Lower Taxes, Less Waste,
More Accountability

Championing Value For Money From Every Tax Dollar

Bay of Plenty Paves Way for Councils to Sell Off Their Assets as Rates Soar

 

Responding to reports that the Bay of Plenty Regional Council plans to sell half of its shares in the Tauranga Port, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“This is a sign that Bay of Plenty regional councillors have their finger on the pulse and are putting ratepayers first. Councils all around the country should be taking the opportunity of the cost-of-living crisis to sell off assets and deliver rates relief to families.

“But the council should go further and sell their entire stake in the port, rather than just some of the shares. Councils have no business in owning ports. If ratepayers wish to invest in the port personally they are free to do so, there is no reason why the council would be able to invest ratepayers’ money better than ratepayers themselves.

“As they propose some of the highest rates rises in New Zealand history, Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton and others should also be making asset sales and reminding themselves that they should be putting the livelihoods of their ratepayers first.”

Too Little Too Late From Meddling Treasury Mandarins

 

Responding to comments from Treasury officials suggesting that returning the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to the single mandate could undermine faith in its political independence, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“RBNZ has failed for 29 months on the bounce to hit its inflation targets, and it is clear that Labour’s dual-mandate experiment has failed. Prices have been spiralling uncontrollably for years on end, and it is ordinary working Kiwis who have been made to suffer. This crippling instability is what undermines faith in the New Zealand economy.

“If Treasury officials were genuinely concerned about RBNZ’s political independence, then the time to raise this was when Labour decided to vandalise our world-leading system for their own political gain and not as New Zealand tries to return to the status quo.

“Retaining the Monetary Policy Committee is not an acceptable compromise. For far too long, Adrian Orr has been able to hide behind his lackeys and avoid any fallout for his failures, but it’s high time we returned some accountability to the top.”

Government Must Let Film Subsidies Fall Off Fiscal Cliff - Taxpayers’ Union

 

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Government to let film subsidies come to an end as the corporate welfare programme hits its fiscal cliff next year.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Film subsidies are a sad legacy of the Key government that saw the pockets of wealthy elites being lined, rather than making New Zealand a more attractive place for all businesses and industries to operate.

“Robbing Joe Bloggs to pay James Cameron was never a prudent use of taxpayer money, it is time for this farce to end. The film industry must be able to stand on its own two feet rather than sucking money away from more productive areas of the economy.

“National campaigned on cutting back on wasteful spending, now will be the test to see if they have the intestinal fortitude to carry through on that promise. We urge ACT to maintain their principled opposition to handouts for the film sector and push strongly in Cabinet to bring this funding to an end."

Taxpayers’ Union calls for outcomes-focused mental health spending rather than a cash splash

 

Responding to reports that a landmark $2 billion investment in New Zealand’s mental health system by the Ardern government has had little effect on services and delivery, Connor Molloy, Campaigns Manager at the Taxpayers’ Union, says:

“We warned at the time that the incredible amount of taxpayer funds that were being invested could disappear into a black hole. Unfortunately, we were vindicated with a prescient reminder that improving health services takes much more than a mega cash splash – it requires smart investment and a game plan to ensure that not a single cent goes to waste.

“It seems as if these funds were channelled into various government departments with spurious attachment to mental health treatments, rather than being targeted towards New Zealand’s struggling health system as it should have been. Setting aside approximately $480 million for Kāinga Ora to respond to mental health issues is a symptom of the endemic bloat of the public service, with every department and office a one-stop shop for every need and want.

“Bravery is needed from Matt Doocey, the new Minister for Mental Health. If a programme is not working, it must have its funding cut so that the money can be redirected to more impactful areas rather than letting fear of backlash drive continued expenditure on ineffective programmes. Additionally, with mental health being unique to each individual, it would be prudent to allow more choice and control for New Zealanders over the services they receive by allowing them to take their public funding to the provider of their choice, rather than being damned to the waiting list in the public sector.”

Taxpayer Update: National’s App Tax U-turn📱🤑 | The cost of COP 🌬️💸 | Brooke vs. The Blob 🩷👾

Nicola Willis adopts 'App Tax' policy previously slammed by Nicola Willis 👀📱

Well, that didn't take long, did it? The new Government's backsliding has begun in earnest. Despite comments as recently as last week that "except for" the changes made in the coalition agreements, the National Party was sticking to its pre-election "fiscal plan".

But apparently not...  A wise woman once said:

“Airbnb have estimated that Labour’s new tax could have a half-billion dollar hit on the New Zealand economy. A $400 accommodation bill for a weekend away booked through a digital provider could be up to $60 more expensive.

“Rather than hitting multinationals as Labour claimed it would this tax will instead hit Kiwi app users and the Uber drivers, Bookabach providers and the like who use apps to connect with their customers.

We will fight against this new tax every step of the way. National opposes the App Tax and if elected we will reverse it.

Those were the words of one Nicola Willis just prior to the election. But the newly minted Minister of Finance has made an about turn and is set to pass legislation to enable the App Tax from 1 April.

This isn’t a tax on the big players like Uber and Airbnb as they already charge GST on their service fees – this new tax is set to be charged to the little guy (the Uber drivers etc). Inland Revenue has told the Government that this cost will be passed entirely onto consumers, which means higher prices for you.

How the new tax will work 🤑

Businesses are only required to register for and charge GST when their revenue is more than $60,000. The new tax will force providers of app-based services (such as ride-share drivers and Airbnb hosts) to charge GST even if a provider earns just a few hundred dollars. 

For many, being an Uber driver or Airbnb host is a side hustle to help make ends meet, not a full-time gig. Higher prices will see less people using these services and is economically unprincipled. How is it fair that a taxi driver earning $50,000 isn’t required to charge GST but a part time Uber driver earning $10,000 will? 

While in opposition, Nicola Willis labeled the tax as “simply another tax grab from Labour to fuel their wasteful spending.” So much for tackling the wasteful spending!

What about sales of goods through apps such as Trademe and Facebook Marketplace? 🧾

This is a question we are already fielding and the answer remains unclear (the IRD are still working on the details!). While there is a carve out for second-hand goods, those who sell even a small amount of new goods through online auction sites, or intermediaries such as Shopify, appear to be caught by this new tax.

That means that a part-time home baker who sells a few thousand dollars of jam at a stall doesn't have to register for GST, but the moment they do so online through an app, they will have to charge GST. How is that fair?  

Nats caught trying to rewrite history? 🤐

Hypocrisy in politics is one thing, but it's the coverup that always comes back to bite. National hasn't just made a screeching U-turn, it is trying to purge the internet of references to its previous opposition to the App Tax.

The National Party even set up a petition against the change.

App Tax website

But don't look now...

ScreenshotHere's an alternative to the tax grab ✂

Here at the Taxpayers' Union, we always aim to be helpful. Today we are writing to Ms. Willis to point out that if she needs the money, she could, for example, get the same amount of savings that revenue from the new tax will generate by sacking slightly over half of the extra 661 bureaucrats hired just at the Ministry for the Environment since 2017. You're welcome! 💁‍♂️

Hot AIR: More climate hypocrisy from the previous Government 🌬️💸

James Shaw at COP27

Just like Christmas, the annual COP climate jamboree seems to roll around quicker each year. While this year's delegates are sunning themselves in Dubai, we can reveal the bill for last year's trip.

MFAT sent a delegation of ten to the COP27 climate conference for the princely sum of $201,496.59, complete with business class flights and accommodation costs ranging from $10,762.95 to $12,781 each.

Without commenting that it now takes nearly a year for this sort of information to come to light, the irony is that the official government guidance that comes from these climate conferences on international travel suggests that New Zealanders (by that, they mean you!) should avoid business class travel due to its larger climate footprint. 

Brooke versus The Blob 🩷👾

You may remember from back in June that Department of Internal Affairs officials had been found secretly altering Three Waters legislation to suit their own agenda. Parliament be damned!

Just 10 days in to the new Government, it seems the mandarins are at it again and are already trying to play puppet master by leaking the Cabinet Paper on Fair Pay Agreements in an effort to undermine democratic decision making. 

The blob

Let’s be clear: Ministers are elected representatives with a democratic mandate, and officials, no matter how highly they think of themselves, are there to facilitate that. Nothing more, nothing less. And it’s certainly not to dictate policy from their Ivory Towers. 

We say heads should roll over this to send a message to the bureaucrats that they don’t run the show anymore. With Three Waters, central planning committees, and public sector cuts still to battle over, Ministers are going to have a tough fight against the blob over the next three years.

Congrats to Brooke van Velden for leading the charge.

One for the Price of Two? Seems about right for Wellington 🧐💰

Julia Amua Whaipooti

Why have one person running the utterly useless and unnecessary Human Rights Commission when you can have two? Well, that's exactly what they did this week with the appointment of Julia Amua Whaipooti to 'share' the role of chief executive with the one they already have to, in their view, uphold the Treaty. 

Two shared CEOs will now be overseeing such vital rights-protecting work as demanding economically-illiterate rent controls and establishing a cloak-and-dagger Independent Accountability Group charged with snuffing out free speech online. 

Two people are sharing a role, but at least they’ll be sharing a salary, right? Don’t be silly, this is Wellington we’re talking about. The half-job was advertised with a gob-smacking salary of $287,000, almost two-thirds more than a MP. It’s good work if you can get it, eh...?

Our policy man, James, spoke to Stuff about the appointment.

While new Justice Minister, Paul Goldsmith, has condemned the appointment and said he will not re-appoint the Human Rights Commissioner, ACT's policy of scrapping the Commission all together did not survive their agreement with National. The coalition should get real on this one and abolish the taxpayer funding of the far-left campaign hub named the Human Rights Commission.

News in Brief 

And one more thing: Still looking for that Christmas stocking filler? 📖🎄

TU@10 Book

Last week we launched a book to mark our 10th anniversary: The Mission – The Taxpayers’ Union at 10. With your support, together we have grown the Taxpayers' Union to the largest centre-right pressure group in New Zealand. This book by political author and journalist David Cohen gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how we made this happen. 

This warts-and-all book charts our highs and lows with insights from our co-founders, key staff, and high-profile board members, including new cabinet minister Casey Costello and former finance minister Ruth Richardson. The book also features a foreword by former Finance Minister and Prime Minister Sir Bill English.

If you have family or friends who are supporters of the Taxpayers' Union or simply buy into our mission of lower taxes, less waste, and more accountability, then this would be a great stocking filler. Order now to get your copy in time for Christmas.

Yours aye,

Callum

Callum Signature
Callum Purves
Head of Campaigns

New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union 

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Media coverage:

RNZ 
Taxpayers' Union offer to redesign Government department logos for free

Newstalk ZB Afternoon Edition: 01 December 2023 (2:33)

Newstalk ZB Taxpayer Union Offers Free Re-Brand For Government Departments

NZCity The Taxpayers Union has offered themselves up to re-brand Government departments on the cheap

The Post The Wellington Power List

Waikato Times Political insiders lift the lid on what lobbyists do in the shadows

Basset, Brash & Hide LORD HANNAN: Equality, the Treaty, and imported problems

Politik Cooking the books

TVNZ PM has 'every confidence' in Cabinet as leak inquiry launched

The Post Council chief executive’s $50k pay rise in the midst of budget cuts

RNZ Te reo Māori: Govt seeks to halt extra pay for public servants fluent in the language

NZCity The Taxpayers Union argues implementing the app tax will hurt both customers and providers

The Press Motorists losers, environment winner from $1b carbon auction flop

Stuff Human Rights Commission appoints shared leader to honour Te Tiriti

Newstalk ZB The Huddle: Can Police Commissioner Andrew Coster meet expectations?

National Trying to Rewrite History by Removing App Tax Website and Press Release

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the National Party to front up to consumers who will face 15% higher prices for some services from the likes of Uber, Airbnb and food delivery apps after their app tax U-turn rather than trying to erase all traces of their past opposition to the tax.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“National is trying to pull the wool over New Zealanders’ eyes by removing references to the App Tax from their website including their Axe the App Tax microsite and associated press release.

“This new tax will mean that a $300 Airbnb for the weekend could soon cost $345 or a $20 Uber will be pushed up to $23. National must front up and explain why they took the principled position and campaigned against the tax while in opposition but have now u-turned when in Government.

“The size of Government and wasteful spending has grown massively over the past 6 years and there is ample room to find savings rather than needing to impose even more costs on hard-working families. National must recommit to axing the app tax."

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau’s Platitudes Ring Hollow

Responding to news that Wellington City Councillors have voted down a proposal to reduce business rates in the capital, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“When Mayor Tory Whanau comes out with a line like ‘I couldn’t in good conscience allow the cost to be put on households’, ratepayers know she’s just blowing hot air. Whanau has never had any qualms whatsoever lumbering the extortionate costs of her vanity projects on hardworking Wellington families.

“Take a town hall revamp costing every household over $4,000. Where were her objections then? Or where were they for the billions being wasted on Let’s Get Wellington Moving?

“Between some of the highest business rates in the country relative to residential rates and the inability for companies to navigate WCC’s byzantine bureaucracy, the costs of doing business in Wellington are exorbitant. When prices jump as a result, who does the Mayor think pays?

“Business rates and residential rates both need to come down to breathe some life back into the struggling city, but that can only happen once the Council stops burning billions on wasteful pet projects.”

$700k "Adult Toy Store" Bus Stop Stretching Hamilton City Council’s Budget Hole

Responding to Hamilton City Council’s decision to spend $700,000 moving and re-developing a bus stop due to its location outside an adult toy store, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Only a couple of weeks ago, Hamilton City Council advised that they were looking to make savings to slash debt and finally balance the books. If the Council was actually serious about righting the ship, they wouldn’t spend a moment considering this outlandish upgrade. Sadly, it’s clear that Hamilton City’s councillors are completely unwilling to do anything more than pay lip service to fiscal restraint.

“While the relocation of the bus stop may be justified given the backlash from where it is currently situated, the problems were easily foreseeable and it should never have been built there in the first place. The Council could quite easily repaint a few road markings and dig a new hole for the sign at next to no extra cost. Instead, Hamilton ratepayers are being forced to needlessly funnel money into what has turned out to be a laughably costly makeover.

“Even with cuts to maintenance and cleaning budgets, the mayor has signalled that an enormous 25.5% rate hike will still be required to whip Hamilton’s finances back into shape. It’s abundantly clear from vanity projects like these that there is still plenty of waste to axe first before the Council starts hacking away at core services.”

Emission Impossible: MFAT's Pricy Climate Trip Defies Eco-Logic

The Taxpayers' Union is dismayed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (MFAT) outrageous expenditure on its delegation to the COP 27 climate conference. New information revealed under the Official Information Act shows that the total travel and accommodation cost to the taxpayer was an eye-watering $201,496.59. The kicker? All New Zealand-based staff flew business class.
 
Oliver Bryan, Investigations Coordinator at the Taxpayers' Union, said, "This jaw-dropping cost is an affront to New Zealand taxpayers. Spending over $20,000 per person for ten staff members to attend a single climate conference, with the added irony of opting for business class flights, epitomizes extravagance. The accommodation costs for each member ranged between $10,762.95 and $12,781. It's enough to make one wonder whether it was really about climate or just another public sector junket.

"But of course the environment is what matters when discussing COP. The hypocrisy of flying ten staff members internationally to attend a conference designed to combat climate change is laughable. International travel is the only mode of transport not included in our Emissions Trading Scheme, so flights like these simply add to global net emissions.
 
"This expensive escapade not only reeks of financial recklessness but also undermines New Zealand's reputation in the fight against climate change. The public deserves better than this flagrant misuse of taxpayer money and woeful lack of environmental consideration. We will be watching to see if this year's COP takes as big a toll on the public purse."

Wellingtonians Lumped with the Bill for Exorbitant Heritage Pet Projects

Responding to Wellington city’s earthquake-strengthening crisis, which sees the city on track to upgrade just 20% of vulnerable buildings, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“Hundreds of millions of dollars are being burnt upgrading earthquake-prone buildings, whether the owners want to keep the building or not. Heritage status binds the hands of owners, giving them no choice but to sink unbelievable amounts of capital into non-profitable projects.

“In dozens of cases, the owner is Wellington City Council itself. For just one example, a town hall described as of “dubious merit both historically and architecturally” is draining up to $329 million of ratepayers’ money on a gold-plated revamp at a time where billions in savings are needed to repair years of negligence to critical water infrastructure.

“Neither private owners nor cash-strapped ratepayers should be forced into exorbitant vanity projects such as these against their will. Councils must have the ability to de-list heritage buildings where preserving these is not in the public interest.”

One Human Rights Commission for the Price of Two

Commenting on the Human Rights Commission’s appointment of a second “shared leader” to work alongside the existing Chief Executive, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said: 

“The cushy jobs-for-lefties culture at the top of the public service is well documented, but even by the incredibly low standards of Wellington bureaucrats this appointment at the Human Rights Commission takes the cake.  

“Having two people share the leadership of a Crown Entity is a deeply questionable choice in and of itself, but one thing is clear: if these two officials are going to share a job, then they should be sharing the salary as well. Instead, Whaipooti’s position was advertised with a salary almost two thirds higher than an MP’s. 

“The Human Rights Commission far too often uses taxpayer resources to stifle human rights rather than facilitate them, and that alone is more than enough reason for them to be scrapped. But this complete and utter disregard for the public’s back pockets goes to show that the Commission’s ethos is rotten right to the top.” 

Taxpayers’ Union Launches Book in Celebration of 10-Year Anniversary

 

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union, in celebration of its ten-year anniversary, is releasing a book entitled “The Mission – The Taxpayers’ Union at 10”edited by prominent political author and journalist David Cohen. Among David's other recent works is a book on former Prime Minister Jim Bolger.

The book features a foreword by former Finance Minister and Prime Minister Sir Bill English. The book provides an account of the 10 years of the Taxpayers’ Union to date and includes chapters from co-founders Jordan Williams and David Farrar, as well as former staff, board members and mentors that have shaped the movement’s growth and casts an eye forward to what's in store for the next decade.

Jordan Williams, Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ Union, says:

“This book captures the highs and lows of keeping the Fifth National and Sixth Labour governments accountable and honest. This warts-and-all book gives a behind-the-scenes insight into growing the Taxpayers’ Union to become the largest centre-right organisation in New Zealand.

“The Taxpayers’ Union has been fighting hard for taxpayers for the last ten years, starting out as a basement operation run by an overworked lawyer and a prominent pollster, it has evolved into hundreds of thousands of subscribers supporting an 18-strong staff, that has outlived four prime ministers.

“We thank all of those supporters who have made our work possible over the years and look forward to the next 10 years of fighting on the side of lower taxes, less waste, and more accountability.

The Mission – The Taxpayers’ Union at 10 can be found in all good bookstores – that is, to say, the Taxpayers’ Union website at www.taxpayers.org.nz/book  Wholesale orders can be made via email to [email protected]

Synopsis:

In 2013, a couple of political troublemakers called David Farrar and Jordan Williams created what they called the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union. The country had never had anything quite like it. Taking a cue from similar advocacy groups abroad, the new group set itself against unaccountable government spending, fiscal wastefulness, and unnecessary tax. They have since been joined in their quest by 200,000 Kiwi well-wishers along with an absolute pig of a mascot called Porky the Waste Hater.

And they've just celebrated their 10th birthday.

The Mission tells the story of what happened in the words of the founders, staffers, and key board members. The work takes stock of what has been achieved and casts an eye forward to what's in store for the next decade.

Government must Remove Price Controls from Carbon Credits to Ease Cost of Living

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Government to remove all price controls from carbon credits following today’s auction failing to clear the minimum reserve price for the fourth quarter in a row.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“The government already sets the quantity of credits available, so they should let the market decide the price. Setting arbitrary minimum and maximum prices makes the market less efficient and drives up prices for businesses and consumers.

“Today’s failed auction will put pressure on the carbon price, further adding strain to the cost of living. Removing price controls would help to ensure the lowest-cost pathway to emissions reduction and ensure maximum freedom for people’s decision-making over what products to consume, within the sinking cap on net emissions.

“If we want to be world leaders in climate change we must ensure that the Emissions Trading Scheme is simple and efficient so that other countries are able to use the New Zealand model as a blueprint for emissions reduction in their own country. Anything else is simply a virtue signal that punishes families for absolutely no environmental gain.”

Public Service Te Reo Bonuses Should be Resigned to the Scrap Heap

Commenting on the incoming Government exploring plans to scrap Māori language bonuses for public servants, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“If a role requires proficiency in te Reo Māori, then of course fluent speakers should be hired. But when proficiency isn’t relevant to the role in question, it is simply unacceptable that Kiwi taxpayers’ hard-earned money should be wasted encouraging skills which have absolutely no bearing on a bureaucrat’s ability to do their job whatsoever.

“Six years of untold levels of government waste resulted in spending increasing 70% whilst outcomes nosedived. Departments need to be looking for ways to trim the fat, and wasteful schemes like this must be first on the scrap heap.

“It doesn’t take a trained accountant to tell you that paying bureaucrats thousands of dollars a year in bonuses for skills which don’t improve outcomes does not provide value for money.”

Cash Splashed, Scores Crash: New Zealand's PISA Predicament

The Taxpayers’ Union is expressing deep concern over New Zealand’s declining education standards as revealed by the latest OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator, Oliver Bryan, said:

“If education funding were a maths problem, it seems we’ve got the equation wrong – more dollars doesn’t equal better scores. Despite a 38.7% increase in the education budget from 2018 to 2023, and spending per student rising from $16,413 to $22,145, New Zealand’s performance continues to deteriorate.

“The latest PISA scores are a wake-up call. Despite pouring more money into education, we’re witnessing a decline in standards. It’s a clear indicator that throwing money at the problem isn’t the solution. The new government needs to get a hold of this, scrutinize where this funding is going and ensure it’s being used effectively to improve educational outcomes.

“With the economic problems facing New Zealand, we cannot afford for our education standards to decline and keep declining. Our youth deserve better and the taxpaying public demand better for their kids."

Taxpayer Talk: Lord Hannan on Equality, the Treaty and the Taxpayers' Union

This episode of Taxpayer Talk is slightly different as it is a recording of a fantastic speech given by Lord Hannan at the Taxpayers' Union's 10th Birthday at Gibbs Farm.

Lord Hannan is a member of the House of Lords and former member of the European Parliament. He is an advisor to the UK Board of Trade and is President of the Institute for Free Trade.

In his speech, Lord Hannan discusses the Treaty of Waitangi as New Zealand's founding document and how ahead of its time it was in promoting equality before the law and protecting property rights.

To support Taxpayer Talk, click here

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, feel free to email [email protected] 

You can also listen to Taxpayer Talk on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsiHeart Radio and all good podcast apps. 

Human Rights Commission Demonstrate How They’ve Lost Their Way

 

The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming today’s release by the so-called Human Rights Commission of a previously secret work programme to undermine New Zealander’s freedom of speech online. The HRC announced today that it has created a so-called “Independent Accountability Group” (IAG) to review the NZ Code of Practice for Online Safety and Harms – an initiative led by Netsafe which has the agreement of international social media companies, including Google, Meta and X.

Based on the report released today, HRC’s main contention is with an apparent lack of Treaty context and approach by international social media companies, despite the report itself actually noting the Code’s inclusion of New Zealand’s context and role of the Treaty.

Reacting to the HRC’s release, Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union said:

“Basically, the organisation tasked with protecting New Zealanders’ ability to speak freely has created a group of activists to try and bully private industry to censor any speech that is inconsistent with the HRC’s preferred view and meaning of the Treaty of Waitangi. Orwell couldn’t make this up.

“The HRC is yet again using taxpayers’ money to backdoor fund political activism – literally paying far left campaigners to try and force the likes of Twitter to ‘recognise’ the Treaty, and label inconsistent views as ‘dangerous’. It is disappointing that ACT’s policy to abolish the HRC did not make it into the coalition agreements. This off the reservation work programme by the HRC should make the Government think again.

“Like the Productivity Commission, the Human Rights Commission sounds like a good idea but it has clearly lost its way. The real tragedy is that its efforts to politicise and force its world view onto social media companies has taken the focus off real harmful content like child sexual exploitation and abuse, bullying and harassment, and incitement of violence.”

Brooke Already Battling the Blob Just 10 Days into New Government

Responding to the leaking of information suggesting that Workplace Relations Minister, Brooke van Velden, is having to battle her own officials to deliver on the manifesto pledge of scrapping Fair Pay Agreements, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“Ministers are elected representatives with a democratic mandate, and the role of officials is to give effect to that mandate. However, unfortunately far too many bureaucrats seem to think their role is to dictate policy from their ivory towers regardless of what the public thinks.

“The fact that Wellington mandarins are leaking information just ten days into this new Government in an effort to undermine democratic decision-making shows how brazen many officials are in their belief in their own moral superiority.

“When it is discovered who is trying to subvert democracy, there can be no question that heads must roll. Ministers seeking to institute major reform will have a tough battle ahead of them against the blob, and Brooke van Velden should be commended for leading the charge.”

Barbara McKerrow’s $50,000 Pay Rise is an Embarrassment to Wellington Ratepayers

 

According to Wellington City Council’s 2022/23 annual report, Barbara McKerrow received a $46,216 pay rise from 2021/22 to 2022/23. Her total renumeration now sits at $513,970.

Responding to this revelation, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“At a time when Wellington City Council’s financials are in disarray, and with ratepayers set to face a 15-20% rate hike next year, the Council should be using every cost-saving measure possible to get Wellington back on track. Instead, we’re seeing one of the worst performing chief executives in the public sector rewarded for her unequivocal failings.

“Not only has McKerrow overseen almost every budget blowout under the sun, but she has repeatedly withheld critical financial information from elected councillors in what seems like an attempt to manipulate key decisions and advance her own interests. Her disgraceful behaviour over the past year should have seen her sacked, not gifted a massive pay boost.

“Wellington City Council’s appalling lack of leadership has burdened Wellington residents for far too long. Officials at the top end are clearly more concerned with furthering their own agenda than they are with serving Wellington, and it’s costing ratepayers more and more each year. It’s high time that councillors reclaim their authority, sack Barbara McKerrow, and replace her with someone who actually understands the role of a council official.”

App Tax U-Turn will Punish Uber Drivers, Airbnb Hosts and Consumers

 

Responding to reports that the National-led Government has decided to scrap its plans to reverse the previous Government’s app tax, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“We don’t have a tax problem in New Zealand, we have a spending problem. The new Government is proving to be gun-shy about making much-needed spending cuts, instead choosing to keep ineffective and inefficient taxes that they campaigned so hard against to plug the fiscal gaps.

“The app tax creates a distortion whereby an Uber driver earning less than $60,000 a year will be forced to pay GST while a taxi driver doing the same won’t. This will hurt those who provide app-based services, especially those for whom it is only a part-time gig – such as parents, retirees or students – who will see their incomes drop as the Government drives consumers away from higher-priced app-based services.

“The u-turn will also punish those who rely on services like Uber to get around, including those with mobility issues or people who can’t rely on the bus network to get them to work on time. We can’t tax our way to prosperity; the new Government must focus on cutting spending and increasing productivity to balance the budget, not taxing hardworking New Zealanders even more in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.”

Nicola Willis Heeds Taxpayers’ Union’s Calls for Public Finance Reform

Responding to Nicola Willis’ post-cabinet announcement that strengthening of the Public Finance Act is being considered, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman, Jordan Williams, said:

“Earlier today, the Taxpayers’ Union wrote to Nicola Willis calling for precisely what has been announced.  We need to know how Ruth Richardson’s pioneering Fiscal Responsibility Reform - explicitly intended to prevent post-election ‘fiscal surprises’ left for incoming governments – appears to have failed.

“It is absolutely essential for the public to understand the challenges faced. You can’t solve a problem, until you understand it, and it is a shame that this year’s HYFEU will be more significant than ever.

“We repeat our earlier call for a ministerial or select committee inquiry to call witnesses and get to the bottom of how the Treasury have let New Zealander voters and MPs down. Are changes to legislation is really required, or was this a case of the law not being followed? If the latter, clear public accountability – including heads rolling – is the best and only preventative measure.”

A copy of the letter is available here.

Government must not be held hostage by film sector lobbyists

Responding to reports that film sector lobbyists are crying out for even more corporate welfare, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy said:

“Time and time again successive Governments have been warned about falling into the trap of becoming hostage to the film sector. Threats of leaving or fear-mongering of job losses are simply the realisation of the self-fulfilling prophecy of propping up an industry that can’t stand on it’s own two feet.

“New Zealand will always lose at the game of bidding against other countries to offer the most handouts to wealthy elites such as James Cameron and Jeff Bezos with taxpayers bearing the cost of a race to the bottom. We must instead cut all corporate welfare and recycle the savings into reducing the corporate tax rate making our country a more attractive place for all industries, rather than hand-picked winners from Ministers’ special interest groups. 

“If the government instead made it easier to film here, such as by respecting the freedom to contract into unique working arrangements for film workers, we would see films being developed here if it made economic sense to do so. Calls from the automobile industry to subsidise New Zealand car manufacturing would rightly be laughed off, just because the film industry is more hip doesn’t mean that they are entitled to special treatment."

Taxpayers Win by Scrapping White Elephant Lake Onslow Hydro Scheme, but the Government Can Always Do More

Responding to reports that the Government has issued a stop-work notice on the $16 billion Lake Onslow Hydro-Electricity Scheme, Taxpayers' Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, says:

“This project was always a white elephant that would never pass the sniff test of fiscal responsibility, costing more than $8000 for every household in the country.

“The project would not have reduced New Zealand’s net emissions as the electricity sector is already governed by the Emissions Trading Scheme. If the goal is to make electricity more affordable there are far more efficient ways to do this than unnecessarily piling billions of dollars of debt onto taxpayers.

“Reducing regulatory barriers to building renewable energy and allowing foreign investment in renewable projects would bring the costs of electricity down, while providing a universal carbon dividend with ETS revenue would help shield consumers from unaffordable price rises.

“The new Government must not fall into the trap of substituting one white elephant project for another. The plans to subsidise electric charging stations are nothing more than expensive corporate and middle class welfare. The private sector is more than capable of delivering charging infrastructure, the government just needs to get out of the way and allow it to happen.”

Taxpayers Win by Scrapping White Elephant Lake Onslow Hydro Scheme, but The Government Can Always Do More

 

Responding to reports that the Government has issued a stop-work notice on the $16 billion Lake Onslow Hydro-Electricity Scheme, Taxpayers' Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, says:

“This project was always a white elephant that would never pass the sniff test of fiscal responsibility, costing more than $8000 for every household in the country.

“The project would not have reduced New Zealand’s net emissions as the electricity sector is already governed by the Emissions Trading Scheme. If the goal is to make electricity more affordable there are far more efficient ways to do this than unnecessarily piling billions of dollars of debt onto taxpayers.

“Reducing regulatory barriers to building renewable energy and allowing foreign investment in renewable projects would bring the costs of electricity down, while providing a universal carbon dividend with ETS revenue would help shield consumers from unaffordable price rises.

“The new Government must not fall into the trap of substituting one white elephant project for another. The plans to subsidise electric charging stations are nothing more than expensive corporate and middle class welfare. The private sector is more than capable of delivering charging infrastructure, the government just needs to get out of the way and allow it to happen.”

Taxpayer Update: Grant's World Cup holiday 🥂🛫 | Media Independence 🤑⚖️ | Agency Rebrands 💸 | MP Pay 🧐

Surprise! 💥 Grant Robertson's bombshells for the incoming government 💣 👀 

It's out with the old in with the new at Parliament this week. The new ministers are madly hiring new staffers for their Beehive offices, and the 'BIMs' (briefings to incoming ministers) are being worked through.

Our spies tell us that Nicola Willis's claims that not only is the fiscal cupboard bare, but that there are all sorts of fiscal boobytraps and unfunded liabilities across the portfolios are (sadly) correct. 

This situation is precisely what Ruth Richardson's Fiscal Responsibility Act was intended to prevent. Ruth inherited the Treasury following the 1990-election and thought she was inheriting a surplus. It soon became clear that thanks to undisclosed troubles at the then-government-owned Bank of New Zealand (that required an enormous bailout), the claims of the outgoing government that the books were in good shape were, in fact, a total nonsense. It took very tough decisions (and what became known as the 'mother of all budgets') to sort the fiscal situation out. 

Once we get our hands on the BIMs, and the Half Year Fiscal and Economic Update is out (just before Christmas), we'll know more. But given the situation, we already know that Treasury has failed in its job to ensure no post-election surprises. Here is our statement to media reacting to Nicola Willis's comments:

“We need to cut through political claims and point scoring and get to the bottom one way or another. It is becoming clear that Treasury has dropped the ball and we urgently need an updated assessment of the objective state of the books over and above HYFEU, due by the end of the year.

“A government inquiry, or at minimum, a select committee inquiry with the ability to call under oath the former Minister of Finance, and Treasury officials is called for. If the books are in the state Nicola Willis claims, clearly there has been a major failing within our public finance institutions. As well as getting to the truth, Wellington need to learn the lessons, if we are not to return to the 1980-style politicisation of public accounts.”

Call us fiscal nerds if you want to – but the public (and the opposition) are entitled to know the true state of the government books when they go into the voting booth. It seems that has not happened this year, and we need to ensure it's not repeated again. 

Grant Robertson’s Rugby World Cup jaunt cost how much? Competition Winner Revealed :exploding_head::scream:

Speaking of Grant Robertson's fiscal blackholes, the former Minister of Finance took one last ride on the taxpayer-funded gravy plane. We have a winner of our competition asking how much Mr Robertson's last minute junket to the Rugby World Cup in France cost the taxpayer.

Grant Robertson Rugby Trip

Congratulations to John Todd whose guess of $39,600 was just $5 off the actual cost of $39,605. John's tickets to the next ABs home game, complements of the Taxpayers' Union, are on their way. 🏉🎉

And unlike Grant Robertson's tickets, business class flights and luxury accommodation, John's tickets won't set taxpayers back a cent.

With the amount of money squandered on Robertson's last hurrah, the former Sports Minister could have funded a set of rugby balls for every high school in the country. Would that not be a better investment in the future of New Zealand rugby than sending a politician to France to jinx(?!) watch a final?

There is a solution to Public Interest Journalism brouhaha: Tell the media to Pay It Back 💰

Winston Peters has been dragged through the media all week for daring to criticize journalists. Mr Peters argued that the Public Interest Journalism Fund undermined the media’s independence, and on this one, its hard to argue that Winston was far off the mark.

The left-wing activists on NZ on Air’s board were given free rein to set the Ts and Cs to receive a slice of the PIJF slush fund, and boy did they go to town. The PIJF made no pretence to be impartial and has fundamentally damaged public trust in the fourth estate.

On that basis alone, we say that media agencies should do the decent thing and pay the money back.

Reasonable minds will differ on whether the PIJF actually swayed editorial decisions. But that isn't really the point. We know for a fact that New Zealanders' confidence and trust in, and the perceived neutrality of, the media is through the floor. And that's why this issue is so important.

Click here to sign the petition calling on Stuff, NZME, TVNZ, the Spinoff, and all the others, to do the decent thing and pay back the PIJF.

PIJF

The media hounded companies that took the wage subsidy but recovered. Why aren't they practising what they preach? 🙉

We can speak to this issue as it is close to home. Despite all of our intentions never to take government money, when push came to shove in March 2020, our board determined that the ethical obligations to staff trumped our ideological preferences and desire to avoid bad publicity.

So Jordan and David had to swallow what we knew would be bad headlines and we took the wage subsidy. We could not say to staff (some of whom do not share our politics) that they had lost their jobs because their employer didn't want to take the support on offer.

But here's the thing: as soon as we bounced back and income recovered, we paid the money back.

The PIJF was introduced to keep journalists in jobs during the pandemic – and we are sure some media companies were initially reluctant to take it. But we say now that the pandemic is over and most are back in the black, it is time they did the right thing and regained their independence by paying back the money.

If you agree, take 30 seconds to sign the petition calling on media companies to pay back the money.

Agency rebrands are expensive – our offer to government departments 🏢🎁

The new government is promising to make all government departments undergo a rebrand to ensure that the English name is put ahead of the te reo name.

While reasonable minds will differ on the merits of the policy, we were interested to see that our pollster (and Taxpayers' Union co-founder) recently published results of a poll of 1,000 New Zealanders asking whether they know the English name of various government agencies in Te Reo. Here are the results for six agencies:

1.  Manatū Hauora, Ministry of Health: 8.1%
2.  Te Manatū Waka, Ministry of Transport: 7.7%
3.  Te Putea Matua, Reserve Bank of New Zealand: 5.7%
4.  Te Pou Hauora Tūmatanui, Public Health Agency: 4.6%
5.  Waka Kotahi, NZ Transport Agency: 50.1%
6.  Te Aka Whai Ora, Maori Health Authority: 11.1%

As David put it on Kiwiblog:

This reinforces to me how insulting it it to the public for media or the agencies to only use the Te Reo names. Taxpayers should not have to google an agency to know what it is.

These results are not at all an argument against government agencies having a Te Reo name. I personally think it is a good thing for agencies to have names in both English and Te Reo.

But again what it shows is that if the agency, or media, only refer to themselves using their Te Reo name, then most New Zealanders do not know what agency is being referred to, and hence they are deliberately making it harder for citizens and residents to access their services or make sense of the story.

A good example is this recent press release from the Reserve Bank:

Today Te Tai Ōhanga, Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga and Te Pūtea Matua are publishing a joint paper that provides an assessment of the key drivers of rents in New Zealand.

By deliberately excluding the names in English, they are producing a media release that almost no recipient will know what they are referring to.

It’s an obsession that is elitist and patronising. It shouldn’t actually need a coalition agreement to instruct government agencies to not deliberately be unhelpful to the public.

It might sound silly to suggest a name change could cost six figures, but here is just a sample of some of the recent rebrands that we've uncovered:

Logos

So, in the interests of saving taxpayers money, we have offered to redesign all government logos for free with common brand guidelines. This low-cost option would include the government Coat of Arms alongside the name of the organisation in standard font as is the approach of most government agencies in the UK and Australia.

Yesterday, Jordan was on RNZ's Morning Report to discuss our offer. Connor also spoke to Heather du Heather du Plessis-Allan on Newstalk ZB and sent her an example live on air!

Not only would this save money but it also helps to create a clear identity for publicly-funded organizations so that taxpayers can clearly identify which are part of the government rather than the smorgasbord of confusion we currently have.

MPs' Pay Review: Taxpayers' Union standing up for you 🥊🧐

MPs Pay

A couple of weeks ago, we updated you on the Remuneration Authority's latest review of MPs' pay. Given the cost-of-living crisis facing many Kiwis, we don't think now is the time for a pay hike for politicians.

Our resident economist, Ray Deacon, and policy wonk (not his actual title), James Ross, met with the Remuneration Authority last week and put the case that now is not the time for the government to be borrowing to pay MPs more.

The system is stacked so that the Remuneration Authority cannot even consider Joe Public’s views on MPs’ pay, only what they deem 'authoritative sources'. Well that wasn’t going to stop us, so we made sure they had authoritative sources coming out of their ears telling them what the public have been saying for years.

The process will be going on for around five months, but our chaps were the first through the door to fight your corner.

Taxpayer Talk: MPs In Depth – Todd Stephenson 🗣🎙️

Todd Stephenson

This week marks the return of our MPs in Depth podcast series where we get to know Parliament's new MPs. In this episode, Taxpayers' Union  Investigations Co-ordinator, Oliver Bryan, sits down with newly elected ACT Party MP, Todd Stephenson. 

Todd grew up in the South Island and obtained a law degree from the University of Otago. Prior to becoming an MP, Todd worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Australia before moving back to New Zealand to stand for Parliament. 

Oli finds out what drives Todd, his aspirations as an MP and his interests outside of politics. 

Listen to the episode on our website | Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio

That's it for this week.

Yours aye,

Callum

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Callum Purves
Head of Campaigns

New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union 

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Media coverage:

Hawke's Bay App  Taxpayers' Union Criticises Hastings District Council for “Staggering” Amount of Money Spent on New Logo

The Post Taxpayers’ Union takes swipe at ‘bonus’ for RNZ chief

Newstalk ZB The Huddle: Was Nicola Willis never in the running for Deputy PM?

Newshub LIVE - New Zealand's next Government revealed - the policy, ministers, and key information

Stuff Cheapest in NZ: Where to find lowest-priced fuel, power, rent, parking...

The Press Destination Mackenzie: ‘Quiet, sleepy - then it went boom’

Newsroom From outside politics to inside Cabinet in a day

Chris Lynch Council faces scrutiny over $6.5 Million staffing overspend amid rising rates

The Post MPs face ‘greenfields review’ in upcoming pay probe

Hawke's Bay Today Cost of $70,000 for Hastings rebrand a ‘tough balance’, councillor says

The Platform Media knives flashing for Luxon’s government

Newstalk ZB The Huddle: Does Winston Peters have a point?

Waikato Times Battle lines drawn in Hamilton City Council budget talks

The Working Group The Working Group with Jack Tame, Moana Maniapoto and Damien Grant (53:31)

RNZ Taxpayers' Union offer to redesign Government department logos for free

Waatea News Jordan Williams / Taxpayers Union

RNZ Taxpayers' Union offer to redesign Government department logos for free

Newstalk ZB Afternoon Edition: 01 December 2023 – Steve Maharey (02:33)

NZ City The Taxpayers Union has offered themselves up to re-brand Government departments on the cheap

Newstalk ZB Taxpayer Union Offers Free Re-Brand For Government Department

Hastings Councillor Damon Harvey a ratepayer hero, Mayor Hazlehurst is the villain

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling for Hastings District Councillor Damon Harvey to be reinstated in his committee chair role and the councillors to instead hold a vote of no confidence in the Mayor following revelations that he was stripped of his role after acknowledging the existence of a secret document.

The document referred to the council’s “normal practice” of dealing with complaints by “shutting up shop”, “ignoring” and to “await litigation”.

Responding to the news, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“The council has clearly been caught out by one of its own for trying to avoid transparency and accountability by hiding behind a veil of secrecy.

“Damon Harvey is a ratepayer hero for revealing this information, he should be held up in praise, not stripped of his position.

“Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst has been caught out and her only defence is to go on the offensive and use fear to keep councillors quiet. The elected representatives must not forget whom they represent and hold a vote of no confidence in the Mayor to ensure that ratepayers get the accountability and transparency they deserve.”

Taxpayers’ Union Offers to Design Government Department Logos for Free

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is offering to redesign logos for any renamed government departments for free in an effort to save taxpayers money following concerns that requiring a name change of government departments will give them an excuse to undergo an expensive rebrand.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Taxpayer-funded organisations will take any opportunity to undergo an expensive rebrand which involves spending tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars on design and consultation fees – we will do this for free.

“Government branding guidelines say all departments should begin transitioning towards the NZ Govt logo mark, which incorporates the Coat of Arms next to the name of the department. But this is being ignored with many departments continuing to have free rein over their branding – racking up costs with every brand change and creating confusion among the public as to which departments are affiliated with the Government.

“We recently revealed that the Human Rights Commission spent $418,000 on a new brand and website while the Electricity Authority spent almost $100,000 on a logo that was was near identical to the old one. Standardising government branding, as is done in the UK and Australia, will increase accessibility and save taxpayers millions.”

MPs in Depth: Todd Stephenson

This week marks the return of our MPs in Depth series where we get to know some of Parliament's new MPs. In this episode, Taxpayers' Union  Investigations Co-ordinator, Oliver Bryan, sits down with newly elected ACT Party MP, Todd Stephenson. 

Todd grew up in the South Island and obtained a law degree from the University of Otago. Prior to becoming an MP, Todd worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Australia before moving back to New Zealand to run for Parliament. 

Throughout the episode, we find out a bit more about what drives Todd, his aspirations as an MP and his personal interests. 

To support Taxpayer Talk, click here

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, feel free to email [email protected] 

You can also listen to Taxpayer Talk on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsiHeart Radio and all good podcast apps. 

REVEALED: Grant Robertson’s Rugby World Cup jaunt sets taxpayers back almost $40,000

The Taxpayers’ Union can today reveal that Grant Robertson’s attendance at the Rugby World Cup final in Paris cost taxpayers $39,605. Included in the cost was more than $32,000 in business class flights and more than $5000 in accommodation costs for the Minister and his staffer.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“After six years of frivolous spending, it seems Mr Robertson has taken one last ride on the taxpayer-funded gravy plane with a trip that amounts to nothing more than a lavish getaway for personal entertainment.

“Grant Robertson - and also Christopher Luxon who endorsed the travel - must front up to taxpayers and explain what value this trip created for New Zealand. Arguably it would’ve been better for New Zealand rugby to simply buy three rugby balls for every high school in the country, instead taxpayers spent $40,000 with nothing to show for it.

“Many families are struggling with the cost of living, yet politicians remain willing to blow the equivalent of more than five years of tax for a minimum wage worker on a holiday most of us could only dream of. All publicly-funded international travel must have increased scrutiny to ensure that value-for-money is actually being delivered, otherwise we are simply socialising the costs of ministers’ personal holidays.”

A breakdown of the travel costs can be found here. 

Winston Peters is bang on with media trust

The Taxpayers’ Union is backing the Deputy Prime Minister’s criticism of the media’s acceptance of so-called “public interest journalism” funding and is calling on all profitable media outlets to pay the money back via a petition at www.taxpayers.org.nz/pay_it_back

Taxpayers' Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said:

“The issue was never about bribing newsrooms, it was about the public’s confidence in media and the perceptions of independence from Government.

“The pandemic is over and most media outlets are now back in the black. We say, not just for the sake of taxpayers, but the sake of ensuring the public keep both confidence in mainstream media, and are not driven into nasty or fringe alternatives, take the opportunity to pay the money back.

“And it’s not just Winston Peters stoking concerns. The fact that the left wing activists on NZ on Air’s board set the fishhooks and conditions of PJIF funding is further reason to for the media to break from the past, pay back the money, and re-commit to independence from government.” 

100 Day plan a good start but cuts to corporate welfare missing

The Taxpayers’ Union welcomes the Government’s 100 day plan as a good start but is calling them to add issuing stop work notices for all corporate welfare programmes to the list.

For a start, this should include the EECA and Callaghan Innovation which currently have a large number of applications for funding open and closing soon. Once this money is committed, it will be wasted.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, says:

“Funds such as many of those from EECA have the stated goal of decarbonisation and reducing emissions yet don’t make a shred of difference due to the fact that the industries these grants are provided to are already covered by the Emissions Trading Scheme. This means that any reduction in emissions from recipient companies will simply free up credits to be used elsewhere.

“Schemes such as these pile all of the costs onto taxpayers with bureaucrats picking winners for no environmental benefit.

“Corporate welfare schemes such as this are a complete waste of taxpayer money and should be a prime target for a government that claims to care about cutting waste. At the very least, an order should be given that no further funding should be committed to until a review of the effectiveness of these corporate welfare schemes has been conducted.

“We are pleased to see the new Government taking positive steps towards cutting waste and repealing bad law, we hope that the exclusion of cuts to corporate welfare is simply an oversight, not a foreshadowing of another three years of continued cronyism.”

There Must be Accountability for a Reserve Bank Failing to Do its Job

Responding to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s decision to freeze the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 5.5%, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“Times are tough for Kiwi families, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. With the Reserve Bank still failing to hold inflation to anything close to its target range, interest rates are expected to remain punishingly high until August 2024 or beyond.

“More needs to be done and faster to tackle New Zealand’s unshakable inflation problem, which has been fuelled by runaway Government spending for far too long. If the incoming Government is as serious about helping struggling Kiwis as their election adverts had you believe, then they can't just pay lip service to stamping out the waste in Wellington.

“Labour’s RBNZ experiments have failed, and a return to a reserve bank focussed solely on tackling inflation cannot come soon enough. But there must also be a return to accountability at the top.

“A Governor who has failed to hit the target range for 29 months in a row cannot be allowed to hide behind his lackeys anymore; the Monetary Policy Committee must be next on the chopping block."

Serious allegations from Nicola Willis require Government Inquiry

Taxpayers will be alarmed that the Minister of Finance has said the new Government has discovered “nasty financial surprises” despite Ruth Richardson’s Fiscal Responsibility Act that was specifically designed to avoid the exact situation the new Government appears to be in.

“Ms Willis is not prone to Winston Peters-style rhetoric so her comments are particularly alarming” says Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union.

“Given Treasury’s role to prepare the Pre-election Fiscal and Economic Update, it is inexcusable for a government to be greeted by economic surprises.

“We need to cut through political claims and point scoring and get to the bottom one way or another. It is becoming clear that Treasury has dropped the ball and we urgently need an updated assessment of the objective state of the books over and above HYFEU, due by the end of the year.

“A government inquiry, or at minimum, a select committee inquiry with the ability to call under oath the former Minister of Finance, and Treasury officials is called for. If the books are in the state Nicola Willis claims, clearly there has been a major failing within our public finance institutions. As well as getting to the truth, Wellington need to learn the lessons, if we are not to return to the 1980-style politicisation of public accounts.”

Taxpayers’ Union - Hamilton City Council Should Target the Pencil Pushers Before Cutting Maintenance

 

Responding to reports on Hamilton City Council’s cost-cutting measures ahead of threats of massive rates rises, with notable reductions to spending on road maintenance, landscaping and storm water drain cleaning, Connor Molloy, Campaigns Manager at the Taxpayers’ Union, says:

“It is commendable to see a council which, faced with rising costs and threats of massive rates hikes, has bitten the bullet and cut spending to avoid passing the pain onto its ratepayers. There is a serious lack of ambition to stand up for ratepayers across New Zealand during this cost-of-living crisis, and the fact that Hamilton City Council is willing to slash its spending by over $200 million over the last two years should be celebrated.

“However, Paula Southgate should take a walk around the council’s back offices if she wants to consider where spending could be prioritised. According to the 2023 Ratepayers’ Report, nearly one in four employees are paid more than $100,000 a year, and managerial staff are paid on average more than $117,000 each. This unimaginable cost for back-office administration should be an easy target for spending reductions and let public-facing staff get on with their jobs. We encourage Hamilton City Council, and Hamilton ratepayers, to consider staffing levels when taking submissions on the budget next year.”

National Party U-Turn Will See Kiwi Families Punished by Stealth Tax Hikes

The National Party’s admittedly soft touch promise to index income tax brackets to inflation every three years has failed to make it into either of their coalition agreements.

Indexation would ensure that working New Zealanders keep paying the same in tax in real terms, and the abandonment of this policy will mean that working Kiwis pay a higher and higher proportion of their income in tax with each passing year.

Commenting on this development, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

"National's promise of tax relief amounts to nothing more than a return of stolen income attached to a promise to keep on stealing.

“The inflation tax steals more and more from hardworking Kiwis every year. The nation voted at this election for tax relief and fiscal responsibility, but at the very first hurdle this Government has reneged on its promise and failed to deliver.

“Kiwis earning the median wage are paying 18.7% of their salary in just income tax, whereas someone on the exact same income in real terms when the brackets were last adjusted in 2010 paid 15.4%. This means someone earning no more money in real terms will be paying an over 21% higher income tax rate thanks to bracket creep.

“This stealth tax has allowed for runaway Government spending by gifting guaranteed tax hikes every year to waste-hungry politicians, side-stepping democratic debate in the process. National’s U-turn goes to show struggling Kiwis can just expect more of the same moving forward.”

Christchurch Ratepayers Ought to be Appalled by Council Overspend at Three Waters Department

Responding to news that Christchurch City Council’s Three Waters department has overspent by $6.5 million on staffing positions since July of 2019, while the council is warning of double-digit rates hikes in the next Long-Term Plan, Taxpayers' Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, says:

“The Christchurch City Council needs to regain the confidence of ratepayers, after an array of financial missteps and a barely existent executive team raises serious questions about their ability to actually govern their city. It is ridiculous that Mayor Phil Mauger is warning of 18% rates rises, or asset sales and the reduction of public services, such as closing libraries, when its departments can’t avoid massive overspends, or perform basic professional practice, such as taking minutes, using employment forms, or writing legible financial reports concerning their own economic performance.

“The lack of leadership of the Christchurch Three Waters department is hardly surprising when considering that two executive members responsible for service delivery have resigned this year. Combined with the resignation of Chief Executive Dawn Baxendale and Chief Financial Officer Leah Scales this week, it is impossible to hold confidence in executive management at Christchurch City Council.

"Councillors need to start steering this ship and start making cutbacks on unnecessary spending and make every effort to promote financial responsibility to avoid the gargantuan rates rises that they threaten their residents with.”

Coalition agreements reflect election promises - now to delivery

The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming today’s Coalition Agreements as reflective of what kiwis voted for last month, and an endorsement for reform.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams said:

“If we have learned anything from the last Government it is that words are not enough - it is delivery that matters. Here at the Taxpayers’ Union, there is much to celebrate in these agreements furthering our core mission of lower taxes, less waste, and more accountability.

“So on Monday, let’s get on with it.”

Environment Canterbury Decides to Retain Democratically Unaccountable Councillors

Regional council Environment Canterbury has voted against introducing Māori wards for the 2025 elections. Instead, they have opted to retain the current system featuring two unelected appointed councillors with full voting rights.

Responding to this, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, commented:

“Whether a council has Māori wards or not is a matter for all residents to decide, and Environment Canterbury should be commended for not pushing ahead with this change at a time when Labour’s anti-democratic ban on binding referendums is still in place.

“However, clearly the current system is wholly untenable. Māori ward representatives would at least be accountable to their constituents, but there is no such luxury with Environment Canterbury’s appointed councillors.

“No council should have unelected appointees with voting rights on its governing body, and Environment Canterbury’s current set-up is an affront to New Zealand’s democratic principles.”

Christchurch Council Won’t Reveal Whether it’s Covering Up Failures at Ratepayers’ Expense

Christchurch Chief Executive Dawn Baxendale is leaving her role without working a contractual 6-month notice period. This follows a period of poor performance marked by rock-bottom resident satisfaction and high staff turnover.

A UK Government-ordered report shows that Baxendale’s tenure at Birmingham City Council was marked by similar council performance issues.

Commenting on Dawn Baxendale’s hasty departure, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“If Dawn Baxendale has been pushed out the door, then ratepayers have a right to know. Given the history of performance issues at Baxendale’s former employer, serious questions would need to be asked about Christchurch City Council’s poor judgement or lack of due diligence.

“In 2019, CCC refused to reveal how much they had paid in recruitment fees to bring Baxendale on board until forced to do so by the Ombudsman, and now 4 years later are refusing to reveal the circumstances of her departure.

“Christchurch City Council’s culture of secrecy has once again reared its ugly head. If Baxendale received a golden goodbye then ratepayers deserve to know how the council has once again wasted their hard-earned money.”

New Zealand’s Dire Productivity Shows Need for Fresh Thinking

Yesterday, the UK announced that it would be making changes which allow businesses to deduct capital investment in plant and machinery investment against their corporate tax bill permanent.

Research by the Centre for Policy Studies suggests this will result in a 1.5% increase in investment, a 0.9% increase in GDP and a 0.8% increase in wages.

Commenting on this update, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“New Zealand has among the lowest productivity in the developed world. The result is that hardworking New Zealanders have seen their wages stifled and Kiwi families get relatively poorer with every passing year.

“Our anti-business tax rules at the moment send would-be investors running for the hills, meaning less investment in new technologies and machinery. Is it really any wonder that our living standards keep falling further and further?

“If the incoming Government is serious about closing the wage gap with Australia, then we desperately need to inject some life into our limping economy. Full expensing of capital investment is a surefire way to make that happen.”

RNZ Chief Executive should be taking a pay cut, not a massive bonus

According to RNZ’s latest annual report, Chief Executive, Paul Thompson, received a $65,538 bonus and a $13,628 pay rise for the 2022/23 financial year despite RNZ failing to meet its key performance targets and running an operating deficit of $739,000.

Responding to this news, Campaigns Manager Connor Molloy said:

“By all accounts, the last year at RNZ has been a shambolic disaster. Viewership is down, satisfaction rates are below target, and the organization is still recovering from an editing scandal earlier in the year. Under any profitable private company, Thompson would have been hauled over coals for such a shoddy performance. Instead, taxpayers are having to fork out thousands of dollars to reward his failings.

“At a time when Kiwis up and down the country are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, there is no reason why any taxpayer-funded executive should be receiving a massive hand out, let alone one that has failed to deliver on almost every metric.

“This is yet another embarrassing example of a state-funded entity refusing to engage in fiscal discipline and keep its costs down. It is plain to see that RNZ has failed to satisfy its audience. Paul Thompson should take responsibility for these inadequacies, pay back the bonus, and offer to take a pay cut not a pay rise."

Wellington Council Officials Must Face Consequences for Concealing Information

 

Responding to revelations that Wellington City Council officials withheld an in-depth KPMG report into Wellington’s financial positions for months, giving councillors just 2 days to review the document before the Long-Term Plan meeting, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:
 
“Yet again we have Wellington City officials getting too big for their boots and unduly influencing the decision-making process at the council. Councillors are elected to make decisions, and officials are just there to facilitate them; that’s the extent of their legitimate role.
 
“In almost exactly the same way as happened with the town hall project, officials have taken it upon themselves to stuff critical information down the back of the sofa to try and force councillors into voting for their preferred outcome.
 
“The evidence of the complete and utter failure of leadership at WCC just keeps mounting. Councillors need to reclaim authority for the residents of Wellington and sack Chief Executive Barbara McKerrow.”

All Flake and No Filling – Taxpayers’ Union Finds Mt. Messenger ‘Pieday Friday’ Scheme Half-Baked

 

Responding to reports that Waka Kotahi is estimated to be spending up to $500,000 on a ‘Pieday Friday’ scheme for workers on the Mount Messenger Bypass, Connor Molloy, Campaigns Manager at the Taxpayers’ Union, says:

“Waka Kotahi is yet again splashing taxpayers’ hard-earned cash as much as it pleases at a time when the government needs to be practicing fiscal responsibility. Local residents and businesses across the Taranaki region rely on State Highway 3 as a lifeline, but spend half their lives dodging scores of potholes. And yet rather than spending money fixing the roads, Waka Kotahi is clearing out bakery shelves buying pies on an industrial scale.

“With the cost of this bypass reaching $280 million over six years, and potentially more with an ongoing court case required to unlock the required land to build on, Waka Kotahi would be wise to target this scheme when it comes to trimming the fat – figuratively and literally. Government workers do not need a weekly pie party at the taxpayers’ expense, and it’s high time they looked to tighten their belts. Rather than the crust on these pies, it seems that Waka Kotahi’s books are the ones that are blind baked.”

Rau Paenga Needs to be Upfront with Documents, Not Play Cloak-and-Dagger with Christchurch Residents

 

Responding to news that crown infrastructure delivery agency, Rau Paenga, is yet again opposing the release of documents concerning their legal battles over the money pit Metro sports centre project in Christchurch, Connor Molloy, Campaigns Manager at the Taxpayers’ Union, says:

“It’s bad enough that the Government is pursuing this white elephant that has seen hundreds of millions of dollars poured into it and continual cost overruns but the fact that it isn’t willing to be upfront with public projects and justify itself to taxpayers is utterly ridiculous.

“The Metro sports centre in Christchurch, the last remnant of infrastructure investment after the 2011 earthquakes, has run over budget and over deadline, reminding Christchurch residents of the lunacy of depending on the public sector for efficient, timely construction. Christchurch deserves to know why they should still support this increasingly burdensome pet project, but Rau Paenga has run roughshod over the public’s right to information and the truth, also denying access to documents concerning a request for an extra $212 million to finish the project earlier this year.

"Too often, projects of this magnitude surpass both timelines and budgets, leading politicians to succumb to the sunk-cost fallacy and pour additional funds into seemingly doomed endeavours. The new Government must prioritise transparency to ensure that major projects are not veiled in secrecy. Taxpayers deserve to know whether they are receiving value for money."

Taxpayer Update: MPs' big pay rise 💰📈 | Health system failures 👩🏼‍⚕️🤢 | Proposed land grab 🏝️🤏

With both Callum and Jordan away today, the mantle of leading the fight on behalf of taxpayers has been left to me. 

As we play the waiting game for coalition negotiations, the Taxpayers' Union is still hard at work exposing extravagant waste and demanding accountability. 

In this week's edition, we highlight more failures in the health system following its centralisation, call out an attempted land grab from a local council, and provide an update on the Three Waters legal challenge. 

But first:

MPs preparing to line their pockets with a hefty pay rise 💰📈

While you and I struggle with the costs of living, MPs look set to share the pain get a massive pay increase. 

Back in 2018, the Government made a decision to freeze MPs' pay which was continued by the Remuneration Authority in 2020 due to the economic uncertainty arising from Covid-19. 

But now, MPs are expected to get a hefty pay hike that will pay a premium to make up for all those years – at the very time when our economy is slowing and government debt is reaching eye-watering levels.

Our MPs are already among the most highly paid in the world, and when you add in their additional perks and spending allowances such as free travel (all of which are not subject to the Official Information Act 😠), taxpayers aren't getting a fair deal.

We say Christopher Luxon and his new government should follow Jacinda Ardern's lead and continue the pay freeze until the economy is in better shape and Kiwi familes aren't going without. Add your name to the petition here.

MP pay rise petition

So what else are we doing about it?

We have also written to the Remuneration Authority (the agency responsible for deciding MP pay) urging them to consider their legal requirement to be fair to taxpayers and also to take into account the wider economic mess we are currently in. Next week, we will meet with the Authority to argue that now is simply not the right time for taxpayer-funded pay hikes. 

Sadly, for too many in our Parliament, being an MP will be their best paid job in their lifetime. So much for service... 

You may have seen our social media adverts campaigning against the pay hike. If you would like to help us get the ads in front of even more people, you can support the campaign here.

You can also help by signing the petition and sharing with your friends on Facebook.

Chaos, confusion, and delays following health centralisation 👩🏼‍⚕️🤢

Health Ministers

As many predicted when the last Government decided to centralise the health system (in the middle of a pandemic...), we are now seeing the result of more bureaucracy and worse health outcomes for people seeking medical treatment.

Two different reports published in the last week lambasted the new Public Health Authority and National Public Health Service (Te Whatu Ora) for the omnishambles that is the current health system.

It is damning, but not unsurprising. The reviews show a culture of chaos, confusion, and delays. Some of the things revealed in the report seem more like something from a political satire than about one of our key public services, but the sad reality is that this is the state of our health system.

The report provided examples of the bureaucratic mess that was created including an instance when 10 different groups were doing risk assessments on the same issue, and another where health agencies were arguing with each other over who was in charge during the recent measles outbreak.

Taking health matters out of residents' hands has proven to be a massive mistake. The previous government’s obsession with centralisation has only sapped vital resources from our health system, generated more bureaucracy, and resulted in higher costs over improved health outcomes.

The new Government must focus on delivering improved health outcomes rather than continuing down the same path of pouring money into the backroom bureaucracies and making life harder for doctors and nurses.

Proposed land grab in Western Bay of Plenty – is your property next? 🏝️🤏

Mayor James Denyer

The Taxpayers' Union found itself having to stand up against a ludicrous suggestion from the Western Bay of Plenty District Council that would see its residents' private property confiscated without any compensation. If you live near the coast, your property could be next.

The proposed scheme would see the Government legislate away your rights to ownership of your own property and then rent it back to you on a long-term lease. Even though the lease cost would be almost nothing, it would tank your property value and could potentially lead to further restrictions around what you can do on your own property. 

The justification for the proposal was that climate change would soon make some areas unsuitable to live. We pointed out that these risks should be up to the property owners to decide, not for the Government to take control of the land by force. Land owners can take out insurance, sell the land, or move away – all of these decisions deal with the problem without any council or government involvement.

Some councillors slammed the idea, but unfortunately it was too late to change the submission given it had already been sent off to the Government. The Mayor appeared to justify this decision by saying that it had been raised with councillors in a workshop – you know, the secret meetings where decisions 'definitely are not made'.

Taxpayer Talk: Stephen Franks Provides an Update on the Three Waters Legal Challenge 🎙️🔊

Taxpayer Talk - Stephen Franks

This week on Taxpayer Talk, Jordan sat down with lawyer Stephen Franks to provide an update on the Three Waters legal challenge. Stephen is a founding director of the commercial and public law firm Franks Ogilvie, a former member of Parliament, and spokesperson for the Water Users' Group

Stephen's law firm has been leading the legal challenge against Three Waters, attempting to force Nanaia Mahuta to release the legal advice backing up her claim that co-governance was required under the Treaty of Waitangi. Unfortunately, this challenge was unsuccessful and was appealed to the Court of Appeal where it was again dismissed. We have decided to drop the case in order to focus our resources and efforts on developing a repeal and replacement bill for Three Waters now that we have a new Government committed to its repeal. 

The Local Water Infrastructure Bill that we have been developing addresses the infrastructure issues that were used as the justification for Three Waters but without the co-governance, seizure of local assets, and other numerous problems in the Three Waters legislation. You can read about our Local Water Infrastructure Bill here.

The Court of Appeal judgment can be read here.

Listen to the podcast by clicking here. You can also listen to Taxpayer Talk on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsiHeart Radio and all good podcast apps. Donate

Thank you for your support.

Connor

Connor_signature
Connor Molloy
Campaigns Manager
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

Media coverage:

whatsoninvers NEW POLL: Kiwis Overwhelmingly Support Inflation-adjustment Of Income Tax Brackets

RNZ: The Panel with Boopsie Maran and Peter Dunne (Part 1) [8:10]

Waikato Times 
Two day Ministry of Justice event cost taxpayers $150k

The Platform Jordan Williams on polling, Reserve Bank and vaping legislation

NZ Herald Election 2023: The cost of Parliament’s three seat overhang MPs - and how only 29% is salary

The Platform Should government departments be giving contracts to lobbying firms?


Media Releases:

Taxpayers' Union – Curia Poll: November 2023

Taxpayers’ Union willing to work with Greens on member’s bill to end Beehive to Lobbyist revolving door

NEW POLL: National/ACT/NZ First Hold Governing Position, Luxon Shoots Ahead To Become Easily The Preferred PM

Chlöe Swarbrick’s Pork Barrel Politics Deserves Criticism

Wellington City Council Wants Its Pound Of Flesh From Ratepayers

Further Headaches For Floundering Public Health System Demonstrate The Failures Of Centralisation

Western Bay Of Plenty Land Grab Proposal An Affront To The Right To Property

Taxpayers’ Union Calls For Prosecution Of Person Who Played Campaign Song At Polling Booth

Transparency Test Failed: Key Ministries Yet To Embrace Ombudsman's Tool

All Revved Up With No Trucks To Show: Hydrogen Project Gaslights Taxpayers

Kāpiti Coast Councillors Need Reminding What Democracy Looks Like

Brand Over Budget: Hastings Council's $70,000 Logo Splurge

 

The Taxpayers' Union can reveal that the Hastings District Council has spent over $70,000 on its recent rebranding initiative. A staggering $46,512 was allocated to "Strategy & Creative" for the logo's design and development, with an additional $19,850 for signage guidelines development.

"It's both startling and disheartening to witness such a significant portion of ratepayer money—equivalent to 24 years’ worth of the average residential ratepayer's rates in Hastings —being used on mere branding," said Oliver Bryan, Investigations Coordinator at the Taxpayers' Union. "This comes as the average residential ratepayers' rates have gone up by 7% in the past year."

"Councils are not corporations competing for market share. They are service providers funded by ratepayers. This kind of extravagant spending on branding starkly deviates from their primary responsibilities. It's high time councils prioritize tangible community benefits over transient branding exercises, particularly during times when pressing challenges, like cyclone recovery, loom large.”

“In an era where every dollar counts and communities confront genuine challenges, it's crucial for local councils to demonstrate fiscal responsibility.”

Kāpiti Coast Councillors Need Reminding What Democracy Looks Like

 

Responding to Kāpiti Coast District Council’s plans to ignore the results of a local consultation and push through the creation of a Māori ward regardless, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“Democracy is a fragile thing, and it is not for councillors to decide how they are elected. It belongs to all residents, and no change to the electoral system should take place without a binding referendum first being held. Labour’s shamefully anti-democratic ban on binding referendums needs overturning immediately by the incoming Government.
 
“Public consultation showed that almost 70% of Kāpiti Coast residents are opposed to the watering down of their local democracy, and until that is no longer the case that should be the end of the matter. Councillors need to remember that they serve and represent local residents, not their own ideologies.
 
“Mayor Holborow’s twisted assertion that although the public opposed these plans, they’re fine to move forward anyway because younger voters support them is laughable. Picking and choosing who to listen to based on nothing more than which group happens to agree with them has revealed the disgusting lack of respect for democracy at this council."

All Revved Up with No Trucks to Show: Hydrogen Project Gaslights Taxpayers

 

The Taxpayers' Union can reveal that a $6 million taxpayer-funded hydrogen truck initiative has failed to deliver a single truck, despite promises that they would be on the road by 2022.

Oliver Bryan, Investigations Coordinator at the Taxpayers’ Union, expressed dismay, stating, "It's an affront to taxpayers that a project heavily funded by the outdated COVID Response and Recovery Fund has yielded nothing but empty promises. The corporate welfare for a project that wouldn’t even reduce emissions, due to transport emissions already being governed by the Emissions Trading Scheme, is bad enough. However, the fact that the government has nothing to show for it at all is even worse."

"This is not merely a case of unfortunate delays – it's a glaring example of misused public funds on a project that appears ill-prepared and poorly executed. This initiative should never have been funded in the first place, but after its clear failings, this money should be returned to taxpayers."

"The new government needs to intervene immediately. Every day that this project continues without results is another day taxpayers are left footing the bill for a scheme that was never going to be effective."

Transparency Test Failed: Key Ministries Yet to Embrace Ombudsman's Tool

 

Taxpayers’ Union OIA's reveal that despite the Chief Ombudsman's introduction of a self-assessment tool in July, aimed at enhancing public sector transparency and adherence to official information protocols, prominent ministries and agencies including Waka Kotahi, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Justice have yet to utilize it as of September.
 
Oliver Bryan, Investigations Coordinator at the Taxpayers' Union, said, "It's a glaring irony: departments and Ministries hesitant to use a tool explicitly designed to enhance their transparency and reputation, especially concerning the OIA. It's truly baffling that ministries, which frequently find themselves under the public microscope, are dragging their feet on a tool that promotes better governance. Is it simply a case of old habits dying hard? Or is there an underlying apprehension about transparency?"
 
"While these ministries play catch-up with good governance tools, one wonders how many other departments and ministries are also stuck in the bureaucratic doldrums. This isn't a game of hide and seek; it's about ensuring transparency and building trust with the taxpayers who fund these agencies."
 
"We urge the incoming government to show leadership on this issue. It is imperative to ensure all departments, irrespective of their size, employ the Chief Ombudsman's tool. Beyond the immediate operational advantages, this is a clear way to signal commitment to openness and build faith with the New Zealand public."

Taxpayers’ Union calls for prosecution of person who played campaign song at polling booth

 

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Electoral Commission to prosecute and fine the individual or organisation responsible for playing Te Pāti Māori’s campaign song at a polling booth on Election Day under s 197 of the Electoral Act 1993.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“The Electoral Commission must come down hard on this to send a message that breaches of electoral rules are a serious offence and any attempt, no matter how small, to interfere with the democratic process will be met with the full force of the law. Democracy is a sacred institution and critical for ensuring accountability for decision makers, we must not let public trust in it be eroded by what appear to be tacit political endorsements at state-run polling stations.

“What is particularly concerning is that this occurred at a polling station in an electorate that was won by a margin of just four votes. If even just a few people were influenced by this, we would have had a different election result. If strong action is not taken, future political parties or candidates may determine it is worth breaking the rules in a marginal electorate if the only punishment is a slap on the wrist.

“A swift and public investigation and prosecution must take place to send a clear message: New Zealand will not tolerate behaviour that breaches electoral rules.”

Western Bay of Plenty Land Grab proposal an affront to the right to property

 

The Taxpayers' Union is slamming the Western Bay of Plenty District Council's suggestion that the Government forcefully take ownership of private property from its residents without compensation and lease it back to them as part of a climate change managed retreat framework.

Taxpayers’ Union National Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, says:

"While coastal erosion and other climate-related risks to properties are serious issues, it is an affront to the fundamental human right to private property – especially when managed retreat can occur without the need for confiscating private property.

"The council could simply state that they will not bail out owners of land or property in at-risk areas and leave it up to private citizens to decide whether to continue living there, get insurance, or build resilience infrastructure such as sea walls.

"Under the Council's proposal, families would be stripped of their ownership of their properties, and although they would be able to lease them back, the property value would significantly deteriorate over time. This ludicrous suggestion by the Council belongs in dystopian fiction, not in modern-day New Zealand."

Further headaches for floundering public health system demonstrate the failures of centralisation

 

Responding to two different reports published in the last week lambasting the struggles that the new Public Health Authority and National Public Health Service (Te Whatu Ora) are experiencing daily, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, says:

“Taking health matters out of resident’s hands has proven to be a massive mistake, with the previous government’s obsession with centralisation sapping vital resources from our health system and has generated more bureaucracy and cost rather than improved health outcomes.

"It is damning, but not unsurprising, that reviews of these new entities show a culture of chaos, confusion and constraints – a true bureaucratic mess, exactly as predicted when the decision to centralise control and decision making away from local communities.

“Having a publicly funded health system does not necessitate having the government providing every service. Where a service can be provided sooner, cheaper or to a higher standard than the public health system, patients should have the choice to take their funding elsewhere to bring much needed competition to our healthcare."

Wellington City Council Wants its Pound of Flesh from Ratepayers

Responding to leaked sources claiming Wellington residents could face an annual rates rise of up to 20%, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“Wellington City Council rates have already risen by almost 40% in just three short years, and we’re now in a position where proposals for a 65% rise over just four years are reportedly being considered. If that doesn’t scream poor management, then I don’t know what does.

“With an estimated $1 billion a year needed to get the water pipes that the council has allowed to crumble back up to snuff, Wellington is facing a financial crisis. Now is not the time to be wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on vanity projects like Let’s Get Wellington Moving and the town hall restoration.

“The fact that discussions around rates rises reportedly took place in backroom ‘workshops’ closed to the public is a disgrace. There is no legitimate justification for any council to shirk their responsibilities to be open and transparent with the hardworking ratepayers who pay their wages.”

Chlöe Swarbrick’s pork barrel politics deserves criticism

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling out the Green Party MP for Auckland Central, Chlöe Swarbrick, for engaging in pork-barrel politics in relation to her calls for regulation and subsidies for the Waiheke Island’s ferry services.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Waiheke Island is home to some of the wealthiest communities in the country, and taxpayers and local ratepayers should not be forced so subsidise those who choose to live on an island away from the central city. This looks and smells like pork-barrel politics from a local MP reaching for handouts for her most well-off constituents.

“If the local MP is concerned about affordability of ferry services, she should focus on advocating for the removal of barriers to entry that make it difficult for new competitors begin to operations. Another, more cost-effective option would be to instead target the support at those on lower incomes such as community services card holders rather than a blanket subsidy that applies just as equally to luxury home owners.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen pork-barrel politics from Swarbrick. Her members bill to ban alcohol advertising in sport included a carve-out that would exclude the America’s Cup from having to abide by the new rules – an event that is conveniently held in her electorate.”

NEW POLL: National/ACT/NZ First hold Governing position, Luxon shoots ahead to become easily the preferred PM

National is down 1 point to 37% and Labour is up 1 point to 28% when compared with the election result. ACT is down 1 point to 8%, the Greens are up 2 points to 14% and NZ First remains unchanged on 6%.

The smaller parties are the Māori Party on 3.4% (+0.3 points since the election), TOP on 2.9% (+0.7 points), New Conservatives on 0.7% (+0.5 points) and Vision NZ on 0.3% (+0.3 points).

National is down 2 seats on the election result to 46 seats and Labour gain 1 seat to 35. ACT is down 1 to 10 seats while the Greens are up 2 to 17. New Zealand First and the Māori Party remain steady on 8 and 6 seats respectively.

The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right (now including NZ First) of 64 seats is down 3 from the election result while the the combined seats for the Centre-Left bloc of 58 is up 3. On these numbers, a National/ACT/NZ First Government would still be able to form.

Christopher Luxon has risen in this month’s preferred Prime Minister poll to 33% (+4 points). Chris Hipkins has dropped substantially to 18% (-9 points). David Seymour remains unchanged at 4% while 5.6% of people would still prefer Jacinda Ardern.

Chloë Swarbrick is up 0.2 points to 6.3%, Winston Peters is up 0.7 points to 5.0%, Nicola Willis drops 1.2 points to 1.3%, James Shaw is up 0.2 points to 1.4%, and Matt King has dropped 0.3 points to 0.4%. Marama Davidson has dropped 0.8 points to 0.4% while Chris Bishop has increased 0.5 points to 0.6%.

The net country direction is up 10 points to -20%. 29% (+1 point) of New Zealanders think the country is heading in the right direction while 49% (-10 points) say the wrong direction.

More detailed results are available on our website.

Taxpayers' Union – Curia Poll: November 2023

Here are the headline results for November's Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll:

Decided Party Vote over time

Party

Support

Change compared to election result

National

37.0%

↓1.1

Labour

28.3%

↑1.4

ACT

8.1%

↓0.5

Green

13.8%

↑2.2

NZ First

6.0%

↓0.1

Māori

3.4%

↑0.3

Other

3.7%

↓1.8

National is down 1 point to 37% and Labour is up 1 point to 28% when compared with the election result. ACT is down 1 point to 8%, the Greens are up 2 points to 14% and NZ First remains unchanged on 6%.

The smaller parties are the Māori Party on 3.4% (+0.3 points since the election), TOP on 2.9% (+0.7 points), New Conservatives on 0.7% (+0.5 points) and Vision NZ on 0.3% (+0.3 points).

Here is how these results would translate to seats in Parliament:

Seats

Party

Seats

Change compared to election result

National

46

↓2

Labour

35

↑1

Green

17

↑2

ACT

10

↓1

NZ First

8

nc

Māori

6

nc

National is down 2 seats on the election result to 46 seats and Labour gain 1 seat to 35. ACT is down 1 to 10 seats while the Greens are up 2 to 17. New Zealand First and the Māori Party remain steady on 8 and 6 seats respectively.  

Projected Seats

The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right (now including NZ First) of 64 seats is down 3 from the election result while the the combined seats for the Centre-Left bloc of 58 is up 3.

We now have a larger Parliament due to the two overhang seats created from the Māori electorates, but this result would still allow National/ACT/NZ First to form a government. 

Note: From June 2023, the Māori Party has been included in the Centre-Left bloc given National’s decision to rule out forming a government with them. New Zealand First is now included in the Centre-Right Bloc.

Preferred PM

Christopher Luxon has risen in this month’s preferred Prime Minister poll to 33% (+4 points). Chris Hipkins has dropped substantially to 18% (-9 points). David Seymour remains unchanged at 4% while 5.6% of people would still prefer Jacinda Ardern.

Chloë Swarbrick is up 0.2 points to 6.3%, Winston Peters is up 0.7 points to 5.0%, Nicola Willis drops 1.2 points to 1.3%, James Shaw is up 0.2 points to 1.4%, and Matt King has dropped 0.3 points to 0.4%. Marama Davidson has dropped 0.8 points to 0.4% while Chris Bishop has increased 0.5 points to 0.6%.

Country Direction Over Time

The net country direction is up 10 points to -20%. 29% (+1 point) of New Zealanders think the country is heading in the right direction while 49% (-10 points) say the wrong direction. 

For the full polling report, covering the detailed insights the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition are used to receiving, join our Taxpayer Caucus – our club of most generous financial supporters who make our work possible.


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 Wednesday 01 November to Monday 06 November 2023. The median response was collected on Thursday 02 November 2023. The sample size was 1,000 eligible New Zealand voters: 800 by phone and 200 by online panel. 903 respondents were decided on the party vote.The sample selection for the phone panel is from those who are contactable on a landline or mobile phone selected at random from 15,000 nationwide phone numbers plus a random selection from an online panel (that complies with ESOMAR guidelines for online research). 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.

This poll should be formally referred to as the “Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll”.

Taxpayer Update: NEW POLL 📊💥 | $200k Golden Goodbye for CEO 💸 | Adrian Orr's Bonus 💰 | The change that is needed

Callum is taking a post election break this week (and he surely deserves it!), so I've taken the helm to fight for taxpayers as we wait and see what the new government will look like (and, more importantly, what pre-election promises are actually followed through on!).

In this week's edition, we have the first post-election poll (it seems New Zealanders are warming to the idea of "Prime Minister Christopher Luxon"), continue to tackle outright waste and lack of accountability in local government, and tackle the very thorny issue of vaping regulation vs the government's financial incentive to keep people addicted to smoking.

A $200k "golden goodbye" for CEO who got the job with a false CV

Last week the Taxpayers’ Union was contacted by The Press newspaper following up an old story about a former CEO of Christchurch City Holdings, Tim Boyd, having allegedly lied about his work history to get the job heading Christchurch City Council's investment arm.

It turns out that the former CEO received a $200,000 payout after just six months on the job, two months of which he was on leave! It is also alleged that he is wanted in the USA over unresolved drink driving charges.

The $200,000 payout, equivalent to the rates bill of 66 Christchurch ratepayers, appears more reminiscent of a lottery win than a disciplinary action for alleged dishonesty towards an employer.

Mr Boyd's short-lived tenure, earning a lofty annual salary of $430,000 despite the apparent circumstances raises serious questions about the CCO’s recruitment practices – especially with the string of resignations at the organisation last year it is clear that Councillors should be demanding answers.

Former CCHL CEO, Tim Boyd

We say that no public employee being paid more than a Cabinet Minister should be receiving a payout for what looks, on the face of it, a justified dismissal!

After the story was published, we were contacted by Tim Boyd who disputes the Stuff account in full (including that he’s been fraudulent or otherwise acted unethically). But he also says he is covered by a gag clause – despite the Council clearly briefing the media that Mr Boyd was shown the exit because of the honesty matter.

So which is it? A Council covering-up a wider agenda to get rid of a CEO? Or a CEO that should never have been hired in the first place? Either way, this is a terrible look for Christchurch City Council – and your humble Taxpayers' Union will keep digging...

Where is the accountability for failure? Inflation remains sky high, but Adrian Orr gets his bonus anyway! 📈 💥

If you or I missed our targets at work for more than two years, we’d be out the door quicker than a rat up a drainpipe, but we've discovered that the normal rules don’t apply at the Reserve Bank.

For 29 months, Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr, has failed to get inflation within the target rate set for him. The whole idea of the independent reserve bank is to avoid politicians manipulating the setting of the Official Cash Rate (which is the cost of borrowing for the banks, and therefore affect interest rates) so as not to 'overheat' the economy and run economic booms and busts around the electoral cycle.

But it doesn't take an expert in monetary policy to tell you that the current governor is the worst (and most outrageously political) governor of the Bank, in 40+ years.

Independence is one thing, but we face a situation where the governor is unwilling (or unable?) to do his job - we say it's time for Adrian Orr to move on.

You had one job, Adrian!  🤦

Not only has Adrian Orr ballooned out inflation, he's keen for the Bank to work on everything else, but, well, their job.

Instead of speeches on monetary policy, Adrian Orr has been flying around the world to give speeches about climate change and comparing the financial sector to a forest with himself as Tāne Mahuta – the god of the forest (yes, seriously, you couldn't make this up).

And Grant Robertson's ol' mate Adrian shows no sign of changing tack: Last week, Orr gave a speech on inflation and how the Bank plans to get on top of New Zealand's cost of living crisis climate change at the 'Chapter Zero NZ' breakfast.

Despite disastrously failing to control prices and continuing to stray outside of his responsibility, Adrian Orr still managed to bag himself a $20,000 pay rise this year putting his salary now at a very nice $853,810 – almost 13 times the average New Zealand wage and nearly double that of the Prime Minister.

We say the next Minister of Finance needs to make clear: do your job Adrian or get a new one. New Zealand needs a boring, old school, inflation-busting central banker. A Don Brash, or Roderick Deane, not a Greta Thunberg.

NEW POLL: National/ACT/NZ First hold Governing position, Luxon shoots ahead to become easily the preferred PM

The first political poll since the election, is good news for Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon. Here are the headline results:

Decided Party Vote

National is down slightly to 37% (-1.1 points) and Labour is up to 28.3% (+1.4 points) when compared with the election result. This is the fifth month in a row that Labour remains below 30%. ACT is down to 8.1% (-0.5 points), the the Greens are up to 13.8% (+2.2 points) while NZ First drops slightly to 6% (-0.1 points). The results for the smaller parties are over on our website.

On these results, National, ACT and NZ First are ahead by a slightly smaller margin than the election.

Here is how these results would translate to seats in the Parliament:

Seats

National is down 2 seats on the election result to 46 seats and Labour gain 1 to 35. ACT is down 1 to 10 seats while the Greens are up 2 to 17. New Zealand First and the Māori Party remain steady on 8 and 6 seats respectively.  

The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right (now including NZ First) of 64 seats is down 3 from the election result while the the combined seats for the Centre-Left bloc of 58 is up 3.

We now have a larger Parliament due to the two overhang seats created from the Māori electorates, but this result would still allow National/ACT/NZ First to form a government. 

Good news for Luxon: shoots ahead as 'Preferred PM'

Preferred PM

Christopher Luxon has risen in this month’s preferred PM measure to 33% (+4 points). Chris Hipkins dropped substantially to 18% (-9 points). David Seymour remains unchanged at 4% while 5.6% of people would still prefer Jacinda Ardern! (the preferred prime minister question is unprompted, so the pollsters note whatever name the participant says, rather than giving them options).

Chloë Swarbrick is up 0.2 points to 6.3%, Winston Peters is up 0.7 points to 5.0%, Nicola Willis drops 1.2 points to 1.3%, James Shaw is up 0.2 points to 1.4%, and Matt King has dropped 0.3 points to 0.4%. Marama Davidson has dropped 0.8 points to 0.4% while Chris Bishop has increased 0.5 points to 0.6%.

More information, including 'country direction' data, and details of how to get access to the full polling report with demographic breakdowns is here.

Congratulations Casey! 🎉

Casey Costello

With special votes counted, we now officially know who the new entrants to Parliament will be (subject to the few recounts).

Included in the class of 2023 is our very own Casey Costello (pictured) who is a former chair of the Taxpayers' Union Board – we congratulate Casey on her success.

Parliament's "new kids on the block" 🏫👶

We have written to the latest intake of MPs offering our support in helping them advocate for Lower Taxes, Less Waste and More Accountability – no matter which political party they belong to. We will work with and support any MP on policy or members bills that furthers this mission.

We also reminded them (including Casey!) that we are here to hold them to account for the decisions they make about taxpayer money. So welcome to Wellington! 😉

"Fiddling won't cut it – Fundamental Reform is Required"

Ruth Richardson Newshub Nation

"Fiddling won't cut it – Fundamental Reform is Required"

Those were the words of advice from Taxpayers' Union board member (and former Finance Minister) Ruth Richardson for the next Minister of Finance. 

Now that a new Government is merely a matter of paperwork, we need real and comprehensive reform that sets New Zealand on a new path towards prosperity and growth. Under Helen Clark, John Key, and Jacinda Ardern the gap between New Zealand and Australia continued to widen.

We shouldn't settle for being the poor cousin to Australia – looking over the ditch at what they can (and we can't) afford. We say Mr Luxon needs to get us on a new path, and get to work and deliver on his mandate from voters to slash wasteful spending, cut red tape, and unwind the damage of big, dumb, high-cost government. 

Along with scrapping Labour's expensive and undemocratic policies of the past three years, we also need comprehensive reform. That means slashing the size of the public service and reshaping it to be focused on delivery rather than serve the interests of the bureaucracy in Wellington.

With a 68% increase in Government spending since 2017 and nothing to show for it, it’s time to live within our means and force Wellington to embrace private enterprise, localism, and lean, efficient, accountable government. Only then can Nicola Willis balance the books, stop the Debt Clock, and get New Zealand 'back on track'.

Two minutes of Ruth should be compulsory viewing for every new MP and Minister!

Fighting back against World Health Organisation's campaign for Australian-style vape ban 💨

Later this month, thousands of bureaucrats from around the world (and a handful from New Zealand) will be meeting in Panama to discuss World Health Organisation proposals to all but outlaw vaping. Sounds noble, but it's another case of prioritising good intentions over real solutions.

New Zealand is one of the most successful counties in recent years at getting smokers to quit. How did we do it? Vaping.

But now the WHO and governments from around the world are trying to gang up and force Australian-style vaping bans regulations on all members.

We're beating Australia! But WHO wants us to copy them anyway! 😒🇺🇳

Compared to New Zealand, Australia has failed to slash smoking rates. Australia is one of the only countries with higher tobacco taxes than New Zealand, but unlike New Zealand their smoking rates remain high. That's because they, in effect, ban vaping – the companies that sell nicotine patches successfully lobbied for this, and the Australian Government is just as addicted to the huge revenue stream smokers generate.

An Australian-style ban on vaping would mean even more power and money to illegal criminal gangs, worse health outcomes for those trying to quit smoking and even more costs imposed on all taxpayers through increased crime as the black market for tobacco continues to grow. Already, one in eight cigarettes smoked in New Zealand is from the criminal market, imagine how many more smokers will be going to the gangs when the WHO slash the nicotine content of legal/regulated cigarettes while simultaneously making it harder to switch to the safer and cheaper alternative – vaping. 

So taxpayer groups around the world are joining forces with independent smokefree groups to resist what the WHO is trying to do.

Vaping has already helped tens of thousands of New Zealanders successfully quit cigarettes and our smoking rate is now one of the lowest in the world putting us well on the pathway to our smoke-free goals: we should be selling the success story, not selling out to big tobacco! 

In New Zealand, credit where credit is due. Helen Clark's anti-smoking group "ASH" has long pointed out that vaping is the most successful smoking cessation tool yet.

No vape ban

The WHO – despite the sea of evidence, and anti-smoking groups lining up with unlikely friends from the taxpayer movement – have failed to justify their claims when challenged. They have instead opted to cloak the conference in secrecy by limiting who can even see the conference agenda!

If you're a vaper (or smoker hoping to quit), we've created a simple email tool that allows you to email New Zealand’s WHO delegates and urge them to take an evidenced-based approach to tobacco harm-reduction rather than giving in to the pressure from WHO bureaucrats and countries who export tobacco plants. Use our fully-customisable email tool at www.NoVapeBan.nz

One more thing: although I am a huge fan of vaping for the reasons above, as a parent I worry too about kids taking up vaping. But the two aren't mutually exclusive. The short point is, do we want to force vaping underground as it is in Australia, or actually ensure the age restrictions are in place and enforced? (the government is clearly currently doing a terrible job at that!).

Taxpayer Talk: Dr Oliver Hartwich On How The Incoming Government Should Reform The Public Service

Oliver Hartwich - Taxpayer Talk

This week on Taxpayer Talk, I sat down with the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Oliver Hartwich, to discuss how the incoming Government should reform the public service. Despite a mandate for change and a desire to unwind many of the policies of the previous Government, the new National-led government may face challenges with navigating the complex and bloated bureaucracy of the public service – something that may prove to be a roadblock to much-needed reform. 

In the podcast, Dr Hartwich discusses a range of potential ways to make the public service function better under the new Government ranging from bringing forward the retirement of the Public Service Commissioner, to bringing the Commissioner under direct ministerial oversight as part of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, to establishing ministers' offices in the relevant government departments rather than in the Beehive. 

Listen to the podcast by clicking here. You can also listen to Taxpayer Talk on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsiHeart Radio and all good podcast apps. 

Thank you for your support.

Jordan

Jordan_signature.jpg
Jordan Williams
Executive Director
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

Media coverage:

RNZ  What stands in the way of the ACT Party plan for a referendum on the Treaty of Waitangi

Otago Daily Times Uni travel budget blows out
The Press Disgraced former CEO got a $200,000 ‘golden kiss goodbye’

The Conversation  National drops 2 seats on NZ final results, and will need NZ First to form government

Stuff Inside the National caucus, MPs are frustrated and want a radical change

The Platform Wakey, wakey, mainstream media!

Newsroom On water reform National and Act are sailing on same course

Politik Why Labour Lost

Democracy Project Should government departments be giving contracts to lobbying firms?

Media Releases:

Bureaucracy bloat continues – managers growing three times as fast as frontline staff

New Parliament must deliver comprehensive reform for a more prosperous future

Taxpayers’ Union congratulates former Chair on election into Parliament

Pipes Not the Only Thing Failing at Wellington City Council

Taxpayers' Union Calls for Probe into Commission's Favouritism for 'SenateSHJ'

Taxpayers’ Union celebrates Taxpayer Appreciation Day

Taxpayers’ Union calls on opposition to focus on good policy, not politics

Taxpayers’ Union willing to work with Greens on member’s bill to end Beehive to Lobbyist revolving door

 

Following revelations that Ministry of Justice officials are concerned that “[m]ovement between roles in government and lobbying agencies can result in misuse of privileged information and unfair access”, the Taxpayers’ Union is reaffirming its commitment to work with any MP, regardless of their party, to end the business of Ministers becoming lobbyists to sell access to and information about the beehive.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said:

“New Zealand is out of step with countries we compare ourselves to. Allowing Ministers to resign from Parliament on one day and begin for-profit lobbying of their colleagues the next is a recipe for corruption and special treatment.

“In recent years, we have seen former Ministers Faafoi, Nash, and now Allan all moving into lobbying roles while their literal Beehive security passes still let them into the building. While no one would suggest they have acted in a corrupt way, the short point is that the revolving door should not be allowed.

“Being a representative in Parliament is a privilege, not a leg-up for politicians to get into the lucrative industry of selling access and information for personal profit. This political revolving door undermines our democratic institutions and must stop.

“If putting a door stop into place means that higher salaries are justified for MPs and Ministers, then so be it. The costs to our democracy, and reduced risk of corruption - whether real or perceived - are so much greater.

“Australia and the UK both require a cooldown period before Government Ministers can move into lobbying roles. We will work with and support any MP to sponsor a member’s bill that implements a cooldown period for Ministers. We’ll even fundraise to commission expert lawyers to do the drafting. This is too important an issue to leave hanging.”

Taxpayers’ Union calls on opposition to focus on good policy, not politics

 

Responding to news that a range of new taxes, including wealth and capital gains tax, are back on the table as potential Labour Party policies, the Taxpayers’ Union is calling on them to focus on good policy, not politics.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Taxes on wealth and capital are terrible policies that never achieve their intended goals and have disastrous unintended consequences for jurisdictions that do implement them.

“Instead, the focus for the new opposition should be on offering a principled critique of government policies and on offering practical solutions to the country’s problems.

“The Taxpayers’ Union will work with any opposition MP on issues of transparency, accountability or reducing wasteful spending such as corporate welfare. Rather than playing politics, we encourage the opposition to fight for good lawmaking processes, improved accountability for decision-makers and more transparency for those holding the purse strings and levers of power.”

Stephen Franks provides an update on the Three Waters legal challenge

This week on Taxpayer Talk, Taxpayers' Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, sits down with lawyer Stephen Franks to provide an update on the Three Waters legal challenge. Stephen is a founding director of the commercial and public law firm Franks Ogilvie, a former member of Parliament and spokesperson for the Water Users' Group. 

Franks Ogilvie has been leading the legal challenge against Three Waters that, among other things, aimed to force the Minister of Local Government, Nanaia Mahuta, to release her legal advice that co-governance of Three Waters infrastructure was required under the Treaty of Waitangi. Unfortunately, this challenge was unsuccessful and was appealed to the Court of Appeal where the challenge was again dismissed. We have decided to drop the case in order to focus our resources and efforts on developing a repeal and replacement bill for Three Waters. 

The Local Water Infrastructure Bill that we have been developing addresses the infrastructure issues that were used as the justification for Three Waters but without the co-governance, seizure of local assets and other numerous problems in the Three Waters legislation. You can read about our Local Water Infrastructure Bill here. 

The Court of Appeal judgment can be read here. 

To support Taxpayer Talk, click here

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, feel free to email [email protected] 

You can also listen to Taxpayer Talk on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsiHeart Radio and all good podcast apps. 

Taxpayers’ Union celebrates Taxpayer Appreciation Day

 

The Taxpayers’ Union is today celebrating Taxpayer Appreciation Day to recognise the hard work of taxpayers who pay the bills of politicians and bureaucrats each and every day.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“This year’s Taxpayer Appreciation Day is bittersweet for the team at the Taxpayers’ Union. We admire and celebrate the resilience of taxpayers who show up to work each day despite an ever-growing tax burden but is saddening to see that over the years more and more of their hard-earned money has been wasted away on fuelling an ever-growing bureaucracy that fails to deliver better public services.

“We are calling on those parties who are currently in negotiations to spare a thought for the humble taxpayer on this day and advocate for the side of lower taxes, less waste and more accountability. For far too long, those in the bureaucracy have had an easy ride with salaries well above the average Kiwi, extended holidays and hiding behind a veil of secrecy rather than openness, accountability and neutrality as the spirit of the public service intends.

“We hope that today all politicians and bureaucrats extend their gratitude to taxpayers, for after all without them they would not get paid.”

Taxpayers' Union Calls for Probe into Commission's Favouritism for 'SenateSHJ'

The Taxpayers’ Union’s Investigations Coordinator, Oliver Bryan, strongly condemns the recent revelations regarding the Commerce Commission’s engagement with SenateSHJ, a public relations and lobbying firm. “The Taxpayers’ Union finds it utterly unacceptable that the Commerce Commission, a regulatory body entrusted with ensuring fair play in the market, has seemingly allowed a lobbying firm to gain advantageous access. This firm, SenateSHJ, according to its own website, represents clients in the oil, gas and energy sectors – the very industries the Commission is supposed to regulate impartially.”

“When a regulatory body allows a lobbying firm - representing the very interests it is supposed to regulate - privileged access, it undermines public trust and questions the integrity of the regulatory processes."

"By embedding SenateSHJ directly inside the Commerce Commission and providing them with official resources, the Commission has effectively allowed a lobbying firm to infiltrate and potentially manipulate regulatory processes. This is a blatant conflict of interest, undermining the Commission’s role as an unbiased regulator and betraying public trust.”

“This situation is not just a matter of poor judgment but highlights a concerning breach in the ethical standards expected of such a regulatory body. It gives the impression that certain companies, through their lobbying representatives, might wield undue influence over the regulatory framework that should, in principle, treat all entities equally and fairly.”

“Adding insult to injury, despite the Commerce Commission’s $1.7 million expenditure on communications staff, they still felt the need to consult external companies like SenateSHJ. This decision not only questions the capabilities of the Commission’s internal team but also highlights a wasteful overlap in resource allocation.”

“We call for a thorough investigation into the nature of the relationship between the Commerce Commission and SenateSHJ. It is imperative to ensure that no undue influence has been exerted on the Commission’s decision-making processes. The public deserves transparency and reassurance that regulatory bodies like the Commerce Commission operate without bias or preferential treatment.”

Pipes Not the Only Thing Failing at Wellington City Council

 

Commenting on the news that upgrading Wellington’s ageing and leaking pipe network could cost a billion dollars a year, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“After years of financial mismanagement, Wellington City Council claims that it cannot afford to maintain core services such as water infrastructure. Why then if WCC can’t afford to do the basics it is still very happy to burn hundreds of millions on vanity projects like Let’s Get Wellington Moving?

“Mayor Whanau claimed that fixing the pipes was her top priority. Up to $329 million being wasted on the town hall restoration, let alone any Central Library and Michael Fowler Centre projects, shows the reality at WCC to be very different. The five councillors facing disciplinary proceedings shortly after opposing $32 million being wasted subsidising the multinational owners of the Reading Cinema can attest to that.

“The message from struggling ratepayers is clear; stop wasting hard-earned money on nice-to-haves whilst you let the need-to-haves fall apart.”

New Parliament must deliver comprehensive reform for a more prosperous future

The Taxpayers’ Union congratulates the members of the new Parliament and is calling on them to immediately begin delivering on the mandate from voters by slashing spending, cutting red tape, and unwinding the damage of big, inefficient, and high-cost government.

Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said:

“Scrapping Three Waters, restarting resource management reforms and rolling back unaccountable ‘co-governance’ initiatives is not enough. The key focus should be to slash government spending, which has driven inflation and lead to New Zealand’s cost-of-living crisis.

“The cost-of-living crisis has been driven by a cost-of-government crisis. Only Parliament can fix it, and must do so if we are to avoid cripplingly high interest rates or continued high inflation.

“Along with reforming the Public Service to increase transparency and accountability, MPs need to tackle slashing the size of Wellington’s maze of back offices within the first 100 days.

“Mr Luxon was elected on the back of the outgoing government hiring 16,000 extra bureaucrats, and lowering the proportion of front line public sector workers. Those 16,000 should be served their notice – right now – that there is a new sheriff in town, and their time is up.

“Big government has yet again failed. With a 68% increase in Government spending since 2017 and nothing to show for it, it’s time to live within our means and force Wellington to embrace private enterprise, localism, and lean, efficient, accountable government so that the books are balanced and New Zealand can start to catch up with Australia.

“Incoming MPs can consider themselves put on notice by the Taxpayers’ Union – we will continue to staunchly advocate against, and expose, any policies or spending that are counter to taxpayers’ interests or conflict with the mission of Lower Taxes, Less Waste and More Accountability.”

Taxpayers’ Union congratulates former Chair on election into Parliament

The Taxpayers’ Union congratulates former Chair, and businesswoman, Casey Costello on her election to Parliament as a NZ First MP today.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said:

“Those who have worked with Casey will know that she is an extraordinary woman. Hardworking, ethical, and principled, we are are delighted to see her in Parliament.”

“As is detailed in our 10-year anniversary book out later this month, Casey helped me and the organisation at a difficult time and set us up for the success that was the Three Waters campaign. While losing her from our Board was a blow, it is wonderful that Parliament will now have her skillset.

“I’m proud that the Taxpayers’ Union doesn’t fit the mould of any particular political party.  We know from our supporter surveys that our 200,000 subscribers vary as much as our staff, and board members, in supporting parties on the left, right, and centre. While reasonable minds may differ on the size and precise role of the state, all of us agree that New Zealanders are better off with effective, efficient, transparent and accountable public services.

“We will of course hold Casey’s feet to the fire just like we do for every decision maker who spends taxpayers’ money.  But I can say that in ten years of the Taxpayers’ Union, Casey is one of the most energetic but wise people we’ve come across.  We wish her every success as a new MP.”

Bureaucracy bloat continues – managers growing three times as fast as frontline staff

The Taxpayers' Union is reiterating it's earlier calls for the need to slash the size of the Public Service following newly released workforce data from the Public Service Commission showing the number of public servants at its highest ever number and managers growing at three times the rate of frontline staff.

In the past year, the number of managers grew by 5.4%, while the number of social, health and education workers grew only marginally by 1.9%.

Responding to the release of this data, Taxpayers' Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said:

"These figures demonstrate that pouring more money into failing public services simply will not work when there is no accountability for how that money is spent or what outcomes are delivered for it.

"The eye-watering levels of growth in the public service, almost 16,000 since 2017, are a disgrace and an insult to the millions of taxpayers who work tirelessly each day only to see their money wasted away on backroom managers while core services crumble.

"While the blame for this growth sits squarely with the outgoing Government, if the incoming one does not take immediate action to reverse this growth and improve delivery then things will only continue to get worse. For the sake of our future, it is vital that National ensures its promises to cut wasteful spending were not hollow words and they must go even further. We simply can't afford another three years of the failed experiment of big, wasteful government." 

Taxpayer Update: We need to talk about Wellington 😕 | Bureaucracy blowout 🤓 | Grant Robertson's new job 🤫

Things might have been a bit quiet in the world of politics as we await tomorrow's release of the final election results, but like rust, the waste and rot at town halls and in Wellington unfortunately never sleeps! In this week's Taxpayer Update, we tackle some town halls, and reveal the new job Grant Robertson's been lining himself up for...

Wellington City Council's town hall debacle 🏦

Town Hall

Too often, town halls are known for wasting money, but Wellington seems to be taking this as a challenge. 

Wellington's Town Hall seismic upgrade that was supposed to cost $42 million back 2014 is now set to have a bill of an eye-watering $329 million after councillors voted to approve, yet again, another cost blowout.

To put $329 million in perspective, that's $4,383 per ratepayer! 

This decision was taken in haste after councillors were given just days to consider plans. But according to Wellington's Dominion Post newspaper, it seems the Council's Chief Executive, Barbara McKerrow, had known for months about the spiralling costs yet decided to hide this info from elected representatives.

What's incredible about these cost blowouts is that they were preventable. Before work started to replace the Town Hall's foundations, no one thought to look properly at the state of the land it sits on!

Our policy guru James was interviewed by Waatea News on the debacle here.

But Cloak-and-Dagger Council still evading scrutiny 🤐

And it isn't just McKerrow who has been keeping secrets. It's now public that Mayor Tory Whanau had a clandestine meeting with the US owners of Reading Cinema where it is alleged she pledged $32 million to buying the land under the cinema.

Even after this year’s 12.3% rates surge, an independent report by financial experts Castalia predicts Wellington City Council will blow its budget by [double checks notes] $1 billion.

Per household, that's $13,323.

Rather than committing to using ratepayers’ money to patch up the city’s crumbling pipes and roads, Whanau’s backroom dealings saw her promising tens of millions to prop up a foreign company which, at worst, would sell a cinema. It's not the historic Embassy Theatre, it's literally a commercial cinema whose owner saw their global revenue increase 14% last year.

And (you really coundn't make this up!), our old friend Barbara McKerrow has worked with the Mayor to launch disciplinary proceedings against councillors who had the gall – the sheer brazenness – to think that the public had a right to know how their money is being wasted!

Demanding Accountability: McKerrow’s got to go 👋🚪

It's never nice calling for someone to be sacked. But if public sector accountability is to mean anything, McKerrow has to go.

Sack Barbara McKerrow

McKerrow's approach to undermining democratic accountability is not even new. Last year, she took it upon herself to deny councillors access to legal advice that the Council had commissioned (and ratepayers paid for) and earlier this year suggested a councillor might not be able to vote on the Annual Plan because he had had the temerity to help his constituents submit on the public consultation.

It’s elected officials that are in charge – not bureaucrats – or at least, it should be. It's high time Wellington City’s elected representatives took their authority back and that starts with getting rid of the Chief Executive. 

>>> Sign the petition calling for the Council to sack Barbara McKerrow here <<

Better late than never: Chief Ombudsman slaps down councils for secret workshops 🤫🗳️

If only it was just Wellington City Council having meetings behind closed doors. After concerns about so-called 'workshops' at Rotorua Lakes Council where discussions between councillors and officials about all manner of policies take place behind closed doors, the Chief Ombudsman undertook an investigation.

This is something we've been on about for years. Back in 2016 Jordan was quoted in Stuff on the same behaviour at Hamilton City Council

NZ Taxpayers' Union executive director Jordan Williams was very concerned with the number of secret meetings at councils nationally.

"This sort of secrecy is damaging local democracy. We have found that these gatherings are often where the more questionable spending is approved. The secrecy is used as a tool to implicitly approve controversial spending measures which can be blamed on officials if and when the public find out.

"It appears that 'CEO briefings', 'workshops' and other synonyms are being used to get around the definition of 'meeting' under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. That act requires a presumption of meetings being open to the public, with minutes and agendas being publicly available."

Time and time again councils argue that no decisions are taken in the meetings, but it's where officials deliver bad news and stitch up deals and agreements before formal votes are taken at the meetings the public are allowed to attend. The whole basis of local democracy is that – except in exceptional circumstances – the information provided to councillors is made available in public forum.

After years of our highlighting the issue, the Chief Ombudsman has finally taken action with both a strong rebuke of the practice and a directive that these type of workshops should be 'open by default'. As reported by Radio NZ:

The chief ombudsman is "deeply concerned" about Rotorua Lakes Council's commitment to transparency, after investigating closed-door workshops.

The council had a history of opposition to openness that appeared to continue, chief ombudsman Peter Boshier said.

He quoted a former mayor saying "absolutely no way", in response to a suggestion the public be allowed to attend council sessions.

Boshier is now calling for all councils to open workshops by default.

This is right in law, and in principle. We say the public has a right to know how decisions to spend their ratepayer money are made. Your humble Taxpayers' Union will be keeping a very close eye on how councils respond, and adhere to the new directive. After all, sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Latest Public Service figures: Christopher Luxon needs to confront the scale of the problem: 👨‍💼👩‍💼

The just released workforce data from the Public Service Commission is not pretty reading for taxpayers. The number of public servants at its highest ever with managers growing at three times the rate of frontline staff!

In the past year, the number of managers grew by 5.4%, while the number of social, health and education workers grew only marginally by 1.9%.

The figures are case in point that just pouring more money into failing public services does not work when there is no accountability for how that money is spent or what outcomes are delivered for it.

The eye-watering levels of growth in the Wellington bureaucracy, nearly 16,000 since 2017, are an insult to the millions of taxpayers who work tirelessly each day only to see their money wasted away on the managerial class while core services crumble.

While the blame for this growth sits squarely with the outgoing Government, if the incoming one does not take immediate action to reverse this growth and improve delivery, then things will only continue to get worse. For the sake of our future, it is vital that National ensures its promises to cut wasteful spending were not hollow words. In fact, they must go even further.

New Zealand simply cannot afford another three years of the failed experiment of big, inefficient, wasteful government.

Did Grant’s Parisian Adventure jinx the World Cup Final? 🇫🇷👻

After Sunday morning’s disappointing result, taxpayers have been hit by a second blow with the decision (supported by old Chris and new Chris) to send outgoing Sports Minister, Grant Robertson, to attend the Rugby World Cup final, to "represent" the NZ Government. 

At a time when every extra cent of spending is being borrowed, and Kiwis are feeling the cost-of-living crunch, we say this kind of extravagance isn't justified.

But rather than complain, here at the Taxpayers' Union we believe that if Grant Robertson gets to see the All Blacks, so should you!

So, {{recipient.first_name_or_friend}}, I'm delighted to announce the official Grant Robertson 'Guess and Go' Competition

Win free tickets to see the All Blacks next year! 🏉🎁

Rugby World Cup

To bring attention to how much the trip is likely to cost taxpayers, a generous supporter has agreed to sponsor two tickets to see the All Blacks in New Zealand next year for the person who gives the closest guess to the total cost of Grant’s outrageous overseas jaunt.

Enter the competition here to be in to win – and feel free to forward to friends and family to enter too! The competition is open to any New Zealand taxpayer who is a fan of the ABs, lower taxes, less waste, and more accountability – so pretty much, everyone!

Speaking of Grant Robertson 👀 (Please keep this to yourself!) 🤫

Our usually reliable sources in Wellington tell us that Grant Robertson hasn’t let travel get in the way of his hunt for a new job. We understand the soon-to-be-former Minister of Finance is short-listed to be the new Vice Chancellor of Otago University.

While we’ve had our differences of opinion with Mr Robertson, here at the Taxpayers’ Union we wish him the very best of luck. After all, Grant Robertson knows a thing or two about borrowing money to keep a massive bureaucracy afloat that is running unsustainable deficits. He’ll fit right in…

Grant Robertson's new job

Taxpayer Talk: Michael Reddell on the declining standards in New Zealand public life 🎙️🎧

Michael Reddell

This week on Taxpayer Talk, Jordan sits down with economist Michael Reddell, a former Head of Financial Markets at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand who has worked for central banks of a number of other countries. 

Michael raised concerns around the decline of standards in New Zealand public life. Whether it be Ministers lying to the public, government contracts going to Ministers’ family members or undisclosed shareholdings, Michael is concerned that these instances of inappropriate behaviour are becoming increasingly excused, justified or ignored by politicians and the media. 

Michael also worries about the ease with which politicians have been able to quickly move into highly-paid private sector positions, particularly those in sectors where the Government has a significant influence on their success such as banking. For the sake of public trust, we need systems in place that let the public have confidence that former politicians are behaving appropriately.

Listen to the episode on our website | Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio

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Thank you for your support.

Yours aye,

Callum

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Callum Purves
COO and Head of Campaigns

New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union

 

Media coverage:


The Conversation NZ Election 2023: polls understated the right, but National-ACT may struggle for a final majority

NZ Herald Did the pollsters get it right in the 2023 election?

Kiwiblog How the polls look vs provisional results

The Platform David Farrar shares his thoughts on the 2023 general election results

NZ Herald Election 2023 result: Anatomy of Labour’s collapse, from unprecedented support to devastating loss in three years

The Daily Blog Best & Worst of Election 2023

RNZ Week in Politics: The 'multiple reasons' why Labour lost so badly

Newsroom On water reform National and Act are sailing on same course

Newsroom Chiding in plain sight

Waatea News James Ross / Taxpayers Union

NZ Local Government Magazine Giving kids the vote

Offsetting Behaviour Charting a course

Newsroom Three Waters assets to move to new council-owned companies

The Spinoff David Seymour’s media silence is a relief. It’s also deafening

Newstalk ZB The Huddle: How much influence do pre-election polls have?

The Kaka Wednesday's Chorus: An impossible trinity

RNZ What stands in the way of the ACT Party plan for a referendum on the Treaty of Waitangi

Newsroom Chiding in plain sight, Part II

Dr Oliver Hartwich on how the incoming Government should reform the public service

This week on Taxpayer TalkTaxpayers' Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, sits down with the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Oliver Hartwich, to discuss how the incoming Government should reform the public service. Despite a mandate for change and a desire to unwind many of the policies of the previous Government, the new National-led government may face challenges with navigating the complex and bloated bureaucracy of the public service – something that may prove to be a roadblock to much-needed reform. 

In the podcast, Dr Hartwich discusses a range of potential ways to make the public service function better under the new Government ranging from bringing forward the retirement of the Public Service Commissioner, to bringing the Commissioner under direct ministerial oversight as part of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, to establishing ministers' offices in the relevant government departments rather than in the Beehive. 

Before joining the New Zealand Initiative, Dr Hartwich was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney, the Chief Economist at Policy Exchange in London, and an advisor in the UK House of Lords. Dr Hartwich holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Business administration and a PhD in Law from Bochum University in Germany.

The New Zealand Initiative is a think tank with a mission to help create a competitive, open and dynamic economy and a free, prosperous, fair, and cohesive society. You can find more about them and their work on their website here.

To support Taxpayer Talk, click here

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, feel free to email [email protected] 

You can also listen to Taxpayer Talk on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsiHeart Radio and all good podcast apps. 

 

 

Cloak-and-Dagger Council Still Evading Public Scrutiny

Commenting on Tory Whanau’s secret meetings with the US owners of Reading cinema which resulted in $32 million of ratepayers’ money being pledged to buying the land on which the building sits, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“Wellington City Council’s culture of back-room dealings and secret agendas isn’t unique, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.

“With the Council predicted to blow its budget by $1 billion, the public quite rightly expect that every cent of their rates will be spent on getting core services working again. Rather than dealing with public scrutiny when their vanity projects empty the council coffers, Wellington City Council is now in the habit of simply closing the curtains and covering their ears.

“Worse still, Tory Whanau, Barbara McKerrow and their lackeys are threatening councillors with disciplinary action over the fact that the public were made aware of this fiasco. It’s one thing running scared from accountability themselves, but trying to bully into submission those councillors who still believe in transparency is beyond the pale.

“A much-needed culture change at Wellington City Council can only take place when the Chief Executive, Barbara McKerrow, is finally shown the door.”

Competition to win All Blacks Tickets launched: Guess the cost of sending Grant Robertson to Rugby World Cup Final

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is launching a competition to win tickets to a 2024 All Blacks game with the winner being the person who makes the closest correct guess to the total cost to taxpayers of sending outgoing Sports Minister, Grant Robertson, to the Rugby World Cup final in Paris.

A generous supporter of the Taxpayers’ Union has kindly agreed to cover the cost of the tickets in order to highlight the extravagance of such spending and emphasise the need to cut down on government waste.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“At a time when Government debt and spending has been spiralling out of control and Kiwis are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, it was simply irresponsible to spend potentially tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on a jaunt for an outgoing minister to enjoy the Rugby World Cup in Paris.

“Having the national team making the final is already a significant promotion of New Zealand. With respect to Mr Robertson, it is unlikely that his attendance at the final will be the catalyst in encouraging large swathes of international tourists to New Zealand, nor will it help secure more free trade agreements given his outgoing status from his role as Minister.

“It is time to have a sense check on what international travel is really necessary, especially when there are pressing domestic issues in New Zealand that need to be addressed. Of course, free trade is important but these relationships and negotiations should be conducted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade along with diplomats, not a Minister in the final days of his role."

Adrian Orr’s priorities demonstrate he is no longer fit for the job

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Governor, Adrian Orr, to resign or be sacked following revelations of yet another engagement focused on issues completely outside of his responsibility of price stability.

Orr’s speech on Friday at the Chapter Zero NZ breakfast will focus on ‘the Reserve Bank’s climate change strategy and outline how they are working to help to identify, understand and manage climate-related risks to New Zealand's financial system.’

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Adrian Orr has consistently failed to keep inflation within the target 1-3% range, apparently instead choosing to spend his entire time as head of our central bank focusing on climate change and comparing himself to Tāne Mahuta, yet despite this has received a pay rise in the last year of almost $20,000. This constant and repeated failure to get his priorities right warrants resignation and, if he refuses to do so, the next Minister of Finance must sack him.

“Rather than spending his time doing a speech on climate change titled ‘No Longer Tomorrow’s Problem’, something well outside the RBNZ’s remit, he should instead rewrite his speech as a resignation titled ‘No Longer Taxpayers’ Problem’."

Councils Living Beyond Their Means Need to Stop Punishing the Ratepayer

Commenting on news that Hutt City Council rates could jump by as much as 19.9%, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“When councils present the choice of either massive rates rises or swingeing cuts to frontline services, they are presenting a false dichotomy. Over the last decade, council spending across the country on comms staff, middle-managers and consultants has blown out beyond all reason.

“With at last count 107 FTE staff on over $100,000, clearly there is plenty of fat that can be trimmed at Hutt City Council. Rather than stripping almost 20% more money from cash-strapped ratepayers year on year, the council needs to take a hard look at whether these high-earners are providing enough bang for buck."

Government Overregulation Sees Latest Attempt to Lower Food Prices Crash and Burn

Commenting on the collapse of grocery delivery start-up Supie, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“In a surprise to absolutely no-one, a company attempting to break the grocery duopoly’s iron grip over New Zealand has collapsed. As it stands, there is just no way for competitors to succeed, and the result is food prices which are spiralling beyond control.

“Monopoly Watch estimate that it would take $1.1 billion to successfully take on the big two, which is simply not a realistic figure to expect firms to pump into the New Zealand market given its limited size. The outgoing Government passed legislation that will raise the costs of doing business even further, making affordable food a distant pipe dream for far too many Kiwi families struggling under this cost-of-living crisis.

“Rather than making it more difficult for Kiwis to fill their carts every passing week, the incoming Government needs to reduce the cost of entry for would-be competitors such as Aldi. Overly restrictive planning regulation and bans on foreign investment makes investment nigh-on impossible, and even where companies might be interested a new ruling which would require them to supply produce to competitors at wholesale prices in a few years is of course sending investors packing.

“Worse than just ignoring the problem, the Government has actively caused food price inflation and has doubled down at every opportunity.”

Taxpayers' Union Calls for Genuine Public Participation in Māori Wards Debate

 

The Taxpayers' Union is pressing the Greater Wellington, Hauraki, and Whanganui Councils, and all other councils considering Māori Wards, to uphold the spirit of democracy by initiating referenda. Even if such polls cannot be legally binding under the outgoing government’s legislation, they provide an invaluable opportunity for local communities to voice their stance on the matter.

Oliver Bryan, Investigations Coordinator for the Taxpayers' Union, said, “While the legislation may have changed, the fundamental tenets of democracy remain. Councils have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to gauge the sentiment of their constituents through non-binding referenda on Māori Wards. Even if these polls can't have legal weight, their outcomes should be respected and considered in the final decision-making process.

"The incoming Government has a duty to rectify the shortcomings of the 2021 legislation. We urge the new administration to make it a priority to restore genuine public participation in decisions that shape local governance. The heart of democracy beats with the will of the people, and it’s time our legislation reflected that.

“Democracy thrives when elected officials value and heed the collective voice of their constituents. It's not just about legal frameworks, but the very ethos of representation and accountability.”

Taxpayers' Union Welcomes Chief Ombudsman's Report on Council Workshops

 

The Taxpayers' Union endorses the recommendations made within the Chief Ombudsman’s report on council workshops. This investigation underscores serious issues, notably the confusion arising from varied terminology and the trend of workshops seemingly shrouded in secrecy.

Oliver Bryan, Investigations Coordinator at the Taxpayers’ Union, said, "The findings of this reports are a watershed moment. Councils have, for far too long, operated what can appear as 'shadowy' meetings, circumventing the very tenets of transparency. The public has a right to know how their hard-earned money is used and how pivotal decisions are shaped."

"The 'open by default' directive is paramount. Workshops should be accessible to the public barring compelling reason to the contrary."

“Many councils don’t maintain records of workshops as they argue that no decisions are made, but often a direction of travel is set that can be difficult to unwind by the time the public is allowed in the room.”

Taxpayers the real losers from Grant Robertson’s Rugby World Cup final attendance

 

The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming the decision of outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to send Grant Robertson gallivanting across the world to attend the Rugby World Cup Final in Paris, a decision that was also endorsed by incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“While taxpayers are struggling to get over the line each week with finding money for their grocery bills, the two major party leaders have decided to penalise them even further by forcing them to fork out for a big score for outgoing Sports Minister, Grant Robertson – tickets to the Rugby World Cup Final in Paris this weekend.

“Despite campaigning on a promise to cut wasteful spending, it appears National may already be getting too excited about the prospect of the baubles of office and is unwilling to put a stop to what is expenditure that is frankly worthy of a red card. If Ministers want to go on a lavish jaunt across the world to attend expensive sporting events, that’s their right but it should be paid for out of their own $300,000 salaries, not by taxpayers.

“It’s time to kick extravagant and wasteful spending to touch rather than leaving taxpayers feeling like they’ve been stuck at the bottom of a ruck with front-rowers Robertson, Hipkins and Luxon rubbing dirt in their face just for the fun of it.”

Tail Wagging the Dog Again in Wellington City Council, Chief Executive Must Resign or Be Sacked

Responding to news that Wellington City Council Chief Executive Barbara McKerrow had known for months that the town hall restoration project was $147 million over budget but decided to forego passing this information on the elected Councillors, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:
 
“For over 6 months, Wellington council officials kept elected representatives in the dark about their own failures to keep the town hall restoration project anything close to on budget.
 
“When councillors voted on the annual plan in June, this information was being kept hidden from them. Council Chief Executive Barbara McKerrow was reportedly fully aware at this point, and in stifling this information manipulated democratic processes to achieve her desired outcome.
 
“When it came time to vote on the latest increase in funding on Wednesday, Councillors were given only a matter of days to scrutinise officials’ plans and told that it was essentially now or never – despite this information being available for over half a year.
 
“What we have seen here once again is council officials – including the Chief Executive – being the tail that wags the dog. These officials have decided that they know better than the people of Wellington and should be making autocratic decisions on their behalf, democracy be damned.
 
“Officials said that wasting up to $329 million on the town hall was the only viable option. Well there’s only one viable option now; Barbara McKerrow has disgraced her office, and if she lacks the good grace to resign, then for residents’ sake Councillors must reclaim their authority, sack Barbara McKerrow and replace her with someone who understands the role of a council official is to serve and not be served.”

Failure to Meet Key Targets Must See RBNZ Get Back to Basics

Commenting on ACT leader David Seymour’s call for a return to the Reserve Bank’s single mandate and the disestablishment of the Monetary Policy Committee, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“For 28 long months in a row, Adrian Orr and the Reserve Bank have failed to keep inflation within the target range, with inflation even now still at almost twice the upper limit of acceptable levels. RBNZ’s experiment with a dual mandate focussing on both inflation and unemployment has failed, and any incoming government must take New Zealand back to the tried-and-tested basics.

“New Zealand led the world when it introduced the single mandate in 1989. Nations such as the UK quickly followed suit when it became clear this was a system that worked, and Labour’s massive leap backwards has allowed inflation to spiral out of control. For far too long hardworking Kiwis have had to battle with runaway prices for essentials such as food and fuel, and a return to the single mandate would be a first step towards finally getting inflation under control.

“There should be no doubt that a Governor of the Reserve Bank who fails to do their job must fall on their sword. Adrian Orr continues to hide behind the Monetary Policy Committee to shirk responsibility for his failures. If RBNZ is to regain any credibility then we need to see a return to accountability at the top, and so the Monetary Policy Committee must be scrapped."

Wellington Council’s Heritage Hang-ups Leave Finances Crumbling

Responding to Wellington City Council’s approval of plans to spend up to $147 million more of ratepayers’ money on the city’s town hall, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“Whilst pipes are leaking, roads are crumbling and costs of living are climbing out of control, Wellington City Council have voted to raise the potential cost of the town hall restoration project to over $1,500 per resident. As a Castalia report reveals Wellington City Council is set to blow its budget by $1 billion, quite how the council could justify considering burning hundreds of millions propping up numerous crumbling heritage sites whilst basic services fail beggars belief.

“Council officials have railroaded this decision, providing one-sided information to elected representatives and demanding a decision be taken before proper scrutiny of their advice can take place. Credit must be given to Councillor McNulty for recognising the enormous opportunity costs of this project and calling for time to investigate more cost-effective options, while also encouraging the council to explore a local bill to ensure they don’t end up in the exact same position again in the near future with other buildings.

“A huge chunk of the costs and delays associated with demolishing the buildings stem from heritage-status red tape, but despite what officials would have you believe this is completely avoidable.

“A local bill must be sought to allow Wellington Council to de-list buildings by simple majority. A local bill was progressed by Tasman District Council in relation to a water augmentation scheme in 2018, taking only four months to pass through Parliament. Years of legal battles and spiralling costs can easily be avoided so that Wellington can start focusing on getting the basics right again."

Wellington Tenants Sinking in Government-Caused Rent Crisis

Responding to news that the median weekly rent has risen yet another 6.7% this year in Wellington, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“Rents are spiralling because there aren’t enough rental properties to go around, it really is as simple as that. More tenants are competing for less spaces, and so rent continues to rise uncontrollably.

“This crisis has only been worsened by the previous Government's war on landlords that has simply made it too expensive and bureaucratic to build or rent out housing. The only way to ease the city’s rental crisis is to increase supply, and that cannot happen under our cripplingly restrictive resource management regime. National’s commitment to scrap the Natural and Built Environment Act is a small start, but it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the major RMA reform needed to get New Zealand building again.

"Advocates of even more regulation miss the point as further red tape will only reduce supply and make rent more expensive. Making it cheaper and easier to build more houses will force landlords to compete for tenants, driving down weekly rents and encouraging a higher standard of accommodation for all."

Auditor General report highlights need for tough action from new Government on public service

 

Responding to the Auditor General's comments in his 2022/23 annual report that “It is still too hard to to tell what New Zealanders are receiving for about $160 billion of central government expenditure each year, and whether or not this is value for money", Taxpayers' Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said:

"This report is a strong challenge to an outgoing government where spending was clearly out of control. The Auditor General's comments will echo the sentiments of many Kiwis who see the Government spending more money, feel the pain of higher inflation and taxes, but see little in the way of improvement to public services.

"Parliament's Standing Orders Committee has recommended an inquiry into performance reporting, but this simply does not go far enough. In the election, National promised to reintroduce targets across the public sector while ACT pledged to hold chief executives accountable for the performance of their departments. This report simply reiterates the importance of making good on these promises."

Christchurch City Council should look to trim the fat first before cutting key public services

 

Responding to reports that Christchurch City ratepayers are staring down an 18% rate rise or significant cuts to key services so the Council can pay down $2 billion in debt, Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said:

“As with many other councils across the country, Christchurch City Council’s excessive spending on nice-to-haves and poor budget management has led to the enormous hole they now find themselves in.

Our 2023 Ratepayers’ Report revealed that the Council had nearly three times as many staff on its books as similarly sized Wellington City Council and paid more than 30% of them salaries over $100,000.

“Councils often like to fear monger by presenting the false choice of exorbitant rates hikes or cuts to essential services. Instead, Christchurch City Council should be looking to cut the waste, including back office personnel, management, communications and consultancy, or selling off assets."

RBNZ Must be Held Accountable for Repeated Failures

Commenting on today’s news that the CPI has still dropped only marginally to 5.6%, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“For the 28th month in a row, the Reserve Bank has failed to hold inflation to within the target range. With inflation still sitting at an unsustainably high 5.6%, hardworking Kiwis struggling to make ends meet will be hurting most from this news and the only question that will matter today is for how long they will keep being punished for flagrant and wasteful Government spending?

“Whilst other nations are nearing a return to the 3% target range, Kiwis are still seeing food and fuel prices spiral out of control. Any incoming Government must hold the Reserve Bank and its leadership accountable for their failure to meet their targets. Moreso, this is simply proof that Labour’s introduction of a dual mandate for RBNZ has not worked and the Reserve Bank must return to its single focus on inflation.

“The IMF’s pleas for the Government to put the needs of working people first are still falling on deaf ears. With the price of food, petrol and other necessities still spiralling out of control, the only solution is a return to credible economic management and an end to reckless and inflationary overspending. Unfortunately, the deadly combination of high inflation and high interest rates looks set to stick around for a while yet. With National promising to maintain 98% of Labour’s spending, any incoming Government must go further and faster to cut the waste.”

Michael Reddell on the declining standards in New Zealand public life

This week on Taxpayer TalkTaxpayers' Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, sits down with economist Michael Reddell. Michael is a former Head of Financial Markets at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, has worked for central banks of a number of other countries and has been an Alternate Executive Director on the Board of the International Monetary Fund.

Michael has recently been raising concerns around the seemingly declining standards in New Zealand public life. Whether it be Ministers (or their appointees) lying to the public, government contracts going to Ministers’ family members or undisclosed shareholdings, Michael is concerned that these instances of inappropriate (or at least perceived as being inappropriate) behaviour are becoming increasingly excused, justified or ignored by politicians and the media. 

Also discussed in the podcast is Michael’s concerns around the ease with which politicians have been able to quickly move into highly-paid private sector positions, particularly those in sectors where the Government has a significant influence on their success such as banking. Michael points to the recent example of Sir John Key, the Chairman of New Zealand’s largest bank, who was also involved in the National Party election campaign. While he does not say that anyone has acted dishonourably, Mr Reddell says that, for the sake of public trust and integrity, we need systems and processes in place that let the public have confidence that people are behaving appropriately, especially when politicians may be potentially making significant decisions around regulation, or taxpayer-funded bailouts if things go wrong.

Michael's blog, Croaking Cassandra, can be read here.

To support Taxpayer Talk, click here

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, feel free to email [email protected] 

You can also listen to Taxpayer Talk on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle PodcastsiHeart Radio and all good podcast apps. 

Taxpayer Update: Taxpayer-funded, anti-National 'sock-puppet' campaign | Cost of living poll | Winston Peters' right of reply

With the final week of the election campaign nearly over, the race seems to be tightening. Two of this week's three major polls have the Centre Left bloc ahead of the Centre Right. So get your popcorn out; Saturday night could be a bumpy ride!

Exposing sock-puppet electric car industry campaigners spreading misinformation about the benefits of Tesla subsidies 🤫

This week, we blew the whistle on a taxpayer-funded 'charity' group that is actively campaigning against the National and ACT  parties and lobbying for expensive and ineffective electric vehicle (EV) subsidies.

We called out the Better NZ Trust for their deceptive six-figure campaign across social media and billboards claiming – falsely – that the removal of EV subsidies will ‘increase’ New Zealand’s emissions and harm the climate, despite knowing full well that vehicle emissions are covered by the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Contrary to their misleading advertising, any reduced transport emissions from subsidies for Teslas, just makes emissions credits available (and cheaper) for other polluters. See explainer here.

Here are some of the misleading ads – which you may have seen online, or on billboards across the country.

Clean Car Discount Ad

Looking into the group further, we discovered that their founder is none other than Steve West who is also the founder, director and shareholder of ChargeNet NZ – the largest network of electric charge stations. In addition, the private company has received more than $7 million in corporate welfare from Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) to subsidise their commercially operated charging stations.

We say it is time for the Charities Commission to step in and stop what is clearly a front group for industry misleading Kiwis for political (and financial gain).

By all means the likes of Steve West (and other members of the electric car/charging industry) can lobby and campaign – but using a taxpayer-funded 'charity' (meaning it's tax deductible) to mislead voters on an issue as important as climate change is plain wrong.

Oh, and one more thing. Not only has EECA funded the charging company, EECA is also listed as the primary sponsor of the Trust running the election ads! 

How are the EECA allowing an organisation which lists them as its primary sponsor to play politics and mislead New Zealanders in the very area the EECA are supposed to be experts on?

It's almost as if the climate officials want you to vote Labour to protect their jobs – surely not...

If you watch just one video about climate change policy, make it this! 🙌

The Better NZ Trust would do well to watch this video we released this week from our young Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy.

Connor tackles the poppycock politicians spout about spending billions of taxpayer dollars on so-called measures to tackle climate change. He explains why most of our climate change policies – including the Clean Car Discount – are a complete waste of money and don't reduce a single gram of New Zealand’s overall emissions.

If you care about climate change, make sure you watch Connor's video!

or

If you care about politicians not wasting money on climate change, make sure you watch Connor's video!

Connor ETS Video

We have been calling this nonsense out for years yet almost all politicians and media simply refuse to engage the inconvenient truth. The fact of the matter is that our Emissions Trading Scheme creates a limit on the maximum amount of net emissions (from things such as car exhausts minus removals from things like trees). Throwing taxpayer money at reducing emissions in one industry simply frees up carbon credits to be emitted in others. You'll never look at a clear car discount, or taxpayer funded 'climate' handout again.

Kiwis doing it tough under Government's cost of living crisis 🛒🏚️💸

As reported in Monday's edition of The Post, a new Taxpayers’ Union – Curia poll on the cost of living has revealed the true harm this Government’s policies are causing New Zealanders. 

The poll confirmed that the large majority of New Zealanders are struggling to make ends meet and this ought to be the real issue of this week's election. Whether it is struggling to afford essential groceries, petrol or other utilities, the poll demonstrates that Kiwis are tightening their belts to afford basic necessities while the Government continues to make the problem worse by spending recklessly.

An incredible 98% of those polled said that their food bills have increased in the past year, 90% said the same for petrol, 68% for utilities and 53% for rents and mortgage.

Cost of Living Poll

Out-of-control spending, profligate money printing, and eye-watering debt are not abstract economic ideas – this poll highlights the very real effects that the poor decisions made in Wellington have on those struggling to make ends meet.

79% of respondents believed that Government spending has contributed to the rise in the cost of living in some capacity and 94% want the Government to do more to address this problem. 

Kiwis are feeling the financial and emotional strain of this Government’s policies. It is now more important than ever that wasteful spending is cut right back, and tax relief is delivered to New Zealanders so that they can keep more of what they earn.

As Ruth Richardson put so well on Newshub Nation last weekend, the cost of living crisis has been driven by a cost of government crisis.

You can read the full results of the poll here.

Kiwi Performance Indicators: How is NZ performing? 🧐

Kiwi Performance Indicators

It isn't just the amount of public spending that is the problem, it is the poor quality of it too. Despite spending being up by 68% in just six years, delivery on key essential services has been dropping like a stone. Taxpayers deserve value for money, but how do you know what you’re actually getting?

Our friends at thefacts.nz have the answer and have just launched a new website called 'Kiwi Performance Indicators'. This new website meticulously compiles official government statistics alongside polling from IPSOS, Essential, and our very own Taxpayers’ Union – Curia polls. 

For the first time in a New Zealand election, voters have access to an objective dashboard of government performance before heading to the polls. Over time, the team hopes to expand the number of categories available, so make sure you keep checking back so that you have all the stats you need to hold government of all political hues to account. 

Head over to www.kpi.nz to check it out.

Mind the Gap: Public sector pay growth out of control 🚀

Public Sector HeadcountLast week, we also published our 2023 Public Sector Wage Gap Report by our researcher, Alex Murphy.  While the difference in average wages between the public and private sector has come down significantly over recent years, Alex's report shows the true extent of the massive staffing increases in our ballooning public sector.

The report reveals how managerial and other back office roles have been prioritised over frontline jobs. Just over the last 5 years, the number of managers and information professionals in the Public Service grew at nearly twice the rate of the uptick in frontline staff in social, education or health work.

Alex's paper also reveals the problem of additional sick leave in the public sector being taken compared to the private sector. If public sector employees took the same number of sick days as those in the private sector, the taxpayer would save $174 million every year.

You can read the full report here.

Public back ACT's proposed Treaty Principles Act 🗳️

ACT's Treaty Principles Act

As reported in yesterday's NZ Herald, New Zealanders overwhelmingly support ACT's proposal to clarify the definition of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in a new piece of legislation. Of those who expressed a view on the question, more than 3 to 1 supported the proposed principle definitions:

1. The New Zealand Government has the right to govern New Zealand.

2. The New Zealand Government will protect all New Zealanders’ authority over their land and other property.

3. All New Zealanders are equal under the law, with the same rights and duties.

This results suggest that a majority of New Zealanders share our concerns about the erosion of democratic accountability that has arisen from interpretations of the Treaty Principles being decided by the Courts and Public Service rather than by democratically elected representatives.

A fundamental principle of democracy is that of accountability: The ability to remove bad or ineffective decision makers from office. Some interpretations of the Treaty Principles – which have not been voted on by Parliament – erode this principle. This poll shows voters do not agree with the path these interpretations have taken.

What are the parties saying on tax? 🧾

ACT Party: ACT has by far the most taxpayer-friendly tax plan of all of the parties; however, it is still a long way off our ideal tax system. We would like to see a further simplification and lowering of taxes as fiscal conditions allow. The party plans to simplify the tax system down to 3 rates from the current 6 over the next couple of years (a watering down of their earlier policy due to worse than forecast government debt), return ETS revenue to households, abolish the bright-line test and reverse the Government's rental interest deductibility changes and get rid of the ute tax. 

National Party: National is offering a minor inflation adjustment to income tax brackets but this only adjusts for two years’ inflation and kicks in on July 1 2024. Ongoing adjustments will only occur every three years, and at the discretion of the minister. Other notable tax changes include the removal of the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax and the ute tax.  The ability to depreciate commercial buildings will be scrapped, but residential rental properties will have full deductibility of interest expenses phased in by 1 April 2026. Foreign buyers of residential property will be allowed to purchase properties of $2 million or more upon paying a 15% tax on the purchase price. Legitimate concerns have been raised by economists over whether National’s foreign buyers tax figures add up, but National has not effectively addressed these concerns.

New Zealand First: The party pledges to introduce a tax-free threshold by 2027, and inflation adjust income tax brackets with the first adjustment occurring in 2027 and every 3 years after that. They want to look at taking GST off basic foods through a select committee inquiry, introduce subsidies for gaming and movie sectors, and a lower tax rate for select businesses. It is encouraging that NZ First wants to set a limit on government spending; however, the level that they have decided to set the cap at is higher than what we are currently spending now. 

Labour Party: The party's flagship policy is taking GST off unprocessed fruit and vegetables – you can read our report here about why this is a very bad idea. They also want regular increases of fuel excise duty over 3 years, totalling 14 c/L including GST, with an equivalent increase to road-user charges. And the party plans to remove tax-deductible depreciation expenses for non-residential buildings.

Green Party: They want a complete change to the income tax brackets and tax rates with a new tax-free rate up to $10,000 and a top tax rate of 45% for incomes over $180,000. The Greens also want to see a lift in the corporate tax rate from 28% to 33%, and new wealth taxes of 1.5% p.a. on the value of assets held in a private trust and 2.5% p.a. of net assets over $2 million for an individual.

Te Pāti Māori: This is the most radical proposal and not in a good way. The party wants to see GST removed from all food, an increase in the corporate tax rate from 28% to 33%, a $30,000 income tax free threshold, and a range of new tax rates on income as high as 48%. They are also campaigning on introducing wealth taxes as high as 8% per year, a tax on foreign companies, a 33% vacant land, and vacant house tax.

But tax relief funded by borrowing is illusionary 👻 

Of course, the only real tax cut is a spending cut – everything else is just timing.

So for all of these parties, the focus must be on cutting back wasteful spending in order for tax relief to be delivered, slowing down inflation, getting us back to meaningful growth and slaying the looming debt monster. 

Winston's right of reply 📺

We've been copping it from all sides by those who are pro and those anti-Winston Peters – and whether concerns that he could unexpectedly return the current government assuming the polls are right and NZ First holds the balance of power. 

It's not for us to tell you who to vote for – our role is to highlight and critique policies and hold the politicians to account.

Ruth Richardson made her concerns pretty clear earlier in the week, but we've had assurances from both Winston Peters and Casey Costello (a former Taxpayers' Union board chair, who is now #3 on the NZ First party list) that going with Labour for another term is out of the question.

Reasonable minds may differ on whether to trust Mr Peters. Recall he went with National's Jim Bolger in 1996 despite campaigning to "change the government" the same year. But on the other hand, (and as a right of reply to our earlier emails), Peters and his team couldn't be much clearer in a recently published campaign video:

Judge for yourself

Having fielded emails and calls from those annoyed with our emails questioning whether Peters can be trusted, we'll no doubt receive grumblings from our National and ACT party supporters now as a result of this email. 😳  So thank goodness for the privacy of the voting booth!

But, one this is for sure, {{recipient.first_name_or_friend}}: the Taxpayers' Union will hold all parties to account for their promises, regardless of what the next Parliament looks like.

Have a great weekend. 

Jordan

Jordan_signature.jpg
Jordan Williams
Executive Director
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union

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Media coverage:

NZ Herald
 Election 2023: Audrey Young - Labour MPs need basic lessons in campaign discipline

Stuff Tova – Left Turn (01:00:47)

NZ Herald Election 2023: NZ First shoots up in new poll, Luxon preferred PM over Hipkins

RNZ Winston Peters remains kingmaker in latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll

NewstalkZB Election Fix: 6 October 2023 – Poll

The Post 
Giant escape key destroyed after one day in New York

NewstalkZB Afternoon Edition: 06 October 2023 (00:22)

NewstalkZB Jason Walls: Newstalk ZB political editor on two new polls showing Chris Luxon will need Winston

Newsroom Luxon impresses in Taranaki, still doesn’t know Winston

NZ Herald On The Campaign: The minor parties make their case - can TOP join them in Parliament? (02:35, 18:42)

NewstalkZB Heather du Plessis-Allan: What has happened to David Seymour?

Newshub Election 2023: Winston Peters guards path to power as Hipkins resumes attacks on National's tax plan

NZ Herald Election 2023: New poll shows whether Kiwis believe Winston Peters’ Labour promise

The Post National, Labour turn up the sledging as polls show NZ First in decisive position

NZ City One week out from the election, and Winston Peters is eyeing up the kingmaker position again

Newshub 
Election 2023: Infamous 'Mother of all Budgets' curator, former Finance Minister Ruth Richardson accuses National and Labour of 'heroic assumptions'

Otago Daily Times Luxon remains focused on National-Act govt

Newshub 
Election 2023 poll: More than half of voters don't trust Winston Peters on ruling out Labour

The Post The last week: Cost of living still the main game

RNZ Election 2023: Labour, National renew attacks on each other's costings

Newstalk ZB 
Kerre Woodham: Misinformation and attack ads (2:53)

Newsroom Chlöe can’t count on cannabis this time

RNZ AK's Tamaki electorate coming down to ACT or National

Newstalk ZB John MacDonald: Attacks ads - Entertaining? Yes. Influential? No

Newstalk ZB 
The Huddle: Could National really lose the unlosable election?

NZ Herald Election 2023: Majority would support Act’s Treaty referendum, although voters unsure if they want to vote on it

NZ Herald Election 2023: Coalition options - can Winston Peters be trusted not to work with Labour?

The Daily Blog What would a National-ACT-NZ First Govt do for cannabis?

NZ Herald Election 2023: Haven’t voted? Undecided? Two divergent paths explained, and what you need to know to make a decision

Newsroom One vote for the media

1News Tāmaki - what the data shows about National-ACT battleground

Gisborne Herald Expect Peters to maximise leverage

Stuff Election 2023: The electorates that may decide the shape of the next government

New report reveals how much of your lifetime earnings is taken away in tax

The new 2023 Lifetime Tax Report from the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union investigates the total lifetime tax burden paid by Kiwis in all income deciles. In doing so, we hope to start debate around the real cost of government crisis being faced by working families up and down the country.
 
Through higher rates and bracket creep, we all know that the amount of income tax we pay year-on-year is spiralling out of control. But far too few people know the real cost of other taxes, particularly consumption taxes such as GST and fuel duties.
 
Utilising sources such as Statistics NZ, the Household Economic Survey and Treasury’s APITRE tool, this study analyses the spending habits of New Zealanders to approximate the total amount of tax which would be paid at current rates and prices across a lifetime.
 
Key findings of the report:

> At current prices and rates, the average New Zealander will pay a total of $1,096,777.97 (± 4.52%) in tax across his or her lifetime.

> At this income, the average New Zealand taxpayer will spend the equivalent of 22.65 years (± 4.52%) of their life working just to pay their tax burden.

> This is equivalent to 33.43% of their life between the ages of 15 and 82.75 (weighted average life expectancy).

> The average New Zealander will earn $3,155,713.44 in their lifetime and pay $1,096,777.97 in tax. This means that of everything the average New Zealander earns between the ages of 15 and 82.75, they will pay 34.76% to the Government in tax.

> As expected, income tax makes up a larger proportion of the tax burden of high-income individuals.

> However, sin taxes such as those on alcohol and cigarettes disproportionately punish those on lower incomes.


Commenting on the release of the 2023 Lifetime Tax Report, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser and author of the report, James Ross, said:
 
“We now live in a country where nobody actually knows how much they’re paying in tax every year. They can see that government spending on bloated bureaucracies and vanity projects is spiralling out of control, but there is little clarity on how much of that bloat they’ve paid for.
 
“By shining a light on just how much of their lives New Zealanders spend funding the Government, hopefully New Zealand can start an informed debate about the unsustainability of our current levels of government waste. Wasted taxes are hard-earned by New Zealanders, and they have every right to know exactly how far they’re being taken for a ride.
 
“This report also displays the ways in which the burdens of various taxes are distributed across income levels. For instance, as we have long argued, sin taxes such as those on cigarettes and alcohol disproportionately punish poorer New Zealanders. Hopefully the impact these have will give some food for thought as to the effects moralising tax policies have on those with least to give.”

Over-centralised Health Service In Need of Urgent Care

Commenting on a series of information releases under the OIA which reveal that Te Whatu Ora is failing to address the Planned Care Taskforce's recommendations for improvement made last October, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“Since the District Health Boards were disbanded by this Labour Government, New Zealand has had one of the most centralised health systems in the world. It’s no coincidence that at the same time as local control over healthcare has been stripped away, outcomes have worsened and plans to improve healthcare in regional areas have fallen by the wayside.

“The Ministerial Advisory Committee was established last year with just one job – drag the behemoths that are our two health systems up to standard. The Committee’s inability to break through Te Whatu Ora’s closed-shop bureaucracy demonstrates that this Government has created a beast that even they can’t control.

“Much like with Te Pūkenga’s inability to provide quality education, the results of this government’s love affair with central control are clear. Over-centralisation does not work, and key services are plummeting across the board as a result. Before wrenching control of water infrastructure and resource management away from local bodies, Labour need to stop and look at the evidence in front of their eyes.

“Serious reform across the public sector is needed to bring services back up to snuff, but removing local accountability is empirically making things worse, not better.”

Wellington’s water crisis highlights the need for councils' wasteful spending to be reeled in

Responding to news from Wellington Water that the Wellington region is losing the equivalent of 30 Olympic-sized pools in water every day due to decaying pipes, Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves said:

“Historical failure to invest in key infrastructure may have led to this current water catastrophe, but unfortunately, it’s still clear that Wellington councils collectively are more concerned with vanity projects than they are with providing essential services to their communities.

“Whether it be Hutt City Council’s $34.2m events centre, Wellington City Council’s Golden Mile fantasy, or Porirua City Council’s $98,000 ‘smiley face’ logo, it’s clear that councils across the region have been happy to put wants over needs in recent years at the cost of the ratepayer.

“While these councils may continue to proclaim that a lack of funds has resulted in this chronic underinvestment to their water infrastructure, it’s obvious that in other areas of their budgets, the money is not being well spent.

“If councils want to ensure that infrastructure failures like this don’t emerge in the future, then councillors need to take accountability for the current situation and look to ensure that the provision of essential services going forward is stabilised before embarking on any new pet projects."

NEW POLL: Kiwis oppose Government’s plans to strip planning powers from councils

A new Taxpayers Union – Curia poll has found that 47% of Kiwis want planning powers to remain with local councils rather than be transferred to new regional planning committees made up of council, Government, and iwi and hapū appointees. With only 24% in favour of the Government’s RMA reforms and 28% undecided, the Natural and Built Environment and Spatial Planning Acts, which replace the former Resource Management Act, has a net support of negative 23 points amongst New Zealanders.

There is more support than opposition for planning and resource allocation decisions remaining with local councils across every age, area, gender and preferred party demographic with the exception of Green voters who favour the centralization.

The full polling report can be found here.

Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said: 

“New Zealanders clearly do not support the current Government’s Wellington-knows-best attitude of taking more and more powers away from our local councils into the centre. While the Resource Management Act is a dog and has led to a housing and infrastructure crisis, David Parker’s replacement will lead to even higher building costs, more red tape, no local control, and more co-governance.

“Rather than strip powers away from councils, the Government should instead look to improve the incentives for them to grow by ensuring they are properly compensated for infrastructure upgrades through arrangements like GST sharing. Whichever parties are in a position to form a Government after the election should go back to the drawing board and reform the planning system so that it promotes local control, certainty, simplicity and private property rights.”

Charities Commission should deregister sock puppet group lying about benefits of EV subsidies

The Taxpayers’ Union is raising the alarm about greenwashing by the Better NZ Trust – a taxpayer-funded charity – to promote the interests of the EV industry. The Trust is running a deceptive six-figure campaign across social media and billboards claiming – falsely – that the removal of EV subsidies will ‘increase’ New Zealand’s emissions and harm the climate, despite knowing full well that vehicle emissions are covered by the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

Taxpayers’ Union spokesman, Jordan Williams, said:

“We first became aware of this group by coming across the deceptive advertising. But looking into the Trust further, we see that the founder is none other than the Steve West who is also the founder, director and shareholder of ChargeNet NZ – a private company that has received more than $7 million in corporate welfare from Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) to subsidise their commercially operated charging stations.”

“Far from being a ‘charity’ in the philanthropic sense, this trust looks to play a sock puppet role for corporate interests cloaked in greenwashing and taxpayer funding. Their campaign is trading on the public’s lack of understanding of the ETS to smear political parties whose policies affect their commercial interests.”

“The Trust’s ads claim that the Clean Car Discount ‘helps fight climate change’, when (at best) electric cars simply shift emissions from transport and allow for cheaper emissions elsewhere under the fixed cap ETS. ETS denial is worse than climate denial – it makes it harder for New Zealand to reach its emission targets.”

“EECA’s funding has been to cover costs of roadshows and list building, used by the Trust to lobby for subsidies for industry and more money for EECA! According to the Meta Ad Library, the misleading campaign has reached more than two million New Zealanders on Facebook alone. They have publicly stated that they intend to spend $100,000 during this election campaign.”

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is clear that ‘if a cap-and-trade system has a sufficiently stringent cap then other policies such as renewable subsidies have no further impact on total GHG emissions’. National and ACT are following this advice when committing to scrap the clean car discount and allowing the ETS to function. This self-described ‘Better NZ’ trust is trying to undermine this with disinformation which actually serves to make climate change mitigation more expensive.”

“It’s time for the Charities Commission to step in. Charities law requires charities to educate and advocate in a 'relatively objective and balanced way'. Here a charity is spending up large on a political campaign that is dishonest and harms the climate change effort in a commercially beneficial way to its funders. They can dress it in as much greenwashing language as they like, but the Charities Commission cannot let it stand.

“EECA also has some explaining to do. How are they allowing an organisation which lists EECA as its primary sponsor to not only play politics with taxpayer money but do so in the most disreputable way? This EECA-funded trust is misleading New Zealanders in the very area EECA are supposed to be experts on.”

An example of the deceptive political advertisements can be seen here. 

NEW POLL: Kiwis overwhelmingly support inflation-adjustment of income tax brackets

A new Taxpayers’ Union – Curia poll has revealed that 63% of New Zealanders support inflation adjustment of income tax brackets compared to just 14% who are opposed.

There was majority support across every demographic (gender, age, area, economic status, and preferred political party).

The Taxpayers’ Union has launched a new website to Axe the Inflation Tax which includes a tax calculator, explainer and FAQ addressing some of the common misconceptions about tax bracket indexation.

The full polling report can be found here.

Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said: 

“New Zealanders are really feeling the heat of bracket creep with inflation forcing them to pay more and more tax, even when their real income is not increasing. The inflation tax hits workers with a second blow on top of rising prices caused by inflation and unnecessarily drives up the cost of living even further.“

"With majority support from every demographic, it is clear that it is now only the politicians standing in the way of this common-sense tax reform. With benefits, student loan living costs and superannuation already adjusted for inflation, along with excise taxes on fuel, alcohol and tobacco, it is high time that those who pay the bills stop getting slapped with annual stealth tax hikes.

“Politicians are more than happy to make these changes when it gets them more money to spend, less so when it means they lose out on additional tax revenue each year. We are calling on all New Zealanders and politicians to join us in our calls for ‘No Taxation Without Indexation’.”

NEW POLL: Cost of Living Bites Taxpayers as They Head to the Polls

Cost of Living Bites Taxpayers as They Head to the Polls 

A new Taxpayers’ Union – Curia poll, focused on the cost-of-living crisis, has revealed the wide-ranging impacts of inflation on households across New Zealand, and who they are blaming for the crisis. 

According to the poll, 99% of respondents believe that the cost of living has significantly or moderately increased. In particular, households have noticed an increase in the cost of food (98%), petrol (90%) and utilities (68%) during the last year. 

Voters are also dissatisfied with how the Government has responded to the cost-of-living crisis. 79% of respondents have said that the Government’s spending has contributed to a rise in the cost of living in some capacity.  

94% of respondents believe that the government should be doing more to address the cost-of-living crisis, with 69% responding that the government should do much more.  

58% of voters think they are paying too much tax while just 6% think they are not paying enough. 

The full polling report can be found here

Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said: 

“What is clear from this poll is that the vast majority of New Zealanders are really struggling with the cost of living due to the Government’s out-of-control spending that has been driving up inflation. It is saddening to see that while so many Kiwis are making tough spending choices so that they have enough money to pay the bills, the Government continues to spend at record levels. 

“This poll highlights the very real effects that the poor decisions made in Wellington have on those struggling to make ends meet. Debates around the appropriate level of Government spending are no longer academic arguments, but rather the real financial and emotional strain facing everyone. It is now more important than ever that wasteful Government spending is cut right back, and tax relief is delivered to New Zealanders so that they can keep more of what they earn.” 

Taxpayers’ Union welcomes National’s commitment not to hike fuel taxes

Commenting on National’s fuel tax commitment, Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said:

“In the middle of a cost of living crisis, hiking fuel taxes – as Labour is still proposing – is morally wrong. Fuel taxes disproportionately hit rural and the poorest communities – such as shift workers – the hardest.

"Ruling out further hikes is the right thing to do. Unless fuel taxes are frozen, very soon tax will be half the cost at the pump again.

“The whole point of fuel taxes is to fund roads maintenance and investment, but the National Land Transport Fund is being used to fund all manner of projects such as public transport, cycleways and loss-making rail services. Wellington could easily increase road investment without hiking fuel taxes by reverting the Fund back to what is was designed for – road maintenance and upgrades.”

NEW POLL: Kiwis don’t believe Winston when he says he would not work with the Labour Party again

A new Taxpayers' Union – Curia poll has found that most New Zealanders don't believe Winston Peters when he says that New Zealand First would not be willing to put the Labour Party back into Government. 

The poll asked: Do you believe Winston Peters when he says he would not work with the Labour Party again?

Yes 27%
No 55%
Unsure 17%

A plurality of respondents across all demographic breakdowns and across supporters of all parties do not believe his pledge not to work with the Labour Party again.

The full results are available here.

Performance Management Plans for Public Service Chief Execs Long Overdue

Responding to ACT’s plans to allow ministers to be able to publicly issue key performance indicators for public service chief executives, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:
 
“For far too long, too many public servants have been taking the taxpayer for an easy ride. If any one of us had spent years patently failing to do our jobs effectively, we would quite rightly expect to be sacked; it’s well past time that high-flying mandarins in cushy Wellington corner offices were held to at least the same standards as the rest of us.”
 
“In just six short years, Government spending has rocketed by nearly 70%. In that time, delivery on vital public services such as health and education has bottomed out. It’s clear that chucking billions at these departments hasn’t worked, and a major public sector cultural change is needed to start getting some bang for the taxpayer's buck again.
 
“Unlike ministers and MPs, the public lack any meaningful way of holding our public servants to account. ACT’s plan to introduce publicly-available key performance indicators for public service chief executives will hopefully be the first step of many towards dragging key public services back up to snuff.”

Pharmac Chief Executive Lacks Respect for Public Scrutiny, Unsuitable for Public Office

Responding to news that Pharmac Chief Executive Sarah Fitt took part in a series of personal attacks against journalist Rachel Smalley, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:
 
“The strength of our democracy depends on the media being able to hold the government to account, and no public employee is too high-and-mighty to be above proper scrutiny. Unfortunately, far too many public servants act as though government transparency and accountability are nothing more than obstacles to be evaded by any means.
 
“Given Sarah Fitt’s senior role, her responsibility to lead by example should have been clear. The series of messages uncovered by Rachel Smalley show that instead, Fitt not only enabled a culture of disdain for public scrutiny but actively participated in it.
 
“Sarah Fitt has revealed how little respect she has for the public that she is employed to serve, and as such her position as Chief Executive of Pharmac is now completely untenable. She has lost the confidence of the Public Service Commissioner, the Health Minister, the media and the public. The Taxpayers’ Union is therefore joining the calls for Fitt to resign before she damages trust in the integrity of the public service any further.”

Taxpayers' Union – Curia Poll: October 2023

Here are the headline results for October's Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll:

Party

Support

Change from last month

National

35.9%

↑0.9

Labour

27.9%

↑1.4

ACT

9.1%

↓5.2

Green

10.6%

↓2.1

NZ First

6.9%

↑3.0

Māori

3.7%

↑0.8

Other

5.8%

↑1.1

National increases 0.9 points on last month to 35.9% while Labour are also up, gaining 1.4 points to take them to 27.9%. ACT have dropped by 5.2 points to 9.1% while the Greens are down 2.1 points to 10.6%.

The smaller parties are NZ First on 6.9% (+3 points), the Māori Party on 3.7% (+0.8 points), TOP on 2.9% (+0.2 points), New Conservatives on 0.7% (-0.1 points), Vision NZ on 0.3% (-0.2 points), and DemocracyNZ on 0.3% (+0.3 points).

Here is how these results would translate to seats in Parliament:

Party

Seats

Change from last month

National

46

↑1

Labour

35

nc

Green

13

↓4

ACT

12

↓7

NZ First

9

↑9

Māori

5

↑1

National are up one seat on last month to 46 while Labour remain on 35. ACT have dropped 7 seats to 12 while the Greens have dropped 4 to 13. NZ First will re-enter Parliament on these figures, gaining 9 seats from last month for a total of 9 while the Māori Party are up one to 5 seats.

The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right of 58 is down 6 seats on last month, while the Centre-Left bloc’s total is down 3 to 53. Neither bloc would be able to form a government alone, but both could do so in coalition with NZ First.

Note: From June 2023, the Māori Party has been included in the Centre-Left bloc given National’s decision to rule out forming a government with them. New Zealand First is not included in either bloc. 

Both Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins have risen in this month’s preferred Prime Minister polls. Luxon has risen by 4 points to 29%, while Hipkins has gained 2 points to 27%.

David Seymour has dropped 4 points to 4% while 4.5% of people would still prefer Jacinda Ardern (down 2.5%). Chloë Swarbrick is up 1.4 points to 6.1%, Winston Peters is down 0.2 points to 4.3%, Nicola Willis remains unchanged at 2.5%, James Shaw has dropped 0.9 points to 1.2%, and Matt King has dropped 0.6 points to 0.7%. Marama Davidson has gained 0.9 points to 1.2% while Chris Bishop has dropped 0.2 points to 0.1%

 

47% (+3 points) of voters have a favourable view of Chris Hipkins while 28% (+2 points) have an unfavourable view for a net favourability of +19% (+3 points).

38% (+1 points) of voters have a favourable view of Christopher Luxon while 40% (-1 points) have an unfavourable view for a net favourability of -2% (+2 points).

David Seymour has a net favourability of -22% (-9 points). James Shaw has a net favourability of -19% (-3 points) while Rawiri Waititi scores -30% (-7 points) and Winston Peters is on -34% (+4 points).

For the full polling report, covering the detailed insights the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition are used to receiving, join our Taxpayer Caucus – our club of most generous financial supporters who make our work possible.


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 1 October to Wednesday 04 October 2023. The median response was collected on Tuesday 3 October 2023. The sample size was 1,000 eligible New Zealand voters: 800 by phone and 200 by online panel. 909 respondents were decided on the party vote.The sample selection for the phone panel is from those who are contactable on a landline or mobile phone selected at random from 15,000 nationwide phone numbers plus a random selection from an online panel (that complies with ESOMAR guidelines for online research). 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.

This poll should be formally referred to as the “Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll”.

Taxpayer Update: NEW POLL 📊⚫️ | Hipkins: Our no. 1 fan ❤️🏆 | 'ESC' WellingtonNZ's NYC IT/PR bungle ⌨️🛫🍎

There are eight days left until polls close, and we have a chockablock update for you this week.

Your humble Taxpayers' Union has been travelling the length of the country towing the Debt Clock to highlight the high levels of Government debt. Right now Grant Robertson's borrowing amounts to more than $82,131 for every kiwi household. That debt our kids (and grandkids) will be paying back! Watch the online version of the debt clock at www.debtclock.nz

Mahesh Muralidhar The National Party's Auckland Central candidate Mahesh Muralidhar's reaction to Grant Robertson's borrowing... 

And with the debt and big spending, Grant Robertson is waving goodbye to our best and brightest leaving for better economic climbs. Robbo and Chippy's new business, Robbo's Removals, is doing a roaring trade – already having helped 218,000 since 2017 flee! So call Grant Roberston right now on 0800 Tax Flee (0800 829 3533)

Robbo's Removals

So how are things looking with just over a week to go until election day...

NEW POLL – Big movers: ACT down, NZ First up 🚀

Available exclusively to supporters like you, the results of our October Taxpayers' Union – Curia poll are out. 

Decided Party Vote over time

National is up 0.9 points on last month's poll to 35.9% while Labour is also up by 1.4 points to 27.9%. While the Greens are down 2.1 points at 10.6%, they are now in third place ahead of the ACT Party, which has dropped sharply by 5.2 points to 9.1%.

NZ First holds balance of power – both blocs would require him to govern 👑

New Zealand First sees a big boost of 3 points to 6.9% putting Winston Peters once again in the kingmaker position and giving him the power to determine the composition of the next Government. The Māori Party is also up 0.8 points on last month to 3.7%. 

Here is how these results would translate to seats in Parliament, assuming the Māori Party retains an electorate seat:

Seats

National is up 1 seat to 46 while Labour is constant on 35 seats. The Greens have dropped 4 seats to 13 while ACT has dropped 7 seats to 12 . New Zealand First is back in Parliament on these numbers with 9 seats while the Māori Party is up 1 seat on last month to 5. 

This means that neither the Centre-Right bloc who are projected to have 58 seats (down 6 on last month) or the Centre-Left bloc who would have 53 seats (down 3) could form a Government on their own and would require the support of New Zealand First. 

Preferred Prime Minister

After tying with Chris Hipkins in the Preferred Prime Minister stakes last month, Christopher Luxon pulls ahead on 29% (up 4 points on last month) compared to Hipkins' 27% (up 2 points). David Seymour has dropped 4 points to 4%.

Visit our website for more information – including favourability scores for the party leaders – and details of how to get access to the full polling report.

Chris Hipkins: Taxpayers' Union's number one fan ❤️🏆

Chris Hipkins

While we value all of our supporters equally, it has been particularly gratifying to discover we have fans right at the top of the Beehive! We must be doing something right, as our good friend Chippy hasn't been able to stop talking about your humble Taxpayers' Union and our campaigns.

We have put together a 30-second compilation of some of the shout outs he has given us in the last few weeks. 

👉Watch the video here.

EXPOSED: How much is the Inflation Tax costing you? 🪓💸

Axe the Inflation Tax

After years of campaigning on the issue of inflation tax (or 'bracket creep'), we are delighted to see the issue getting attention from politicians and the media. 

Every year, inflation sees more and more New Zealanders tip into higher tax brackets, even thought their 'real' (inflation-adjusted) income stays the same. It means that we all pay higher and higher average tax rates over time without a single law being passed, or vote in parliament to hike taxes.

They say it takes a crisis to get the support required for necessary reform and, as painful as the current levels of inflation are, it is a perfect opportunity to lock in annual inflation adjustments of income tax brackets. 

While a number of political parties are campaigning on adjusting tax brackets for inflation, none of them is committing to a robust proposal that would actually stop politicians’ from stealthily sticking their fingers into your wallets for more and more tax every year.

No Taxation Without Indexation! 🪧📣 🥁

ACT and the National were both once committed to automatically adjusting tax brackets for inflation.  Now only National has the policy – but the party has watered it down to every three years (just before elections...) and only at Cabinet's discretion 'if fiscal conditions allow'... 😒

We say that's not good enough and have just launched a new website at www.AxeTheInflationTax.nz to make it easy for taxpayers to add their name to the fight against inflation tax and call for income tax bracket indexation.

Use the online calculator to find out how much the inflation tax since 2010 is costing you.

Please also take a moment to sign the petition and let the politicians know where you stand.

WellingtonNZ hits the wrong key ⌨️💥

Wellington Key

This week, our Investigation Co-ordinator, Oliver Bryan, exposed WellingtonNZ's pricey hot button issue. WellingtonNZ is Wellington City Council's so-called economic development agency – but they certainly weren't developing Wellington much in forking out a whopping $470,000 on a frivolous marketing charade in New York.

After flying staff to New York they created a huge 'ESC' key, meant to symbolise an 'escape' from the Big Apple to Wellington. But the $130,000 stunt was binned just seven hours after its launch! A ‘delete’ key would have been more appropriate.

With just 100 real-life attendees (passers by) the New York show was a flop at $1,300 per attendee.

We were then told it was about the "online traction".  But we got the figures for that too: a costly $14 per view (for comparison, your humble Taxpayers' Union pays just cents for our online and social media paid campaigns).

Adding insult to injury, a delegate from WellingtonNZ took a six-night keyboard journey to New York for this fleeting seven-hour debacle.

We say that rather than an 'ESC' key, WellingtonNZ needs a factory reset...

The Battle for Tāmaki: Did you catch the fiery debate? 💙🩷

Tāmaki Debate

It was great to see a packed house on Tuesday for our final electorate debate ahead of the election in Tāmaki. Our exclusive Taxpayers' Union – Curia electorate poll showed what was once a National stronghold can no longer be considered a safe blue seat. Incumbent National MP, Simon O'Connor, and his main challenger ACT Party Deputy Leader, Brooke van Velden, are locked in a statistical tie.

The debate was fiery and funny with two strong candidates showcasing their alternative visions for the Tāmaki electorate. Simon and Brooke battled it out over law and order, the cost of living, the economy and climate change.

You can watch the replay here.

New Report: The ineffectiveness of a tax-free threshold 🤑🗑️

Tax-Free Threshold

Both the Greens and Te Pāti Māori have proposed tax-free thresholds as part of their tax plans for this election. Like Labour's GST pledge, it is another policy that might look good at first glance, but as soon as you dig a little deeper, you'll hit fishhooks.

The key problem with tax free thresholds is that they're expensive but result in very little 'bang for buck' in terms of increasing economic output or incentives to work. The economic literature is pretty clear: it's the marginal tax rate that matters. Tax-free thresholds mean than more tax must be collected at the higher ends - meaning less incentives for workers to up skill, increase working hours, or otherwise get ahead.

Our Research Fellow, Jim Rose has written a new report looking at the impacts of implementing a tax-free threshold and concludes that the policy would be an expensive and poorly targeted way of reducing the tax burden and increasing after-tax incomes of New Zealand families.The report demonstrates that – like the GST policy – a tax-free threshold fails to effectively target those people its advocates intends to support with this initiative.

Have a read Jim's full report here.

😬 One more thing – apology to Winston incoming! 🚨

Yesterday we sent an email to many of our supporters asking the question that most people are: Will Winston Peters go with National, or Labour if NZ First are kingmaker?

After the email was sent, Jordan received a very terse (not to be repeated here!) email from Winston himself. Among his complaints was that he did not say in 2017 that he would go with the largest party, rather that he would speak to first the largest party. We apologize for the error.

Winston wants you to know: He won't be calling Hipkins 📵

Mr Peters insists that 'this time it's different', and we note that his Party has released a video stating New Zealand First will not return Labour to power.

Thank you for your support.

Yours aye,

Callum

Callum Signature
Callum Purves
COO and Head of Campaigns

New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union

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Media coverage:


The Post Winston Peters and the great coalition jockeying game

The Post School lunches, Covid-19 and pseudoephedrine on the campaign trail

Stuff 'My heart couldn’t take it any more': How Northland has become a hotbed of frustration, anger and distrust

Interest.co.nz Those whose salary depends upon them coming to terms with the fact that the beliefs of the paymasters have changed tend to get with the programme pretty smartly, writes Chris Trotter

Asia Pacific Report NZ election 2023: Bryce Edwards: The most hollow campaign in living memory

The Platform Will the racists please stand up?

NZ Herald Election 2023: The Front Bench - Heather du Plessis-Allan, Jordan Williams, Phil O’Reilly, Richard Hills on big political issues

Newstalk ZB The Front Bench: Luxon confirmed he'll work with Peters- could National lose support?

Kiwiblog Grant's new job

Newstalk ZB Taxpayers Union: Tory Whanau being arrogant for taking economic well-being manager on 10-day trip

NZ Herald Election 2023: Chlöe Swarbrick, Mahesh Muralidhar, Oscar Sims and Felix Poole go head to head in Auckland Central debate

Newstalk ZB Poll shows Chlöe Swarbrick in fight to hold Auckland Central

NZ Herald Election 2023 live updates: Green’s Chlöe Swarbrick in fight with National’s Mahesh Muralidhar for Auckland Central

Politik The kindest cuts

Newstalk ZB Live: 'Scaring old ladies' Ginny Andersen hits out at National's Mark Mitchell

The Spinoff Labour’s fiscal plan doubles down on its ‘trust us with your money’ aesthetic

Interest.co.nz Labour says there is enough room on the balance sheet to respond to another economic shock if needed

Newsroom Fiscal plans fly as overseas voting opens

Newsroom Hipkins Angered by Race 'one-liners'

foodticker Grocery code will drive up prices - Taxpayers' Union

Otago Daily Times Benefits of reducing work hours disputed

NZ Herald Election 2023: Child poverty at issue as National, Labour vie over fiscal holes, welfare changes

The Press When two tribes go to war: Who watches leaders' debates?

Waikato Times If that's the solution, was there ever a crisis?

Interest.co.nz National says it doesn’t plan to provide financial support to local councils for water infrastructure under its alternative to Three Waters

NZ Herald Election 2023: Act Party’s Brooke van Velden hot on Nat’s Simon O’Connor’s heels in Tāmaki electorate - poll

Stuff Gore council CEO Stephen Parry says the bullying card is played too often in the workplace environment

NZ Herald Election 2023: Audrey Young - Labour MPs need basic lessons in campaign discipline

NZ Herald Election 2023: National and Act candidates face-off in Auckland

Offsetting Behaviour The problems of a tax-free threshold 

The Daily Blog Tamaki Debate – Winners + Losers (with zero funding from NZ on Air)

NEW POLL: NZ First Kingmaker, Luxon surges ahead of Hipkins as preferred Prime Minister

National increases 0.9 points on last month to 35.9% while Labour are also up, gaining 1.4 points to take them to 27.9%. ACT have dropped by 5.2 points to 9.1% while the Greens are down 2.1 points to 10.6%.

The smaller parties are NZ First on 6.9% (+3 points), the Māori Party on 3.7% (+0.8 points), TOP on 2.9% (+0.2 points), New Conservatives on 0.7% (-0.1 points), Vision NZ on 0.3% (-0.2 points), and DemocracyNZ on 0.3% (+0.3 points).

National are up one seat on last month to 46 while Labour remain on 35. ACT have dropped 7 seats to 12 while the Greens have dropped 4 to 13. NZ First will re-enter Parliament on these figures, gaining 9 seats from last month for a total of 9 while the Māori Party are up one to 5 seats.

The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right of 58 is down 6 seats on last month, while the Centre-Left bloc’s total is down 3 to 53. Neither bloc would be able to form a government alone, but both could do so in coalition with NZ First.

Both Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins have risen in this month’s preferred Prime Minister polls. Luxon has risen by 4 points to 29%, while Hipkins has gained 2 points to 27%.

David Seymour has dropped 4 points to 4% while 4.5% of people would still prefer Jacinda Ardern (down 2.5%). Chloë Swarbrick is up 1.4 points to 6.1%, Winston Peters is down 0.2 points to 4.3%, Nicola Willis remains unchanged at 2.5%, James Shaw has dropped 0.9 points to 1.2%, and Matt King has dropped 0.6 points to 0.7%. Marama Davidson has gained 0.9 points to 1.2% while Chris Bishop has dropped 0.2 points to 0.1%

More detailed results including polling on favourability ratings of different politicians are available on our website.

WellingtonNZ Hits the Wrong Key in New York

The spotlight is firmly on WellingtonNZ, the region's economic development agency, after The Taxpayers' Union has revealed $470,000 spent on an ephemeral overseas marketing event. The centrepiece of this campaign was a $130,000 'ESC' key, as a symbol of 'escaping' to Wellington, only to be destroyed shortly after its brief debut, according to information obtained under the LGOIMA. 

Oliver Bryan, Investigations Coordinator for the Taxpayers' Union, remarked, "WellingtonNZ, bearing the mantle of the region's Economic Development Agency to champion prosperity and improve liveability, has gone seriously astray. Dispatching a staffer to New York to frivolously burn through half a million dollars on a seven-hour 'ESC' key stunt isn't just a display of fiscal irresponsibility; it’s madness.”
 
"And let's not forget that after its mere seven-hour outing on New York’s streets, the $130,000 'ESC' key was destroyed. It's a pity the same level of ruthless expediency wasn’t applied to the plan as a whole before it got off the ground. But hey, at least they encouraged recycling. Kudos for such eco-conscious extravagance."
 
“When you break down the numbers, it's even more egregious: Only 100 people engaged with the stunt on the ground. That’s $1,300 spent for each person who engaged with this ploy and about $14 per online view. Without a concrete method to gauge its impact or any evident influence on immigration trends, this campaign is glaringly emblematic of vanity over value."
 
“The lucky member of staff also spent six nights in New York for this seven-hour stunt. It seems WellingtonNZ doesn't just waste money, but time too."
 
"Rather than advancing prosperity or enhancing Wellington's liveability, this escapade showcases an organisation dishing out heaps for embarrassingly minimal returns. It's a clarion call for a reset, to ensure alignment with goals that genuinely serve Wellingtonians."


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