NationBuilder

This will be the last time you'll hear from me as Head of Campaigns – it is with a heavy heart I'm letting you know that this is my last week at the Taxpayers' Union (see the very end of this email). But first...

Exposed: Councils hiking rates at more than 3X inflation

But make sure you're sitting down. The short point is our councils are out of control. We've uncovered that the average for city and district councils is an eye-watering 14 percent hike this year – and that’s on top of the 15 percent rate hikes at regional councils.

Central government cost-cutting is only half the battle. Town halls need to catch up with economic reality and trim back office fat, can pet projects, and focus on core services.

And before you hear the squeals from Local Government New Zealand about 'needing' more money for infrastructure, when we've looked at growth in local government in previous years, we've found that at nearly every council, the proportion of spending going to capital items (roads, pipes, pumps, etc.) has actually been reducing compared to the proportion going to operating expenses (i.e. staff payroll and back-office bureaucracy).

Adrian Orr's latest pet project: Digital cash

Do you really trust the man who has failed to keep inflation within its target band for 37 months in a row to complete such a project without costing taxpayers an arm and a leg, let alone deliver something that is actually safe, secure and useable?

Speaking of the Reserve Bank...

Last week, the Reserve Bank was boasting on its LinkedIn page about how their staff spent the day doing arts and crafts and playing games in celebration of Matariki.

Long-time Taxpayers' Union supporter and central bank critic, Damien Grant put it best:

Paul Goldsmith's shakedown of Meta for his media mates

"People in New Zealand can't see this content"

If Paul Goldsmith and Willie Jackson have their way, you'd better get used to reading messages like this. As it turns out, the media were the ones who benefited most from links to news stories being shared on sites. So when they tried to get help from politicians to shakedown likes of Facebook, the tech giant simply pulled the ability to access news.

Our new Communications Officer, Alex Emes, lived this firsthand in Canada before moving to New Zealand – seeing the disastrous effects of a similar law change there led by one Justin Trudeau.

NZ Initiative on Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill

Our friends down the road at the NZ Initiative think tank have also done a short report on the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill. Key aspects include:

News companies wishing to block search engine indexation can do so easily. A simple robots.txt file stops search engines from indexing sites. Paywalls can prevent those who have not paid from viewing a site’s content. Blocking platforms’ access is relatively simple. Why have news publishers not done so?
International research showing that digital platforms, overall, do more to benefit news firms by increasing their reach than they might do to harm news firms when some platform users substitute platforms’ snippets of news rather than paying for the newspaper.
When those who want news decide which outlets to support with their subscription dollars, news outlets face a market test. If the test instead depends on a political or bureaucratic allocation process, worse outcomes may be obtained
As in Canada, small and independent outlets are likely to be most harmed if Meta blocked links to news rather than be subject to compelled bargaining
Entrenching existing players and business models by throttling smaller independent outlets would stifle innovation and new entrants in the media market
Forcing payments for links and snippets undermines the open nature of the web
If there is a public interest case for supporting journalism, it would be more transparent and economically eﬃcient to do so through direct subsidies rather than forced transfers from one sector to another.

If you agree it’s a bad law media bailout that should not be progressed, click here to email the decision makers.

Taxpayer Talk – MPs in Depth with Tanya Unkovich🎙️🎧

This week on Taxpayer Talk, Connor sat down with new New Zealand First MP, Tanya Unkovich.

Tanya was elected on the New Zealand First Party list at the 2023 General Election. Tanya is a seasoned public speaker, published author, life and business coach, and started her career as an accountant.

Tanya shares her experiences of her early life and upbringing, her significant challenges, and overcoming her grief before eventually using her story to help others in their own lives. Having built a strong personal brand prior to entering Parliament, Tanya shares why she decided to enter the crazy world of politics and what she wants to achieve during her time as an MP.

Listen to the episode on our website | Apple Podcasts, | Spotify | iHeart Radio

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu 👋🏻

After two years with the Taxpayers' Union, the time has come for me to move on so this will sadly be my last Taxpayer Update. I'm excited to be moving to a new role as General Manager of one of the governing parties.

The Taxpayers' Union is a workplace like no other. Where else do you end up just a few weeks into the job finding yourself in a tuxedo in the heart of the nation's Parliament buildings handing out golden pig statuettes for government waste to, of all people, the Reserve Bank Governor?

I've loved working at the Taxpayers' Union and fighting on your behalf for Lower Taxes, Less Waste and More Accountability. One of the best parts of this job is getting out and about and meeting supporters like you on our roadshows, at our debates, and at Fieldays and agricultural shows around the country.

We've achieved a lot together over the past two years, Friend. We stopped Three Waters, Central Planning Committees, Auckland Light Rail, Let's Get Wellington Moving, 'Fair' Pay Agreements, Income Insurance, the Ute Tax, and much more. And that's in large part down to you and our 200,000 supporters. These wins have been thanks to people power and every event you attend, petition you sign, submission you make, and social media post you share makes the difference.

The new Government's a lot better than the last one, but it's not perfect. There are countless lobby groups arguing for more money to protect the albino snail. But there's only one group standing up for those who pay for it: You, me and every other taxpayer across the country. And that's why the Taxpayers' Union is just important now as ever.

As Jordan constantly reminds the staff though: You can't save the world if you can't keep the lights on. So, if you'll indulge me in my last missive to make one final ask of you. If you like what we do, please consider making a confidential and secure donation.

Thanks again for all that you do and for all your support over the past two years. It's been a blast.

Connor will be holding the fort for the next few weeks.

Yours aye,