New Zealand sends $1 million a year to the UN Relief and Works Agency in Palestine (UNRWA), an organisation which funds hate-filled ideology and has now been implicated in the terrorist attacks of 7th October.

Australia, Canada, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands and the US have all already pulled the plug on funding UNRWA. New Zealand needs to step up to the plate and follow suit

Sign the petition below to stop your tax dollars being used to fund terrorism and hate in the Middle East:

As Christchurch residents look down the barrel of a 15.8% rates hike, the Council is considering putting in a bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. 

The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham cost $1.5 billion, in Australia the state of Victoria pulled out of hosting the games due to the cost ballooning to an estimated $7 billion and the Canadian province of Alberta pulled out of hosting due to the $2.6 billion estimated cost.

Even at the lower end of these estimates, hosting the Games would cost more than $9000 per residential ratepayer which is simply not affordable when debt is already at almost $25,000 per residential ratepayer.

Too often Government agencies mislead the public and disrespect taxpayers by claiming that many public services are ‘free’, when they are in fact taxpayer-funded.

We say that the fib by officials is both misleading, and corrosive to public trust in our institutions.

Sign the petition calling on the Government to prohibit public servants from using the word ‘free’ or similar and instead require them to clarify that the service or benefit is funded by the taxpayer.

Members of Parliament are getting ready to receive a $17,239 pay hike while hundreds of thousands of families earning less than them struggle to pay the bills. With inflation still driving up the cost of living, Government debt spiralling out of control, and an urgent need to rein in spending, it is simply not the time for politician pay hikes. Reaching deeper into your pocket to line theirs is completely out of touch. Sign the petition saying no to pay rises for Members of Parliament below:

With the Government books now in crisis, the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Grant Robertson to slash wasteful spending and reduce the number of back-office bureaucrats before it is too late.

“Revelations that the Minister of Finance has been calling public service officials into his office to discuss financial restraint shows just how dire the Government’s financial position is,” Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Callum Purves says.

“But restraint isn’t enough. With Government debt reaching almost $79,000 per household, Grant Robertson needs to significantly slash the billions in wasteful spending to help get the books back in the black.

“It’s clear that Grant Robertson is running out of excuses when it comes to justifying the Government’s monstrous budget hole. Even he knows the current state of the books is untenable.

“The actual budget deficit is already far worse than Treasury predicted and internal sources suggest that the deficit will be significantly larger by next month’s Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update.

“It is time for Minister Robertson to prove that he is capable of getting spending under control in order to stop inflation and create the confidence for people to invest in New Zealand and grow the economy.”

Concerned New Zealanders can sign our petition here.

Let our Schools Decide: Taxpayers’ Union launches petition

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has launched a petition calling for schools to have the authority to make their own decisions about emergency closures based on local circumstances rather than be beholden to bureaucrats in Wellington.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager Callum Purves says:

“The blanket shut down of all schools in Auckland following the weekend’s flooding has highlighted how tactics that were used during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic have been normalised

“One-size-fits-all shut downs disadvantage students in areas unaffected by the emergency, impact kids’ education, and force parents to take time off work unnecessarily.

“Education is a core public service and it is funded by our taxes. Taxpayers are right to expect that closing schools should be a very last resort and should be informed by the circumstances of each school.

“It is time to stop the edicts from Wellington dictating what they think is in the best interests of our communities and let our local schools make the best decisions for their pupils, parents and staff."

Aucklanders can sign the petition at www.taxpayers.org.nz/let_schools_decide

The new Government refuses to release an agreement between the Labour Party and New Zealand First about the rules and expectations of Ministers under the coalition.

The document, apparently 38 pages long, is alleged to contain Ministerial directives and strategy for the coalition government. 

That document is of obvious public importance – yet the Prime Minister’s Office has refused to release it in responses to requests under the Official Information Act. Incredibly, Ms Ardern claims the document doesn’t represent “official information”.

We say that’s absurd, taxpayers and the public are entitled to know what it contains.

Jacinda Ardern made much of transparency and freedom of information while in opposition. We say she should walk the walk, not just talk the talk on freedom of information, and obey the Official Information Act by releasing the secret agreement. If you agree, add your name to the petition below. 

The Dunedin Mayor’s pitch to local councils in his campaign to be elected the new president of Local Government New Zealand is nuts.
 
Despite the vast majority of ratepayers considering the move silly, Dave Cull wants to use ratepayers’ money to lobby the government to force cat owners to register their cats.  

The proposal would also see annual cat fees, cat curfews and even cat rangers to patrol the streets looking for cats off their designated property, or breaching curfew hours (yes really!).

This is the ultimate in the local government trying to find expensive solutions to a problem that doesn’t exist.

Earlier in the month, LGNZ released its latest performance survey showing record low levels of confidence in the decision making of local government.  With the so-called ‘leaders’ of the sector too busy talking about cat rangers to focus on New Zealand’s enormous infrastructure deficit, no wonder local government is in crisis.

To sign the petition to stop this ridiculous policy click here.

The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that the Government has budgeted to give another $5.5 million dollars of taxpayers’ money to the controversial Clinton Foundation, despite Mrs Clinton’s failed US Presidential bid and controversy over improper ties between the Clinton Foundation, the State Department and donations from foreign governments to the foundation while Ms Clinton was US Secretary of State.

Figures obtained by the Taxpayers’ Union under the Official Information Act show that to date Kiwi taxpayers have forked out $7.7 million to the Clinton Foundation’s “Health Access Initiative” with $2.5 million and $3 million earmarked for 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Given the lessons of the Saudi Sheep saga, we are staggered that MFAT appear to still think handing out money for diplomatic purposes is sensible.  Even worse, this money comes from the NZ Aid budget which should be going to programes which are the most effective at helping the world’s poor - not sidetracked into political objectives.

It is possible that officials have reason to believe that the Clinton Foundation’s work does provide good value for money, although given the controversy in the US that seems unlikely. The refusal to front up and explain leaves a stench of buying political access.

Given New Zealand’s faux pas in co-sponsoring the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel on Christmas Eve, and the heavy criticism of New Zealand which has resulted, the continued support of the Clinton Foundation risks even more damage to New Zealand’s ability to wield any influence in the US.

The MFAT response to the Taxpayers’ Union information referred to above is available here.

* Update - claims of 'separate legal entity' *

After a brouhaha on twitter and blogs running MFAT's spin about the  “Health Access Initiative” being a "separate legal entity" from the Clinton Foundation, we've issued a press release clarifying the situtaiton:

MEDIA RELEASE

MFAT EXCUSES RE CLINTON FOUNDATION 'NONSENSE ON STILTS'

The excuse justifying the millions of taxpayer dollars the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) will pay the Clinton Health Access Initiative that it is a “separate legal entity” to the Clinton Foundation is pathetic says the Taxpayers’ Union.

Earlier today the Taxpayers’ Union released a response to an Official Information Act request to MFAT which showed that in addition to the $7.7 million already paid, the Government has budgeted another $5.5 million of NZ Aid money for the Clinton Health Access Initiative.

Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ Union, Jordan Williams, says, “This excuse from MFAT is nonsense on stilts and they know it.  The Clinton Health Access Initiative is a subsidiary of the Clinton Foundation and is responsible for appointing the board members."

“Government spin doctors can try to dance on the head of a pin to justify MFAT's actions, but the fact is the two entities are even described on their own websites as 'affiliated entities'. The Clinton Foundation controls the organisation Kiwi taxpayers are funding."

In September, the New York Times reported that the Initiative would be separated if Clinton won the US Presidential election. The relevant article is available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/us/politics/clinton-foundation-staff.html.

Also available is the most recent publicly available income tax return for the Clinton Health Access Initiative which discloses that the Clinton Foundation is a “Related tax-exempt organization” and appoints members of the board of the Clinton Health Access Initiative (refer to pages 73 to 75 of the document available at http://bit.ly/2jgeLOc).

* Update 2 - petition calling for McCully to veto funding *

Following feedback from a number of members and supporters who emailed or phoned our office, we have launched a petition calling on the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Murray McCully to veto MFAT giving anymore NZ Aid money to the Clinton Initiative.

You can sign the petition here.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce hired a cab in Sydney and kept the meter going all day. The cost to taxpayers? $1,248. It would have been cheaper to fly a staff member over and drive a rental car all day.

We're calling on Steven Joyce to pay the fare back. Sign below to stand up to abuse of taxpayer perks.