Dear Supporter,

Today's the day, but no update on Ihumātao

We wouldn't usually send an update on a public holiday, but the team held this back expecting an Ihumātao announcement which failed to materialise.  

Last week, the Prime Minister indicated that an announcement was coming prior to Waitangi Day, but so far, nothing.

Our reliable sources within the Government tell us the former Chairman of Vector, Michael Stiassny, has pulled together a deal on behalf of the Government involving Auckland Council, the Kīngitanga and a great big taxpayer cheque.

But there's a snag — we are hearing the handbrake is an unlikely taxpayer hero: Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters who is obstructing the Cabinet sign-off.

We contacted Mr Peters about our petition against taxpayer money being used to for an Ihumātao bailout. Interestingly, he denied there was even a deal...

Our Embassy staff in China continued holiday after Wuhan virus became serious

We received an incredible tip-off last week that despite the alarming events in China our embassy in Beijing was closed while the coronavirus escalated into a global emergency.

Your humble Taxpayers' Union made enquiries and discovered that the only thing available to Kiwis in Beijing was an answerphone message and advice to seek help from the World Health Organisation!

It turns out that the taxpayer-funded embassy staff were enjoying an extended Chinese New Year break and no one thought to get back to work after the emergency was declared in Wuhan.

We blew the whistle on the closure and it wasn't until the discovery was picked up (without credit!) by the NZ Herald that someone thought they'd better call our holidaying diplomats back from holiday. 

What is the point of a diplomatic post, if it’s not open when New Zealanders actually need it?

The Beijing post is not humble digs. According to MFAT, $50 million of your money was spent on an ‘elegant and sustainable new building to be the heart of its official presence in China’ which opened last year. But at the very time Kiwis most needed help, the doors were locked.

RESEARCH REPORT: Fire reforms to save taxpayer money have resulted in cost blowout

In 2017, urban and rural fire services were merged into something called "Fire and Emergency New Zealand" (FENZ). It was meant to save taxpayers tens of millions.

However, our latest research report, Cash to Ashes, reveals that FENZ has cost taxpayers $338 million more in its first three years than was forecast when the organisation was approved.

Instead of saving you money, it's costing you big time.

You can find the full report on our website here.

Key findings:

• More than three-quarters of the cost increase between 2017/18 and 2018/19 was sucked up by back-office bureaucracy.

• Instead of hoses and fire trucks, FENZ has increased ‘communications and computer’ spending by $43 million over three years.

• FENZ has spent $27.4 million on external consultants over three years.

• FENZ is ‘gold-plating’ its stations, which are costing far more than comparable stations in Australia. For example, FENZ designed and build a double-bay fire station, complete with training space, laundry, and kitchenette, in Tinui – a town of 20 people!

• FENZ spent $17 million responding to the Pigeon Valley Forest fire – more than 17 times the cost of the response to a remarkably similar fire back in 1981.

• FENZ does not have to justify wasteful spending to Cabinet, as it collects revenue through the fire insurance levy, bypassing the usual fiscal oversight and budgetry processes.

On the AM Show yesterday, former National Rural Fire Officer Murray Dudfield joined Duncan Garner to discuss and back the findings of our report.

Our report recommends Fire and Emergency New Zealand be required to rely on general taxation for funding rather than being able to use an insurance levy with little accountability — that way it wouldn't get away with the continued inefficiency.

SkyPath cost blowout whacks taxpayers from Kaitaia to the Bluff

Buried in the detail of the Government’s recently announced $12 billion infrastructure spend is an appalling cost blowout for a planned cycleway to be attached to Auckland's Harbour bridge.
 
In 2018, the Government announced that taxpayers would have to fork out $67 million for SkyPath. Now, SkyPath's cost has blown out to an eye-watering $360 million – more than $200 for every household from Kaitaia to Bluff. NZTA blames "engineering challenges".
 
This is a boutique pet project that will mainly benefit tourists and a handful of wealthy Shore-siders. Why does the Government think it deserves a blank cheque from struggling taxpayers?
 
Once upon a time, SkyPath was to be a self-funded private project. The door for taxpayer funding never should have been opened. If users of the cycleway are willing to fund it themselves through tolls, why not proceed on that basis?

Governor-General wrong to stick oar into name change debate

The Governor General’s role is strictly non-political and non-partisan — so we were stunned to see Newshub air an interview of Dame Patsy backing a proposal to change New Zealand's official name to "Aotearoa New Zealand".

Dame Patsy said that the proposal to change New Zealand's name "is quite good because it acknowledges that there are two partners to the Treaty."

While taking a position on the merits of a name change is outside of the Taxpayers' Union's mandate, from a taxpayer perspective we certainly don't pay our Governor-General to stick her oar into these sorts of debates. The Governor-General's role is to serve taxpayers above the fray of politics. Indeed, it is by far the most lavish public sector position in New Zealand; complete with taxpayer-funded domestic staff. Her commenting on a controversial political issue isn't just inappropriate, it's constitutionally wrong.

Your team at the Taxpayers' Union have written to the Governor-General, as well as political party leaders, to express concern about comments. You can read my comments issued to the media here.

Enjoy your day off,

Jordan Williams Executive Director New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union