reset must not become a cash grab: Stop the slippery slope to a water tax

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is backing Federated Farmers’ alarm over draft resource management legislation that could open the door to effectively enabling a tax on water by stealth.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tory Relf says:

“This is exactly the kind of slippery, backdoor taxing power taxpayers have every right to be worried about. If the Government wants to fix planning laws, it should do so transparently, not sneak in the ability to tax water through future Ministerial decree.”

“Freshwater is already heavily regulated. Giving Ministers sweeping powers to auction rights or impose levies is not reform, it’s a blank cheque for future Governments to treat water as a cash cow.”

“Make no mistake: a water tax doesn’t just hit farmers. It flows straight through to higher food prices, higher costs for exporters, and higher bills for every New Zealander.”

“The whole point of replacing the Resource Management Act was to cut bureaucracy and restore property rights. Provisions like those allowing freshwater being auctioned, tendered, or levied undermine that promise and will only create more uncertainty, more compliance costs, and more distrust.”

“The Government must urgently clarify its intentions and scrap any clauses that allow freshwater rights to be effectively taxed. Kiwis were promised reform, not a new stealth tax.”