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Responding to news that the median weekly rent has risen yet another 6.7% this year in Wellington, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:
“Rents are spiralling because there aren’t enough rental properties to go around, it really is as simple as that. More tenants are competing for less spaces, and so rent continues to rise uncontrollably.
“This crisis has only been worsened by the previous Government's war on landlords that has simply made it too expensive and bureaucratic to build or rent out housing. The only way to ease the city’s rental crisis is to increase supply, and that cannot happen under our cripplingly restrictive resource management regime. National’s commitment to scrap the Natural and Built Environment Act is a small start, but it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the major RMA reform needed to get New Zealand building again.
"Advocates of even more regulation miss the point as further red tape will only reduce supply and make rent more expensive. Making it cheaper and easier to build more houses will force landlords to compete for tenants, driving down weekly rents and encouraging a higher standard of accommodation for all."
Commenting on a series of information releases under the OIA which reveal that Te Whatu Ora is failing to address the Planned Care Taskforce's recommendations for improvement made last October, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:
“Since the District Health Boards were disbanded by this Labour Government, New Zealand has had one of the most centralised health systems in the world. It’s no coincidence that at the same time as local control over healthcare has been stripped away, outcomes have worsened and plans to improve healthcare in regional areas have fallen by the wayside.
“The Ministerial Advisory Committee was established last year with just one job – drag the behemoths that are our two health systems up to standard. The Committee’s inability to break through Te Whatu Ora’s closed-shop bureaucracy demonstrates that this Government has created a beast that even they can’t control.
“Much like with Te Pūkenga’s inability to provide quality education, the results of this government’s love affair with central control are clear. Over-centralisation does not work, and key services are plummeting across the board as a result. Before wrenching control of water infrastructure and resource management away from local bodies, Labour need to stop and look at the evidence in front of their eyes.
“Serious reform across the public sector is needed to bring services back up to snuff, but removing local accountability is empirically making things worse, not better.”
Commenting on National’s fuel tax commitment, Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said:
“In the middle of a cost of living crisis, hiking fuel taxes – as Labour is still proposing – is morally wrong. Fuel taxes disproportionately hit rural and the poorest communities – such as shift workers – the hardest.
"Ruling out further hikes is the right thing to do. Unless fuel taxes are frozen, very soon tax will be half the cost at the pump again.
“The whole point of fuel taxes is to fund roads maintenance and investment, but the National Land Transport Fund is being used to fund all manner of projects such as public transport, cycleways and loss-making rail services. Wellington could easily increase road investment without hiking fuel taxes by reverting the Fund back to what is was designed for – road maintenance and upgrades.”
Responding to ACT’s plans to allow ministers to be able to publicly issue key performance indicators for public service chief executives, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:
“For far too long, too many public servants have been taking the taxpayer for an easy ride. If any one of us had spent years patently failing to do our jobs effectively, we would quite rightly expect to be sacked; it’s well past time that high-flying mandarins in cushy Wellington corner offices were held to at least the same standards as the rest of us.”
“In just six short years, Government spending has rocketed by nearly 70%. In that time, delivery on vital public services such as health and education has bottomed out. It’s clear that chucking billions at these departments hasn’t worked, and a major public sector cultural change is needed to start getting some bang for the taxpayer's buck again.
“Unlike ministers and MPs, the public lack any meaningful way of holding our public servants to account. ACT’s plan to introduce publicly-available key performance indicators for public service chief executives will hopefully be the first step of many towards dragging key public services back up to snuff.”
The spotlight is firmly on WellingtonNZ, the region's economic development agency, after The Taxpayers' Union has revealed $470,000 spent on an ephemeral overseas marketing event. The centrepiece of this campaign was a $130,000 'ESC' key, as a symbol of 'escaping' to Wellington, only to be destroyed shortly after its brief debut, according to information obtained under the LGOIMA.
Oliver Bryan, Investigations Coordinator for the Taxpayers' Union, remarked, "WellingtonNZ, bearing the mantle of the region's Economic Development Agency to champion prosperity and improve liveability, has gone seriously astray. Dispatching a staffer to New York to frivolously burn through half a million dollars on a seven-hour 'ESC' key stunt isn't just a display of fiscal irresponsibility; it’s madness.”
"And let's not forget that after its mere seven-hour outing on New York’s streets, the $130,000 'ESC' key was destroyed. It's a pity the same level of ruthless expediency wasn’t applied to the plan as a whole before it got off the ground. But hey, at least they encouraged recycling. Kudos for such eco-conscious extravagance."
“When you break down the numbers, it's even more egregious: Only 100 people engaged with the stunt on the ground. That’s $1,300 spent for each person who engaged with this ploy and about $14 per online view. Without a concrete method to gauge its impact or any evident influence on immigration trends, this campaign is glaringly emblematic of vanity over value."
“The lucky member of staff also spent six nights in New York for this seven-hour stunt. It seems WellingtonNZ doesn't just waste money, but time too."
"Rather than advancing prosperity or enhancing Wellington's liveability, this escapade showcases an organisation dishing out heaps for embarrassingly minimal returns. It's a clarion call for a reset, to ensure alignment with goals that genuinely serve Wellingtonians."
Responding to news that Wellington City Council is planning to buy the land under the currently earthquake-prone Reading cinema complex and re-strengthen the building, Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns Callum Purves said:
“The Reading Cinema may be a dead spot in the heart of the City Centre, but that doesn’t mean the Council needs to step in.“Just earlier this week we saw with Wellington’s Town Hall just how costly these earthquake-strengthening projects turn out to be. It’s just as likely that another massive budget blowout is on the cards with this proposal.
“If Reading International won’t take on the restrengthening itself, then the Council needs to accept that. Should a private buyer choose to purchase and redevelop the land in the future, the Council should ensure that the consenting process – including the demolition option – is as smooth as possible, but that’s all it needs to do.
“This is just another example corporate favouritism at the expense of the ratepayer. Wellington residents are already facing a double-digit rate increase this year. A project of this magnitude will only guarantee further rate hikes and continue to burden Wellingtonians."
A new report by Taxpayers’ Union Research Fellow, Jim Rose,analysing the impacts of implementing a tax-free threshold concludes that the policy would be an expensive and poorly targeted way of reducing the tax burden and increasing after-tax incomes of New Zealand families.
Key findings of the report include:
> The introduction of a tax-free threshold is poorly targeted with many of the intended beneficiaries of the policy already receiving other Government support such as benefits, superannuation and tax credits, which could be increased without spillovers to other higher income groups.
> The more important tax threshold that needs to be adjusted is the $48,000 income tax threshold that when crossed sees individuals paying a 30% marginal tax rate. Given that a full-time minimum wage worker earns $47,216 annually, they only need to work one additional hour a week or get a 40 cent per hour pay rise in order to be pushed into the higher tax rate. This, combined with the 27% abatement of Working for Families tax credits, can create punishing effective tax rates well above 50%, which has significant impacts on incentives to work.
> Most of those in incomes low enough to substantially benefit from a tax-free threshold are either in groups where more targeted support can be provided (such as those listed above), are students working part time, or are second earners, again working part-time.
> The tax-free thresholds proposed by the Greens and Te Pāti Māori, along with the one considered earlier in the year by Labour, would cost more than what is currently spent on Working for Families but spills over to many taxpayers who do not need it, rather than just those the policy intends to help.
Commenting on the report, Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said:
“While it might be seen as appealing at first, the introduction of a tax-free threshold is arguably one of the least effective tax cuts. It is poorly targeted and doesn’t address the real issue, which is high marginal tax rates for primary earners in a household. Marginal tax rates matter because the impact on incentives to work, invest and up-skill along with being key determinants for whether people come to New Zealand or if our best and brightest decide to head overseas for a better return for hard work.
“The Taxpayers’ Union would of course prefer a tax-free threshold be introduced to the current high-tax status quo if it was funded by reductions in wasteful spending. However, there are far more effective options which should be explored instead, such as reducing the tax burden at the point where it hits the hardest by increasing the income threshold at which the 30% tax bracket kicks in.
“Hiking taxes even further to fund a tax-free threshold is simply untenable. The taxes proposed by the Greens and Te Pāti Māori (and previously by Labour) would economically ruin New Zealand by punishing innovation, investment, and success, draining New Zealand of the income needed to sustainably fund such a threshold.”
Responding to news that the OCR has remained at 5.5%, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:
“Kiwis struggling under the cost-of-living crisis will be hurting today after hearing that the Official Cash Rate (OCR) is still frozen at 5.5%. Worse still, with inflation still well outside the target range, pundits such as ANZ are seriously questioning whether interest rates may have to jump again later in the year.
“The IMF have been clear that this Government’s lack of fiscal responsibility is the cause of our economic woes and have repeatedly called on the Government to rein in their flagrant overspending. With the Government continuing to drive inflation through billions of wasted dollars on bloated bureaucracies and vanity projects, RBNZ are having to desperately play catch-up by tightening the economy with high interest rates.
“This combination of high interest rates and high inflation is making life impossible for far too many people up and down the country, but with both major parties just promising more of the same unfortunately life is only going to get harder. Whatever happens after this month’s election, any incoming government must commit to cutting back on wasteful overspending and finally start to show some economic credibility.”
A new Taxpayers Union – Curia poll in the Tāmaki electorate shows ACT’s Brooke van Velden mounting a strong challenge to incumbent National MP, Simon O’Connor.
The two major candidates for the seat are locked in a statistical tie with 35% of respondents indicating they will vote for Simon O’Conner and 33% opting for Brooke van Velden. 12% said they would vote for Labour’s Fesaitu Solomone while others pledged their support for parties without local electorate candidates: 4% for the Greens, 2% for Te Pāti Māori, and 1% for NZ First. 1% refused to answer while 13% were unsure – much lower than in other electorates polled.
Removing undecideds and refusals, gives a decided vote of 40% for Simon O’Connor – down 13 points on the last election – and 38% for Brooke van Velden – up 33 points on 2020. Labour is on 14%, the Greens on 4%, Te Pāti Māori on 2%, and NZ First on 1%.
The full results – including candidate name recognition, MP approval rating, and most important local issues – are available here.
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said:
“Tāmaki has been a National stronghold for decades since former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon won the seat back at the 1960 general election, but it can no longer be considered a safe blue seat. Simon O’Connor outpolled the National party vote by 15 points in 2020, but today’s poll suggests there has been a massive turnaround.
“O’Connor and Brooke van Velden are in a statistical tie for the electorate with a massive increase in support for the ACT Party. With the difference between the two top candidates being within the margin of error for this poll, either candidate could be ahead in this contest that is likely to go right down to the wire.”
The Taxpayers’ Union is questioning the Government’s decision to provide corporate welfare to the wood processing sector, both in the form of direct hand-outs and the Government playing bank manager by providing loans when this could easily be left to private sector banks.
Taxpayers’ Union Deputy Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:
“Too often we see the Government branching out into areas that are not core government functions and where Ministers and bureaucrats have little to no expertise. What does the Government know that banks don’t when it comes to making sensible investment decisions? This is simply more corporate welfare providing handouts to business at a time when Kiwis are struggling with the cost of living.
“Not only are these spending decisions distortionary by arbitrarily encouraging more investment in some sectors to the detriment of others but they also unnecessarily place private risk on taxpayers who are left out of pocket if things go wrong.
“If the Government is concerned about the lack of investment in growing industries, perhaps they should look at the root causes of the problem – high interest rates made necessary by out-of-control government spending and overly-restrictive overseas investment rules that make it so difficult to get foreign capital into the country.
“The only tree that the Government should be focused on is the self-proclaimed ‘Tāne Mahuta’, Adrian Orr, who has consistently failed to keep inflation in the target range and whose Large Scale Asset Purchase programme has seen taxpayers foot the bill for billions of dollars in losses."
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