Responding to the Government’s decision to introduce Road User Charges (RUC) for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“The user-pays system for our roads has been eroded with more and more of the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF) being used for areas unrelated to roading while an entire class of road users has been excluded from paying anything at all.

“Applying RUC to EVs removes a senseless distortion that did not reduce transport emissions which are already governed under the capped Emissions Trading Scheme.

“The Government must now commit to redirecting all NLTF funding to road upgrades and maintenance and any surplus should be used to reduce the fuel excise and RUC rates.”

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.”

Commenting on a Wellington Water employee posting footage of themselves on social media bragging about ‘slacking off’, doing no work whilst still getting paid, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“In November alone, of over 3,800 leaks in the region, around 3,050 were left unattended. 44% of the region’s water is lost to leaks, and now residents are being told to buy emergency 170-litre water tanks to tide them over during a looming summer water crisis.

“Whilst Wellingtonians panic over how they’re going to get by this summer, the very same people who are responsible for this situation are filming themselves swanning about at the gym, going to the cinema and meeting up with friends all the while pretending to be working.

“The council engineer’s self-proclaimed wagging-off routine of lounging around on the sofa whilst ‘working from home’ or staring blankly at an empty computer screen should have been obvious to any manager worth their salt.

“The evidence is clear and the engineer must be fired without delay. But clearly Wellington Water’s problems go much deeper than one lazy engineer, and a full investigation is needed to root out any more bureaucrats who feel like the ratepayer owes them a free living.”

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on New Zealand’s delegates to the Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to reject the latest WHO call to action on e-cigarettes which ignores scientific evidence and will see more people suffering from smoking related illnesses.

“The call to action by the WHO is misguided and puts ideology over evidence. New Zealand’s incredible success in cutting smoking rates is off the back of smokers switching to vaping - as a reduced harm alternative, or pathway to quit.”

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“This politicisation of health advice runs the real risk of being an own goal and discouraging smokers from switching to vaping as a safer alternative. Ironically, the WHO is playing into the hands of big tobacco. In New Zealand - along with similar countries such as the UK and Canada - there is explicit recognition by health experts of vaping as an effective smoking cessation tool that is less harmful than cigarettes.

“We share the concerns of many in relation to children accessing vaping products, however the evidence from ASH shows that in New Zealand the number of young people vaping is already on the decline. Rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water, we must therefore be cautious about heavy-handed regulation that risks reversing our current trend of declining smoking and youth vaping rates. Efforts should instead focus on stronger enforcement measures such as stings to weed out those retailers illegally selling to those under the age of 18.

“The WHO’s tacit endorsement of banning vaping outright shows just how unserious they are about tobacco harm reduction. Even at their ‘minimum’ recommended level of regulation, proposals such as complete flavour bans and higher taxes will remove much of the incentive for smokers to switch to safer alternatives. New Zealand must not fall for WHO fear-mongering and instead continue our evidence-based, health-focused approach to tobacco harm reduction and reject this latest call to action.”

Responding to the repeal of the Natural and Built Environment Act and Spatial Planning Act, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“David Parker’s resource management reforms tried to strip consenting, planning and resource management powers away from local communities and place them in the hands of unelected, co-governed regional planning committees.

“We saw with the creation of the failed Te Pukenga, centralisation of the health system and the ballooning costs of Three Waters just how costly and ineffective the ‘Wellington knows best’ approach is. The last Government had an obsession with centralisation at any cost, and it is promising to see the new Government on track to reverse that trend.

“Scrapping the NBEA and SPA will keep planning in the hands of local communities, and this will be welcomed with open arms by anyone who values democratic accountability. Forcing the incoming Government to scrap these power-grabbing pieces of legislation is a huge victory for grassroots Kiwi activism, but it won’t fix the underlying problems in the RMA itself.

“The RMA has fuelled a crippling housing and infrastructure crisis. We can’t unlock New Zealand’s potential for development and growth without taking an axe to all this red tape, and there’s a long road ahead of us before New Zealand gets the meaningful RMA reform we need to get New Zealand building again.”

The release of today’s Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update confirms the worst kept secret in Wellington; the fiscal challenges ahead are much worse than the public were told about prior to the election. 

From the Treasury lock-up, Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ Union, Jordan Williams, said: 

“Treasury has confirmed that the last government put New Zealand on a completely unsustainable fiscal path. Grant Robertson should be ashamed, as not since his mentor Mike Moore has a government been so dishonest with the public about what was really going on. He should be issuing an apology.” 

“It is very clear that tough decisions – and a brave Minister of Finance – are necessary to get the books back into shape.” 

“The economic backdrop is nearly as bad, with high net migration dragging us into positive growth – but only just.  On a per person basis, New Zealand still faces getting poorer in the short term.”   

“Now that we know that the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update was in fact a fantasy land, we need to ask ourselves how our fiscal reporting model and institutions have failed taxpayers.” 

“After Mike Moore lied to New Zealanders about the state of the books in 1990, the Fiscal Responsibility Act was put in place to ensure there were no post-election ‘nasty surprises’ like those which we have seen today.  Like back then, it is not so much the numbers, as the laundry-list of fiscal risks that are only seeing the light of day now. Items that Treasury has disclosed today were absent from the pre-election update; that is clearly not good enough.” 

“This feels a lot like 1990, which led to Ruth Richardson’s ‘mother of all budgets’ the following year. Budget 2024 is going to require Nicola Willis to be made of stern stuff.” 

“While responsibility for the poor state of the books rests with Grant Robertson, Treasury too must accept some responsibility for the lack of transparency.” 

“Under the last Secretary, Treasury became far more politicised and less reliable.  The new Secretary is an improvement, but this dropping of the ball in not being willing to deliver unwelcome news prior to the election suggests she has a long way to go to get Treasury’s former status back.” 

“We have previously called on the Government to conduct a ministerial or government inquiry into Treasury’s performance and public finance transparency. Today’s documents demonstrate the reason it is needed.” 

Waitaki District Council has approved the $32 million Network Waitaki Events Centre in Oamaru, despite lacking a sound funding plan.

The Council has pledged $15 million to the project, which when combined with the input of some outsider funding, still leaves a $2.7 million shortfall as well as an additional unfunded $4 million for the second stage of the project.

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

“Waitaki District Council have now decided to rush headfirst into the Event Centre project with next to no regard for those pesky things called finances. Given their current financial position, this will likely mean borrowing at high interest rates and figuring out the details later.

“The Waitaki Ratepayers & Residents Association have been calling on their council from the beginning to come up with a workable plan that does not involve demands for ratepayers to foot the bill. No one will be shocked to learn that calls to put the back pockets of ratepayers first are falling on deaf ears.

“With 20% of staff on salaries above $100,000 and an annual consultant and contractor bill of over $34 million, rather than lumping ratepayers with this enormous bill in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis the Council must instead cut back on its bureaucratic bloat.”

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.”

Waipā District Council has set the hands of fiscal irresponsibility spinning with the historic town clock refurbishment in Cambridge. Originally budgeted at a modest $450,000, this project has wound up to an astounding $721,000.

Investigations Coordinator at the Taxpayers’ Union, Oliver Bryan, said, “The Council seems to be aiming for a Guinness World Record in money burning. We’re not just talking about tightening a few screws here – this is the Big Ben of budget blunders.

“It would take several ratepayer lifetimes, about 225 years, to cover the cost of this towering mistake. It’s almost as if the Council expects residents to pay a ‘time tax’ spanning centuries, a fiscal legacy that outlasts the very clock they’re attempting to preserve.

“This isn’t just a wake-up call; it’s a siren. It’s high time the Council reset its priorities. This is not just a blow to the budget; it’s a blow to the trust that the community places in the council to manage their rates wisely.

“The Council needs to wind back this project and rethink their approach before Waipā ratepayers find themselves with higher rates and a never-ending debt spiral.”

The Taxpayers’ Union expresses deep concern over revelations that Department of Conservation (DoC) spent $5,159 on retirement gifts for its former director-general, Lou Sanson.

Oliver Bryan, Investigations Coordinator at the Taxpayers’ Union, said, “Whatever happened to the usual whip-round of the staff? The cost of the parting gift is staggering: it's more than a third of what was previously shelled out for a DoC turtle funeral. This clearly shows that the organisation is still imbued with a culture of disrespect for taxpayer money.

“The Department of Conservation's lavish spending on retirement gifts is just the latest in a series of tone-deaf and extravagant expenditures by public agencies across the country. This type of behaviour, which has become all too common in recent years, demonstrates a disturbing lack of regard for the public's money.

“At a time when New Zealanders are facing increased financial hardships and struggling with the rising cost of living, such wastefulness is not just irresponsible, it's an insult to every taxpayer in the country. It's high time this ended and the new Government needs to get a handle on this.”