Taxpayer Update: Local Elections 2025 🗳️ | The Government is finally getting some good economic news 📈 | MSD's $2.3 million survey 👧
Hi,
Despite the sad news about the passing of Jim Bolger this week, it's still been very busy. As more of the final council election results come through, one message is clear: this was the Revenge of the Ratepayer.
Local election results: Revenge of the Ratepayer 🗳️
A clear pattern has emerged from the local body election results: mayors who treated ratepayers with disdain have been thrown out of office, while those who showed fiscal restraint have been rewarded.
Of the ten councils with the biggest annual rates hikes (12.6 percent and above), only one mayor — in Grey District — held on. Of the top 20 highest increases (9.9 percent and above), just five mayors kept their jobs.
In contrast, of the ten councils with the smallest rate hikes (5.8 percent and below), seven mayors were re-elected. Among the bottom 20, 13 mayors retained office.
Communities across New Zealand have sent a message loud and clear to stop using ratepayers as a money tree. This election proves what we’ve said all along: voters don’t want endless rate hikes, they want councils to live within their means.
Putting promises into practice 💪
It’s been great to see some real wins coming out of our Ratepayer Protection Pledge campaign.
An incredible 108 candidates who signed our Pledge have been elected, including seven mayors (that’s about 10 percent of all mayors in New Zealand) and 101 councillors spread across 47 councils.
That’s 108 voices around the table reminding their colleagues that every dollar spent comes from someone’s pocket. It’s a solid start – a sign that voters want change, and that some of their representatives are ready to deliver it.
To everyone who chipped in, put up signage, or otherwise supported our efforts over recent months - thank you for making it possible.
From Mayor to Chair: have a job on your way out... 😳
Just because we’ve got a new crop of councillors doesn’t mean we’ve finished exposing the old ones yet.
There have been some real shenanigans going on as mayors and councillors seek to secure themselves a cushy job for their post-council selves.
Take Neil Holdom – former Mayor of New Plymouth District Council – who, in a closed-door meeting the day before the election closed, was appointed chair of his Council’s new Water Services Council Controlled Organisation.
The new Mayor, Max Brough, is not impressed. He’s instructed lawyers to investigate how it all unfolded. More to come on this, it seems...
No longer the Mayor, but still a picture of waste: Tory’s portrait problems 👩🎨
Neil Holdom wasn’t the only mayor securing a legacy on the way out. In Wellington, outgoing mayor Tory Whanau managed to leave behind something rather... artistic.
Thanks to what the Wellington City Council called a “mistake,” Wellington ratepayers have forked out $7,000 for a painted portrait of the outgoing mayor. The painting reportedly shows what Whanau herself described as “Mana serving Diva” (their words, not ours). 👀
For context, the last painted mayoral portrait was of Kerry Prendergast back in 2011. Since then, mayors have sensibly opted for photographs instead. Celia Wade-Brown’s photo cost $2,000 - hardly cheap, but still a bargain compared to Tory’s canvas.
Celebrating the Government’s good news: Smaller bureaucracy, better books ⚡️
This week brought two bits of good news for taxpayers (and the Government): the Government’s books look a little healthier sorry, less sick than expected, and the ballooning public service has actually started to shrink. And not a moment too soon!
The latest figures now show the public service has shrunk by 1,568 full-time roles since the election, from 64,222 to 62,654. It’s not a revolution, but it’s the first real movement in the right direction since the Government was elected.
Not even after the cuts, there are still 15,000 more bureaucrats than when Ardern was elected in 2017. And, as we all know, most of those roles are buried in policy shops and back offices that do little to improve frontline public services.
Meanwhile, the 2025 audited financial statements show the government itself is doing a bit better than forecast in terms of cutting fat. Core Crown spending has fallen as a share of the economy, and a few one-off blowouts from 2023/24 haven’t been repeated. Finally, some good news.
But let’s not break out the bubbly just yet. Government spending is still much higher than when the current Government came into office, and the return to surplus will take more discipline and a steady refusal to let the bureaucracy bloat back up.
Getting the Government's boot off the neck of the productive economy is the only way to boost growth, productivity and living standards.
More of this please, Nicola Willis! 👏👏👏
$2.8 million youth survey comes with $7,500 of brownies 🍫💸
Your humble Taxpayers' Union has sniffed out a baker's dozen of waste stories over the years arising from the Ministry of Social Development, and this one takes the biscuit.
MSD has spent $2.8 million on a "youth wellbeing survey" – amounting to more than $350 per survey response!
And as if that wasn't enough, the hungry bureaucrats decided the best way to get schools to take part was by sending them $7,544 worth of brownies.
Under the Official Information Act, Investigations Coordinator Rhys uncovered that MSD’s research contractor, Ipsos, sent brownie boxes to 184 schools and kura at $41 a pop. The perfect staffroom treat!
While families across the country are tightening their belts, bureaucrats are literally sweetening the deal to get people to [checks notes] fill in surveys. Questions include whether young people consider whether there is "value in connecting between groups".
And, just in case you worried that the survey was good value for money, check out the mumbo jumbo reports that the last one was used to create. This is what having 15,000 too many bureaucrats looks like...
Should the Government get out of the landlord business? 🧐🏡
Our friends over at the NZ Initiative have released a new report asking a simple question: why does the government still own more than 77,000 houses when it’s proven to be such a poor landlord?
The report, with the short and snappy title Owning less to achieve more: Refocusing Kāinga Ora, argues that helping people with housing doesn’t require the state to own the houses. Government ownership has been costly and inefficient. Kāinga Ora’s costs are roughly double those of private landlords, and it struggles with rent arrears and disruptive tenants.
The report suggests selling state houses to community housing providers, iwi, private landlords, or current tenants. He also recommends housing vouchers to give tenants more choice and selling off Kāinga Ora’s unused land to boost supply.
The takeaway: both tenants and taxpayers could be better off if the government stopped trying to be a landlord and focused on ensuring real housing options that actually work.
Taxpayer Talk: Cameron Luxton on the Gene Technology Bill 🎙️
This week on Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams is joined by ACT MP Cameron Luxton for a wide-ranging discussion on the Government’s new Gene Technology Bill and what it means for innovation and regulation in New Zealand.
Cameron shares his perspective on the Bill’s Māori advisory committee and how ACT approached its position.
Peter and Cameron also discuss the Bill he has drafted to improve transparency and accountability in local government by banning unelected voting members on council committees - we'll definitely be keeping an eye on this!
You can listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Another long newsletter, after another busy week for the team. I'll let them sleep one day.
Enjoy your weekend!
 |
|
Ps. Thank you to everyone who supported our Local Government Campaign Fund. We've had great success - including seven mayors who signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge - it couldn't have happened without your support.