Taxpayer Update: Govt funding activism 🇵🇸 | Fuel data fiasco ⛽️ | Looming fiscal reckoning 💣
Hi,
It’s been another busy week in the Wellington bubble: the fuel crisis has dominated, but, unfortunately, we've yet again uncovered more creative ways they're wasting your tax dollar.
And just to add to the drama, a new Fiscal Reality Check for New Zealand. Buckle in.
The $30k taxpayer-funded pro-Palestinian campaign in Christchurch ✊
Our Investigations Coordinator Rhys has uncovered that $30,000 of taxpayer money was used to fund pro-Palestinian billboards in Christchurch accusing Israel of genocide.
Now, it's not the role of the Taxpayers' Union to take a view on international affairs – we know our supporters will have varied views on this complex issue! But there’s one thing that unites us all: the apolitical Ethnic Communities Development Fund should absolutely NOT be funding blatantly political billboards like these... 👇
Documents released under the Official Information Act show the $30,000 went to the Asturlab Cultural Centre for its “4 for 40 Stop the Silence” campaign, explicitly aimed at shifting public opinion.
So let’s call this what it is: taxpayer-funded political advocacy.
And it gets worse.
“The fund’s own rules say it does not support political objectives, yet this application was approved within days, with a Ministry advisor even helping tweak it to get over the line.”
We also may have created a *minor* diplomatic incident with this reveal, with the Israeli Embassy wading in and the Jerusalem Post picking up on the story.
The story was listed in the Jerusalem Post’s Antisemitism section – although crickets from the New Zealand media...
As I said, taxpayers' views will certainly differ on the Palestine issue. But do taxpayers really fund Wellington to funnel money into foreign affairs-related political campaigns? We think not.
And there's more… 🤯
The deeper we dug, the more bizarre the spending. The same "Ethnic Communities Development Fund" is as loose as a goose.
This is the same Ministry for Ethnic Communities that made headlines this week for being unable to justify its own existence.
Given the Government already has multiple agencies funding and advising on community development, social cohesion, and diversity, why not simply wind up these demographic ministries?
While the media wouldn't go there, ACT did: their press release was so on the money that it linked straight to our documents. 💁♀️
Fuel Security & Fiscal Dashboard 📊
Thanks to the many supporters who responded to Jordan's email on Thursday asking for feedback on our FuelClock.nz dashboard.
If you missed it, the Government's fuel data is released at least three days behind reality so we’ve done what Wellington hasn’t: a real-time dashboard matching official fuel stock data with live shipping movements, bond markets, and prediction market data.
It means you can see what’s actually happening, not just what Government officials want you to be told.
Right now, diesel stocks are sitting a few days above the Government’s "Minimum Stock Obligation" threshold. That’s reassuring — but far from comfortable.
MBIE does mea culpa on fuel stock misinformation screw-up ⛽️
On Thursday the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise (MBIE) had a real nightmare, putting out three different versions, sorry, "clarifications" of the data released the previous day!
Fortunately, we didn’t rely on MBIE's wayward website updates – we could see they were wrong as we have been using live AIS (GPS tracking) data of shipping to inform our models.
And so we were proved right! The highly respected political insider (subscriber only) Politik Newsletter by veteran Wellington journalist Richard Harman didn't hold back:
As I said to The Post newspaper the same day: if we can build it how come MBIE with its army of analysts seems incapable of keeping track of a few ships?
Heather du Plessis-Allan didn’t let the Government’s excuses slide either. Listen to her coverage here 👇
The role of the Taxpayers' Union is to promote transparency and accountability.
Right now, the fuel supply chain information is by far the most important economic statistic for businesses and households to plan ahead.
A lesson from COVID was not to ignore "The Wisdom of Crowds". In this case, the crowds (like our Fuel Clock) have been more accurate and transparent than the government source.
The data certainly doesn't make for pleasant reading – but we make no apology for arming taxpayers with objective, accurate information about the potential crisis the country faces.
New report: Sleepwalking into a fiscal reckoning 😨
If you’ve been feeling like things are getting tighter… you’re not imagining it.
Our latest report, Fiscal Reality Check: The Reckoning in Numbers, shows New Zealand is living beyond its means, and the bill is piling up fast.
Every household now carries a staggering $140,000 share of central government debt, up from just $29,000 in 2008.
And it’s still climbing...
And worse still, there isn’t a single surplus forecast for the rest of the 2020s.
Not one.
Wellington is borrowing year after year just to keep the lights on, with no credible plan to bring the books back into balance.
More debt, less prosperity 📈📉
This isn’t just numbers on a spreadsheet; it’s hitting New Zealanders' standard of living.
New Zealand hasn’t balanced the books since 2019, and instead of recovering after COVID, the Government has kept spending more than it earns.
At the same time, the economy is going backwards, with Kiwis now worse off than they were just two years ago.
So while the country racks up more debt, households are getting poorer. The most immediate impact of these numbers is on interest.
In just five years, the average household’s share of government interest costs has jumped from about $1,000 to over $4,200 a year — and that too is still rising.
By 2030, the government will be spending more on interest than on schools, Police, and justice combined.
Meanwhile, the size of government has ballooned and borrowing is increasingly being used to fund day-to-day spending.
👉 Read the full report here and see just how serious the situation has become.
Because sooner or later, someone has to pay the bill.
Policy Victory: David "Nosey" Parker's IRD snooping laws finally repealed 🕵🏻♂️
In August last year, we celebrated after Revenue Minister Simon Watts confirmed plans to repeal Section 17GB of the Tax Administration Act 1994.
Our chief policy wonk James danced a jig this week (not literally, although I do think it would make a good fundraiser) because the amendment canning the Nosey Parker clause finally passed in Parliament.
The excitingly-named Section 17GB allowed IRD to demand information from taxpayers (regardless of how private or personal) for purposes well beyond working out someone's tax liability.
We've been fighting the provision since 2022: it allowed the tax department to go on fishing expeditions and demand information even if it had nothing to do with working out someone's tax liability.
After thousands of taxpayers signed our petition to can the clause, we’re delighted that it’s finally, officially off the statute books. IRD is there to administer tax – no more, no less.
Nice one, Revenue Minister Simon Watts.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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Ps. Our ability to create tools like the Fuel Clock is thanks to our supporters like you. Chip in now to further the mission of making Wellington more transparent and accountable.