Dear Supporter,
Adrian Orr begs for more taxpayer money
Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr wants
a funding increase of up to 30 percent to cover exploding staff
costs at his department. In one financial year, he has increased
staff numbers by 19, and he wants more.
If Orr is wondering why he's short of resources, he should
look in the mirror.
This is the man who commissioned
a report explaining why the Reserve Bank is like Tāne
Mahuta, the Māori tree god. Here's a snapshot:
Since then, instead of focusing on core business, the
Governor has been busy lashing out at
academics and think
tanks.
Oh, and he's paid more than $800,000 a year.
According to research by the NZ Initiative, the Bank is
ranked the worst performing regulator. It’s difficult
to imagine more money will force Adrian Orr to focus on what is
important.
Electric vehicle handouts go straight to big
business
The latest list of taxpayer-funded grants for electric
vehicle projects were revealed
this week. As usual, the biggest beneficiaries are large
businesses like The Warehouse, Pak'n'Save, and rental car
companies.
As
I told the NZ Herald:
This is corporate welfare.
Businesses already have incentives to install electric vehicle
chargers, in the same way they voluntarily provide parking and other
perks to customers. There's also a marketing benefit as they gain
green cred. Why is it fair for a lucky few to receive taxpayer
help for these commercial activities?
Even more egregious are
the grants given to privately-run car-sharing and rental businesses.
Providing vehicles is their core commercial purpose. This is like
giving BP money to buy petrol.
The "Low Emissions Vehicle Fund" was started under the
previous Government, and costs taxpayers around $7 million a year.
And it's not just cars...
Callaghan Innovation has given a $440,000
grant to a company designing an electric ferry.
If EV Maritime’s ferries are such good value, then why
didn’t the company attract private investors to fund its
R&D? Callaghan Innovation has pre-empted this possibility
by volunteering a taxpayer handout. The grant won't even be paid back,
regardless of how much profit EV Maritime makes off the taxpayer’s
investment.
There’s no reason for New Zealand to be a world leader in electric
ferries. Why not wait for the technology to mature, see what works in
other countries, and eventually use ferries proven to be good
value?
First taxpayers fund astrology, now it's homeopathy
A few weeks ago we
discovered the Ministry of Health was funding treatments based on
herbal remedies, prayer, and astrology.
Now, North
& South reveals that taxpayers are funding NZQA-approved
homeopathy courses.
The College of Natural Health and Homeopathy received
$205,000 from the Tertiary Education Commission in 2019 in aid of its
courses, as well as an additional $49,000 for animal homeopathy.
Further taxpayer funding is provided under the First-Year-Free
initiative.
In other words, the Government is making taxpayers
complicit in teaching young people to be snake oil salesmen.
This harms New Zealanders seeking effective treatments for their
ailments, and it threatens the reputation of our public education
system.
Tax and spending simplified
Sometimes the media does a bad job of educating the public on the
basics of our tax system, so we're doing it for them. Click any of the
images below to share on Facebook.
Memes of the week
Our Facebook
page isn't all serious. Sometimes it's a bit silly, to be honest.
But if you enjoy this kind of thing, click the memes below to
share.
Have a great weekend,
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Louis
Houlbrooke Communications Officer New Zealand
Taxpayers' Union
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