in terms of Paris Agreement emission targets for 2030-2035 are a first real test of whether the Government’s claimed focus on economic growth is genuine, says the Taxpayers’ Union.
“This is where the rubber hits the road,” says James Ross, Policy Manager at the Taxpayers’ Union.
“In the context of the US having pulled the plug on the Paris Agreement, and with the UK’s ‘net zero’ intentions in question, no responsible New Zealand government would sign up for a second round of ‘ambitious’ and impossible targets if they are serious about growing the economy.”
“Treasury estimate that the Ardern/Shaw-era 2030 targets will cost Kiwi taxpayers up to $24 billion - that’s twelve Dunedin hospitals or $12,000 for every New Zealand household.”
“If the Government does a rinse and repeat, or sets targets that apply to agricultural emissions, that would be close to economic sabotage, and make a joke of Mr Luxon’s comments about ‘going for growth’.”
“The Taxpayers’ Union has long supported sensible emissions reductions using our world leading Emissions Trading Scheme. But such a scheme can only operate with realistic targets and collective international action. Sacrificing our economic prosperity at the altar of good intentions when other countries are pulling back would be an economic and political stink bomb.”
Responding to news that this Government has been breaking records with its heavy use of urgency, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said:
“Urgency can’t just become the short-cut when Governments want to skip over the hassle of consulting the public. Rushed laws undermine transparency and lead to bad outcomes.”
“Repeal Bills going through under urgency is one thing. But between the last Government and this one, we’ve seen RMA reforms passed under urgency, then repealed under urgency, and now being replaced in the short-term under urgency – this legislative yo-yo needs to be a lesson about what rushed reforms lead to.”
“We can’t allow the dangerous precedent to be bedded in that tough issues are rushed through Parliament to side-step scrutiny. There’s a place for urgency, but it should be “break glass in case of emergency”, not just the default “go faster” button.”
“National were rightly quick to criticise the last Government’s overuse of urgency. Now they need to walk the talk.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has floated the possibility of selling assets which fail to return value after the next election, putting TVNZ firmly in the firing line. Taxpayers’ Union Communications Officer, Alex Emes, responded to the reports by saying, “better late than never”.
“Finally, the PM has hinted at the writing on the wall. Owning failing companies like TVNZ who are deep in debt while continuing to lose money by the day is a losing strategy for the taxpayers that own them, and a losing strategy for New Zealand. It's time to cut the cord and save taxpayers from the subsidies or bailouts they will inevitably be on the hook for.”
“However, for the taxpayers who own TVNZ, the government has to do a little less talk and a lot more action. Waiting to sell TVNZ until after the next election means taxpayers will see a much lower return on investment while the dying media monster continues to post additional millions of dollars in losses.”
“While it is good that the government has begun to have this desperately needed conversation, they need to realise now is the time to sell TVNZ, not years down the line.”
Today it has been revealed the budget for Dunedin’s new landfill has almost doubled to $92 million following recommendations made by council staff.
“How on earth did they get it so wrong with their initial $52 million proposal only four years ago?” said Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union.
“Councillors voted not to pursue a partnership with private operator who could harbour the cost and better manage the project – citing this would be too complex and expensive to establish”.
“Now it’s ratepayers on the hook for an additional $40 million, which we all know will likely grow even higher when construction begins in 2027, as things often do in council.
"Remember, last year alone the city faced an average rates increase of 17.5 percent.”
“Also in the background, officials recommended against exporting waste to other areas by truck, which would be odds with their zero-carbon policy and relationship with mana whenua.”
“It seems in an effort to maintain autonomy and not share profits with a more capable provider – Dunedin City Council has chosen the least efficient and most expensive option. Time will tell if this project can be done, even at the escalated cost.”
Responding to the Government’s plans to disband Callaghan Innovation, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross said “corporate welfare has no place in New Zealand.”
“Callaghan Innovation has shown itself to be a toxic organisation, with a culture that leads to waste on a wallet-shattering scale. The Taxpayers’ Union has worked for years exposing the agency’s waste, and this is a major win for Kiwi taxpayers.”
“This should mark the end of corporate welfare across the board, with a shift to fostering growth through healthy competition.”
“The agency’s role as corporate-handout-granter-in chief can’t simply be reshuffled to another agency as part of this shake-up of the Crown Research Institutes.”
“Given that one Crown Research Institute – Landcare Research– had chucked $4m at a project playing whalesong to trees, clearly getting science funding back to basics has been in order for a long time.”
The Taxpayers’ Union says Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech on the economy strikes, but misses the mark, with no announcements that will increase New Zealand’s productivity or unshackle the private sector that drives growth.
Taxpayers' Union Spokesman, Jordan Williams, said “the speech was more about feels and repeating old announcements than concrete policy changes to improve New Zealand’s prosperity.”
“The only exception is, bizarrely, another government agency, apparently to attract foreign investors.”
“The speech represents shifting deck chairs, not the sort of economic reform the times call for.”
“People don’t invest in a country because a government agency tells them to. Claims that this model is seen in Ireland or Singapore are fantasy. Investors in those countries don’t have among the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world. Today’s speech would have meant something had it tackled our tax settings or securities law which make investing here so unattractive.”
“New Zealand’s lack of foreign investment isn’t because of a lack of bureaucrats. It’s because we don’t offer competitive investments. Today’s speech lacks the seriousness or urgency in ‘going for growth’.”
Trigger warning: this email is likely to upset you
This email is longer than usual, but important. It will likely see kickback from those who like to attack anyone who dares to criticise spending when it relates to indigenous matters.
The media won't touch it. But, frankly, unless we take on these sorts of rorts, New Zealand's reputation for accountable government won't last long.
Remember when we told you about the whale music being played to trees to 'cure' Kauri dieback? 🐋🎶🌳
A few months ago the Taxpayers' Union went public exposing the taxpayer-funded "science" project our researchers uncovered to (and this is no joke) record whales, mixing those sounds with recordings from healthy Kauri forests, to take into unhealthy Kauri forests, play back the audio recordings and assess whether the whale music could be effective in 'soothing' Kauri trees and beating myrtle rust and Kauri dieback.
You really couldn't make it up.
To recap, it was part of the "National Science Challenges" which are to bring together "the country's top scientists" and use "the best science to address the Challenge[s]".
One of the challenges relates to protecting New Zealand's biodiversity, including our iconic trees.
Recall that MBIE officials insisted that as part of the project, "matauranga Māori" (i.e. traditional Māori knowledge) must be on the same footing as "colonial science" (their description, not mine!).
MBIE's justification for this project is that according to Māori legend knowledge, sperm whales and kauri trees are brothers.
The hypthosis taxpayers are forking out to test, is whether the whales have a "calming" effect on the trees, and therefore help the trees resist disease. (We're not making this up, it's literally on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website!)
They spent HOW MUCH?! 🤯
After we blew the whistle on the project, officials spent months playing games and refusing to answer our basic questions on the "Oranga (wellbeing) project".
It's all rather murky complex (the project is managed by MBIE, but the actual payments are from Landcare Research) and after much determination (i.e. staff time! 😠 ), James and the research team have finally got to the bottom of how much was spent on the Ngā Rakau Taketake project.
Officials are still refusing a line-by-line breakdown (I wonder why...) but, in total, this matauranga Māori-based "research" cost taxpayers $4,027,020.
FOUR MILLION DOLLARS to mix music for trees 🎧
That's right, four million (plus GST) was paid to investigate whether recording whale sounds, mixing them with recordings from healthy Kauri forests, and playing them to unhealthy Kauri forests and other nonsense such as "The language of the domain of Tāne" – all in the name of “healing” them and "science".
Here's what the four million paid for:
Sonic tapestries of rejuvenation and well-being About the project The Oranga (wellbeing) project was set up to fight against kauri dieback and myrtle rust and consisted of five “research projects”. 1 Rongoā solutions for kauri ora 2 The language of the domain of Tāne 3 Hapū solutions for myrtle rust 4 The sovereignty of seed 5 A ‘Critical Friend’ approach |
The whale song feeds into the first two points of the project, and the project was carried out by an organisation Te Tira Whakamātaki Limited (which received the funds).
So who is Te Tira Whakamātaki Limited? 🧐
As part of this investigation, we've uncovered that the "research" was outsourced to a private "not for profit" company: Te Tira Whakamātaki Limited.
And that's when we came to a stunning realisation – which now explains why the departments have been so cagey about giving us information on the project...
According to Te Tira Whakamātaki Ltd's website, its "Co-funder and Trustee" is Melanie Mark-Shadbolt.
And here's the startling thing: Ms Mark-Shadbolt is also the Co-Director of the very same BioHeritage Science Challenge Science – i.e. the Government initiative funding the project!
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I had the team work through the finances and Charities Commission records of Ms Mark-Shadbolt's company. The company's costs are almost entirely salaries (surprise, surprise!), and its charitable purpose is merely "Provides advice, information, and advocacy".
Nice work if you can get it.
Why aren't the media asking questions? 🚨
It's bad enough that this taxpayer money was spent in the first place to "research" what we all know is nothing more than a myth (whales being brothers of the Kauri, and that they're able to communicate with each other).
But when the provider of these nonsense projects (playing music to trees) is also one of the two Co-directors of the overall "science challenge" what hope is there the taxpayer will get value for money or scientific knowledge will be advanced?
And here's the kicker: The project leaders openly admit that this isn’t even real research. They describe it as a way to give Māori knowledge equal footing with science, claiming it doesn’t need to meet scientific standards because it’s about “restoring mauri (life force)” rather than achieving measurable, effective results.
And yet, MBIE continues to call it “top science quality” while burning through millions of taxpayer dollars.
So, instead of putting resources toward actual science and solutions, this project uses public money to fund what can only be described as mystical performances in the forest.
Only the Taxpayers' Union are willing to call out this grift 📣
In the ideal world, the media (and Opposition political parties) would be all over this. But no one likes calling-out government waste if it relates to indigenous projects. We will no doubt be labelled things even for sending this email.
Because it is Māori related wasteful spending, newsrooms fall over themselves not to cover it. We even get individual journalists contact us about some of our stories saying they'd love to pick them up, but their colleagues and editors would go berserk.
We cannot buy into making apologies. If anything shows that the Taxpayers' Union continues to be needed to find, expose, and fight wasteful spending it's this. Will you support our work so we can continue to fight the War on Waste?
Will you back taxpayers in 2025? ✊
The Government has no money. Families are struggling. New Zealand is literally getting poorer. The Taxpayers' Union must continue to shine sunlight onto wasteful spending, no matter what the PC-brigade would rather we not talk about.
This is why we need your support: to use 2025 to take on these (at best) “feel-good” projects.
On this particular spend, we want to go to the Auditor General and ask him to investigate the process and prudence of paying millions to Te Tira Whakamātaki to play music to trees. But we need your support to dig deeper and uncover and prove exactly who approved what, and when.
>> Support the 2025 War on Waste <<
We are counting on your support to make Government waste a national issue this year and demand accountability for every dollar spent. Will you stand with us to get the job done?
Thank you for your support.
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p.s. The Taxpayers' Union doesn't waste money playing whale music to trees. But to expose and embarrass Wellington to cut the waste, there is no polite way to put it: we can't do the work, if we can't keep the lights on.
Updated March 2025:
Ms Mark-Shadbolt has recently advised that she perceived there would be a conflict of interest if she was to be involved with the decision to appoint Te Tira Whakamataki Limited to its role, and therefore recused herself from that decision-making process.
The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through an Official Information Act request that Landcare Research gave $4,027,020 on the Oranga (Wellbeing) Project - including treating Kauri dieback with potions made from Whale-oil and music from whale song (yes, seriously) as part of the MBIE-administered National Science Challenges.
Research methods in this project included healing Kauri trees through using "sonic samples of healthy whales to construct a tapestry of rejuvenation and wellbeing.”
Commenting on this, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Jordan Williams said “when did science become a laughing stock?”
“Kauri dieback is a natural disaster. I’m no biologist, but I can confidently say a whale-song mix-tape isn’t going to stop it. Nor are pagan potions made from whale-oil on the basis, apparently, that whales once walked the Earth and are the brothers of Kauri trees.”
“At the same time the Government’s plugging economic growth through science and innovation, we find out that the Strategic Science Investment Fund has been used to play nautical noises at trees.”
“The Taxpayers’ Union are all for blue-sky thinking. But if the Government’s chucking millions at any ‘research’ project which comes begging, a common-sense check might be needed if even this one’s made it past the keeper.”
“At $4 million, the very least taxpayers could at least expect is a copy of the CD.”