Dear Friend,
It is often hard to tell whether our efforts, campaigns, and
advocacy are making a difference to those sitting in the Beehive. I’m
emailing to report to you some of the most bizarre behaviour I’ve ever
seen by a Minister in a Select Committee. Clearly, Cabinet Ministers
are feeling the pressure…
Let’s start with Three Waters. As I said at the 30 or so “Hands Off
Our Homes: Stop Central Planning Committees” roadshow events, it was a
delight to see in the polling we did when Chris Hipkins first became
Prime Minister: The number one policy New Zealand voters want
Chris Hipkins to put on the policy bonfire is Three
Waters.
The short point is Friend, that while we can’t claim the policy
victory yet, through persuasion and getting the message out
about what Three Waters means – higher water costs, more bureaucracy,
no local control, and less democracy – we have won the public
over.
The Government clearly felt the need to do something. But
instead of scrapping Three Waters, Chris Hipkins changed its
name!
But our polling shows that the public haven’t fallen for
the rebrand.
Three Waters, or so-called “Affordable Water Reform” – whatever you
call it, it’s an electoral stink bomb that the Government no longer
wants to talk about.
“It’s all your fault!” says Damian
O'Connor 😭
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but we were recently alerted to
this recording of Damian O’Connor literally blaming our Stop
Central Planning Committees roadshow tour (where we did joint events
with our friends at the Federated Farmers) for the increased mental
anxiety of farmers!
Minister blames our Roadshow for deteriorating mental
health of farmers! 🤯
Watch
the video for yourself over on Facebook
As you can see, without providing any specifics, Damian O'Connor
claimed our campaign is somehow misleading or exaggerated. That’s
weird – we asked Mr O’Connor (and other Labour MPs) to come along and
attended our events, but none did.
We are 100% sure of our facts on this
issue. We understand Minister O’Connor’s staff read our
newsletters (hi there 👋) so we’ll use this
opportunity to invite Mr O’Connor, or any Government Minister
to join us on our podcast to talk through the issues. That would be
more fruitful than resorting to ad hominem attacks, like Mr O’Connor.
After all, as much as we disagree with Minister Mahuta’s Three
Waters, at least she had the grace to front up for our
Taxpayer Talk podcast.
What this means: We. Can. Win.
With the election only a few month’s away, clearly Labour is
feeling the pressure. Chris Hipkins landed back in the country over
the weekend and with the polls locked in a close tug-of-war,
the media is speculating about which unpopular policies Prime Minister
Hipkins will ditch.
Now is not the time to back off
If we can exert enough pressure on the Government,
Chris Hipkins will have no choice but to ditch the co-governed Three
Waters (rebranded to so-called "Affordable Water Reforms"), and the
co-governed proposed central planning
laws.
But to win, we need your help
If you live on a road, I’m asking you to take a few minutes to put
up a banner. If you have street facing windows, I’m asking to send
you a coreflute sign.
Click
here to buy a beautiful large banner (as pictured
above)
Click
here to buy a smaller coreflute sign.
Chris Hipkins wants Kiwis to forget about Three Waters, and
matters involving co-governance - at least until after the
election
If we can mobilise our supporters, the Government won’t get
away with not talking about these terrible policies before the
election.
Only with your support, can we force the issues back onto the
agenda – giving opposition parties more confidence to commit to
scrapping both within the first 100 days of a new
Government.
Click
here to buy a banner, a coreflute sign,
or click
here to make a secure donation to this campaign.
Thank you for your support, Friend.
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Jordan
Williams Executive Director New Zealand Taxpayers’
Union.
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