The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that Health New Zealand paid Russell Harrison to appear in a taxpayer-funded childhood immunisation campaign in 2023 while he remained on taxpayer-funded gardening leave from the Ministry of Justice.

The advertisement has now been removed by Health NZ following questions from the Taxpayers’ Union but is available to watch on our YouTube channel.

Health NZ says Harrison was engaged through a third-party agency, but has refused to say how much taxpayer money was spent, forcing the Taxpayers’ Union to lodge Official Information Act requests.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tyler Groenewald said:

“This story keeps getting worse. While the Ministry of Justice was paying Russell Harrison to sit at home for five years, Health NZ was also paying him with taxpayer money to appear in ads."

“Health NZ has now quietly pulled the ad, but taxpayers still deserve answers. How much was Harrison paid? Who approved it? And what checks were carried out before public money was handed over?"

“The public service cannot just wipe the ad from the internet and hope the questions disappear with it. Taxpayers deserve accountability, not another cover-up.”
 

The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that the Ministry of Education run Healthy School Lunches programme has 37 full-time Ministry staff, despite lunch delivery being largely outsourced to external providers.

Documents released under the Official Information Act show an assortment of bureaucrats spent more than $129,754.90 on staff travel in one year, including $10,265.26 on three trips to the Chatham Islands and $17,676.95 on travel for the General Manager between Rotorua and Wellington.

Taxpayers' Union spokesman Austin Ellingham-Banks said:

"The Ministry outsourced the lunches but kept the bureaucracy."

"A private consortium makes and delivers the food, but we've revealed that 37 staff, including 22 advisors, 9 managers, and six figures in travel sit on top of it."

"For all that overhead, the Auditor-General found the Ministry 'did not have sufficiently robust mechanisms to measure, manage, and monitor' the programme. What on earth are they all doing?"

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that Corrections has spent $32,478,300 (GST inclusive) since 2021/22 pursuing Carbon Neutral Government targets.

The Official Information Act request also shows:

• Corrections has bought 327 electric vehicles supported by 352 chargers since the targets were implemented.
• Corrections spent a further $369,150 (GST inclusive) on emissions inventories over this period.
• 2025 emissions reduction targets weren't met and uncertainty about meeting its 2030 target remain.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigative Lead, Rhys Hurley, said:

“New Zealand already built the Emissions Trading Scheme to cap emissions nationally. Forcing Corrections to spend $32 million chasing separate carbon-neutral targets will not cut emissions by a single gram, and shows exactly why the programme should be scrapped.”

"Corrections’ job is to keep criminals behind bars, rehabilitate offenders, and keep the public safe, not worry about decarbonising their sheep farm.”

“The Government looked at removing the targets back in 2023. These figures show it should stop looking and finally pull the plug.”

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that Oranga Tamariki has 815 more staff than children in care, with 4,822.4 FTE staff and 135 contractors, compared to 4,142 children in care.

The Official Information Act request also shows:

• In December 2025, 32 children aged 6 to 16 were not enrolled in a school, while 510 records could not be matched to a school enrolment.
• In 2025 there were also 995 missing instances lasting at least 48 hours, involving 414 children in care.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigative Lead, Rhys Hurley, said:

“OT now has more staff and contractors than children in care. That is 1,512 more staff than in 2017, yet vulnerable kids are still going missing and falling through the cracks.”

“When an agency has 815 more staff and contractors than kids in care, taxpayers are right to ask what all those people are actually doing.”

“With 1.2 staff for every child in care, there is no excuse for children going missing for days or not being enrolled in school. Keeping these kids safe and in education is the bare minimum.”

“The answer cannot always be more money, more staff, and more bureaucracy. At some point, taxpayers need to ask whether this agency is actually focused on children or growing the bureaucracy around them.”

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that New Plymouth District Council will spend $4.37 million demolishing Metro Plaza and a further $2.53 million on “daylighting” the Huatoki Stream, as part of the 2021 Ngāmotu New Plymouth City Centre Strategy.

Rhys Hurley, Taxpayers Union Investigative Lead said:

“RNZ reported the Metro Plaza demolition at just $1.1 million, only a quarter of the actual cost. When the public-facing figure is that far off, it points to a serious transparency failure."

"Ratepayers shouldn’t have to dig through long-term plan workshops or file information requests just to find out what they’re paying for.”

“This is a classic example of a ‘nice-to-have,’ spending millions to turn the stream into a city focal point after the last council hit the New Plymouth District with a 37.73 percent rates hike."

“It seems the council's bureaucrats were prioritising pet projects like renaming parks, removing cars from the city centre, and co-governance arrangements in this strategy ahead of front-footing this information to the people paying the bills.”

The Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that a taxpayer-funded $1.07 million cowshed upgrade in Taranaki is expected to sustain just 1.8 ongoing jobs.

Documents released under the Official Information Act request show the project received $900,000 in loan funding through the Government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund, despite only $120,000 in co-funding from Omuturangi 6E & 7A Ahu Whenua Trust. Large parts of the application, financial analysis, loan terms, risk assessment, and decision-making material of the loan have also been withheld.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Rhys Hurley said:

"The Government sold this as a productivity story, yet taxpayers are being used as the bank for a private cowshed upgrade that creates fewer than two ongoing jobs.”

“If this project stacks up commercially, why couldn’t the trust get a loan from a bank like they have before? And if it doesn’t stack up, why are taxpayers being asked to carry the risk?”

“Farmers across Taranaki would love help upgrading their cowsheds, but they are stuck paying rates, taxes, interest, and compliance costs. They don’t get to send the bill to Wellington.”

“The Government needs to explain why this loan was approved, what risks taxpayers are exposed to, and how many more low-value projects are hiding behind blacked-out OIA documents. Otherwise, this simply looks like another case of pork barrel politics.”

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal that the Ministry of Social Development paid taxpayer-funded bonuses exclusively to Public Service Association members before their collective agreement had even been signed by the union. An Official Information Act request revealed 5,459 FTE received the $300 member-only benefit, costing taxpayers $1,637,700.

Taxpayers’ Union Lead Investigator, Rhys Hurley, said:

“Among other bonuses for Te Reo capability and overtime allowances sits Clause 2.8.1, the ‘Lump Sum Payment': a union-favouritism clause dressed up as a good-faith benefit for union members but funded by taxpayers.”

“MSD paid out the more than $1.6 million to PSA members before the union had even signed the agreement, following a similar Health NZ deal earlier this year.”

“Only in the public service would a payout that effectively leaves taxpayers funding union membership fees even make it out of bargaining, let alone be paid out before any agreement had even been signed.”

“If the Ministry wants to hand out special payments to union members, then the responsible Minister should be signing off these agreements and justifying them personally.”

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through an Official Information Act requestthat $161,985.55 of taxpayer funding has been used to subsidise insulation upgrades in Summerset's privately-run Wanganui and Havelock North retirement villages.

The funding was provided through the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme, with payments made to contractors installing insulation in licence-to-occupy units within retirement villages.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, said:

“On paper this funding is designed to help vulnerable households, but in practice it sees taxpayer money flowing into private retirement village developers.”

“This is corporate welfare by another name. Residents may receive the benefit, but the long-term gains sit with a large private operator.”

“The end result is public money being used to improve assets owned by a company that reported $259.7 million in profit after tax last year, while retirees who genuinely need the support miss out on $160,000 of funding.”

“Our elderly deserve support in retirement, but a $9.2 billion company should be able to fund upgrades to its own units, especially when residents themselves don’t share in the upside.”

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling for the Governor-General and Government House to be brought under the Official Information Act. Currently, the office is excluded from both section 2 of the OIA and Schedule 1 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975.

This follows an Official Information Act request where officials confirmed that information held by Government House, including the costs and purpose of domestic travel, is not subject to the Act.

Taxpayers' Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley said:

“In Canada you can request information from the Governor-General. In Australia you can request information from the Governor-General. Even in the United Kingdom, the Royal Household has a policy of providing information as freely as possible.”

“In New Zealand, however, the Governor-General sits behind a carve-out in our legislation. Every Minister appointed to Government can be held to account under the Act - so why not the person appointing them?”

“Minister Paul Goldsmith is currently reviewing the Act with a focus on cost, but the real issue is transparency. You cannot put a price on democracy.”

“This review is the perfect opportunity to fix the real issue in our information laws. Bring the Governor-General under the Act, bring Parliament under the Act, and stop taxpayer-funded bodies hiding from the people who fund them.”

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal further details through a Local Government Official Information and Meeting Act request that shows Whanganui District Councils rebranding work cost $116,899.12, which is $55,099 higher than the $61,800 figure initially presented to ratepayers.

Officials have also justified the rebrand by claiming the council currently uses around 20 different logos. However, many of these relate to individual council facilities and services, such as the opera house and public pools, rather than separate logos for council departments.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, said:

“The council has tried to downplay the cost of this rebranding, but the documents show the real figure ratepayers are on the hook for is far higher than what was initially put out publicly.”

“Interim Chief Executive, Barbara McKerrow, has also claims only about 20 percent of feedback was positive, but within the consultation responses, around half either broadly support keeping the coat of arms or explicitly say the change should not happen if there would be a cost.”

“The most concerning part is that councillors themselves didn't sign off the decision. We have seen this same story again and again, where major brand changes are driven by council bureaucracy rather than elected representatives.”

“Decisions about a city’s identity should not be made by unelected officials. If councils want to change, that decision should be made by elected councillors who are accountable to the community.”