The Taxpayers’ Union is throwing its weight behind calls for the powers of Tauranga’s unelected Commissioners to be curtailed in the run-up to the return of democracy to the city, and urges Local Government Minister Simeon Brown to step in.

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

“Unelected Commissioners in Tauranga have spent years tossing around ratepayers’ money with reckless abandon, all safe in the knowledge that they will never be accountable to the rate-paying public.

“Although it is three-and-a-half years too late, democracy will be returning to Tauranga this year; the Commissioners cannot be allowed to put that in jeopardy. The long-term plan will set the city’s course for the next decade, and this must only be decided by the elected representatives of Tauranga residents.

“We’re already seeing the damage at a national level that an outgoing government can inflict by signing long-term contracts that they know will be overturned. This is damaging to both business confidence and to the public’s back pockets, and this cannot be allowed to be inflicted on the city by Commissioners without an electoral mandate.”

Hot on the heels of Argentinian President Javier Milei insisting on honesty from Argentinian officials, the Taxpayers’ Union has today launched a petition calling on the Government to ban public servants from using the word free when referring to taxpayer-funded public services.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Describing public services as ‘free’ when New Zealanders all across the country are paying for them through their taxes is misleading and deceptive.

“There are strong arguments for the taxpayer to cover the costs of some services upfront, but to dishonestly label those services as free is disrespectful to the hardworking Kiwis footing the bill. It is political disinformation, and it’s time it stopped.

“Words have power. Government agencies misleading Kiwis erodes public trust in our institutions.”

The Taxpayers’ Union is demanding accountability from the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the Te Urewera board following a ruling by the High Court that the burning and removal of the huts in Te Urewera was unlawful.

According to information obtained under the Official Information Act, The Department of Conservation continues to resource the operation of Te Urewera to the tune of around $2.1m a year given to Te Ura Taumata, and also pays over $100,000 annually to the Te Urewera Baord to manage the operation.

Commenting on Te Urewera’s management and operational issues, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Since Te Urewera was handed over to Ngai Tūhoe nearly a decade ago, taxpayers have coughed up tens of millions of dollars to resource the upkeep and development of the area, yet the governing body has now been found to have failed to adhere to its obligations under the Te Urewera Act, destroyed the majority of critical huts in the area, and has conducted all of its work without an operational plan for the last two years.

“There have already been growing concerns from conservationists over the demise in monitoring of endangered bird species as well as insufficient pest control, but with the governing body now actively disregarding their legal obligations, it’s clear that the current leadership arrangement and operational structure is simply untenable.

“In the first instance, DOC’s director general must be held accountable for what has evidently been an appalling failure to oversee the management of Te Urewera. Additionally, an independent review into Te Urewera’s finances and operations must be conducted to determine whether the current monetary allocation has been spent responsibly and in accordance with legal obligations.

“As it stands taxpayers are essentially being forced to fund an operation with no plan, no checks and balances, and no evidence of success. It is vital that if Te Urewera continues to be resourced by taxpayers, it’s board and operational entity must deliver tangible results and effectively carry out its legal obligations. Currently, to the detriment of taxpayers, it appears to be doing neither.”

Figures released show that there are currently 60,000 people who have been waiting for more than four months to be seen for a first appointment with a health specialist. This is up from 36,000 from just last year.

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

“Te Whatu Ora’s failure to fulfil its core function – to provide urgently needed healthcare to those most in need – is just the latest symptom of the same sickness that has overtaken much of the public sector. Government spending on health has been untargeted and ineffective and the decision to completely restructure the health system during a pandemic seemed reckless at best; now the chickens are coming home to roost.

“Since 2017, spending on health has rocketed by around 80%, but over the same time outcomes have been in freefall. It’s no coincidence that in the same six years, the number of pencil-pushing managers in health, education and social services has increased at nearly twice the rate of frontline staff.

“All this money wasted on bureaucrats could have been spent cutting waiting lists. Instead, Labour’s parting gift to New Zealand has been a failing health system and a wait-list blowout of 60% over just a single year. Timely delivery of vital services must be the top priority.”

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."

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.”

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."

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.”

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.”

That’s right – the Auckland Council’s CEO has a secretary that is advertising for a secretary.

We have all heard about stories of politicians looking to empire build courtesy of the taxpayers’ pocket, but this really takes the cake.

No wonder Auckland Council now has more bureaucrats on living off ratepayers than all of the councils it replaced combined.

So what will this new position entail?

“Your day will involve providing administrative support as and where required, this includes anything from managing correspondence, records management to diary management. This role is vital to ensuring that items are actioned, recorded and accurate.”

If that’s the role of the secretary’s secretary, what’s left for the secretary to do?

At a time when the Council needs to find savings of $860 per ratepayer, empire building in Council offices should not be tolerated.

With nearly 6,000 bureaucrats on the pay-roll, 811 of which are earning over $100,000 a year, Len Brown and his CEO ought to be out trimming the fat rather than increasing the burden on ratepayers even further.