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Hi,
It's been a tough week here at Taxpayer HQ.
And while a certain "journalist" 🤨 has kept us busy, the actual work fighting for taxpayers has continued.
Jordan took on Jack Tame and prosecuted the case for a fiscal reality check on TV1's Q+A, our boffins have crunched the latest batch of promises for the election Bribe-O-Meter, we’ve had a win for businesses caught out by Westpac's IT glitches (IRD has confirmed they won't charge those affected with late payment penalties 👏), and there are some pretty concerning questions being asked about how the Public Service handles freedom of information requests...
Let’s get into it.
Jordan takes the Taxpayers’ Union case to Q+A 📺
Last week I told you about the Taxpayers' Union's 2026 Election Manifesto, and it seems to have had the desired effect!
Jordan was invited to sit down with Jack Tame on TVNZ’s Q+A for a thorough, 25-minute interview on the issues, what we are standing for, the polling, and our plans for the election campaign.
Q+A introduced your humble Taxpayers' Union as one of New Zealand’s “more prominent and outspoken campaigners” for low-tax, smaller-government reform.
We've been called worse. 💁♀️
The interview covered our call for no new taxes, getting government spending (and debt!) under control, and the wider question of the influence the Taxpayers’ Union now has in New Zealand politics.
For an organisation founded to give taxpayers a louder voice, airtime on the country’s flagship political programme is a very good sign.
And, of course, Jack gave Jordan a proper grilling along the way. 😉
🍿 Watch the interview here 🍿
Government hits pause on its council ‘Head Start’ council amalgamations 🏛️⏸️
Back in May, the Government gave councils three months to come up with proposals for major local government reorganisations under its voluntary Head Start process.
Basically, Local Government Minister Simon Watts, along with RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop gave local councils an ultimatum: come up with proposals to reorganise yourselves, or the Government will do it for you...
Eighteen proposals landed by the August deadline, with councils originally being told that Cabinet would decide this month which would be progressed before the end of the year.
Now, the Government has hit pause.
Simon Watts and Chris Bishop say decisions will instead wait until after the election, after officials found that none of the proposals had unanimous support across their regions and some still needed "further analysis".
Predictably, some of the country's mayors are frustrated have gone absolutely berserk!
Councils were told to move quickly on reforms that could redraw boundaries, merge organisations and reshape local representation. Many threw significant staff time and ratepayer money into meeting the Government’s deadline, only to now be told there was more time after all.
But this is one of those occasions where getting it right matters more than getting it done quickly.
Amalgamation is not something that should be rushed through simply because an arbitrary deadline was set months ago. The Government is right to take the extra time to properly test the proposals, the claimed savings and what they would actually mean for the communities affected.
And there is an obvious upside to the delay.
If an amalgamation proposal really does stack up, its supporters should be able to convince the people it affects.
Similarly, it gives a chance for a new Minister of Local Government to cool their jets. In our interview with Simon Watts last week, Mr Watts both claimed he believed in localism and ruled out local referenda as the final arbitrator for council amalgamations and reorganisations.
Watts' dismissive approach gives politicians a bad name 😕
Speaking of the Simon Watts interview, thanks for the enormous amount of feedback on the recent interview.
If you're one of the tens of thousands of supporters who backed our rates capping, "Stop Three Waters", or local government reform campaigns, the interview is a fascinating insight into the Minister's approach.
Watch the interview with Simon Watts here.
Bribe-O-Meter Week 3: Opportunity blows through $100,000 per household 💸📈
Opportunity is the biggest mover thanks to its newly announced $5 billion "Climate Resilience Fund" amounting to $2,413 per household and a proposed $60 billion infrastructure borrowing programme that would add annual interest costs for the government of $5,792 per household.
Those two policies take Opportunity’s running total to $218.4 billion, or $105,406 for every Kiwi household.
The Greens are still ahead though. They top the overall Bribe-O-Meter at $114,239 per household, after adding another $200 million in proposed spending (earmarking most for promoting te reo Māori) and $7.2 million for a commercial rent tribunal.
Meanwhile, NZ First announced 15 new health policies without putting numbers alongside them. Our boffins have had a go and costed the package at about $2.1 billion ($1,019 per household) with most of that related to the cost of increasing nurses’ pay.
Te Pāti Māori has also finally put a number beside one of its policies, promising a $1 billion Energy Sovereignty Fund. But because so much of the rest of its platform remains impossible to cost credibly, we haven't done a running total.
At the other end of the scale, National added an impressively conservative $10.40 per household this week, while ACT’s announcements were all regulatory rather than spending, so its total stayed put. We think we know why... 😉
And because we know all political parties read Taxpayer Update, we'll repeat what we said last week: if a party thinks our numbers are mistaken or based on wrong assumptions, show us the workings, convince our boffins, and we’ll be more than happy to update them. The Bribe-O-Meter is all about transparency. 😘
The Public Service’s OIA workaround: don’t write it down 🤐
Labour was quick to call for a Public Service Commission investigation. And on this one, they’re absolutely right.
If officials are deliberately avoiding a paper trail to escape OIA (freedom of information law) scrutiny, taxpayers deserve to know.
And then, on Wednesday, more whistleblowers came forward, alleging that the practice is indeed widespread. According to the new claims, moving sensitive conversations off email and avoiding written records isn’t confined to one meeting or one team.
The Official Information Act exists to increase openness and ensure accountability in government. It's clear that bureaucrats are trying to get around the scrutiny by simply avoiding writing things down.
We predict there is a lot more to come on this...
A win for Westpac customers after IT glitches affect business PAYE payments 🏦
On Monday, Westpac’s business banking system went down for around eight hours. Annoying at the best of times, but particularly unfortunate when thousands of businesses were trying to make their PAYE payments before the deadline (another reason why Jordan's had a bad week!).
As well as being unable to make our own tax payment, we started hearing from affected businesses and got straight onto the IRD.
And, good news! After some initial reluctance, IRD has confirmed to RNZ that it is working with Westpac to identify affected customers and late-payment penalties will be waived where businesses were unable to pay through no fault of their own.
Election debates roll into Oamaru 🗳️
Two debates down, five to go: our nationwide electorate debate series rolls on.
Next stop: Waitaki, where we’re bringing the local candidates together to face the questions that matter to voters.
As always, former Labour MP Anna Lorck and commentator Damien Grant will be keeping the candidates on their toes.
Tickets are just $10 and include a complimentary drink, so if for those near Oamaru, come along and put your local candidates through their paces.
After Waitaki, the debate roadshow heads north to Mt Albert, Tukituki (Hastings), Auckland Central and Tāmaki.
One more thing...
On a personal note, I want to say thank you to everyone who has reached out this week to support Jordan and the team. Knowing we have your backing has really meant a lot as we navigated a difficult and unfair week.
I had a pretty tough interview for Three News on Wednesday. And as hard as it is for me to watch it back, I think it says all that needs to be said on the situation.
You can watch the clip here, on our YouTube channel.
And to all of those who were kind enough to reach out, our promise to you in return is that we will not let the events of this week derail us. The team are laser-focused on the fight for lower taxes, less waste and more accountability.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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