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Hi Friend,
👻 BOO! $90,388 trick or treat for your household 🎃💀
Like many Dads, later today I'll be taking my kids around the
neighbourhood for the American pagan tradition of "trick or
treating".
According to my five year old, the tradition is to "ward off the
ghosts" – but I suspect she has other (sugar-based) motives...
Little does she really know, that the fright isn't with the
costumes or the water pistols. The fright of her life is to come once
she grows up and inherits the "trick" the current generation of
politicians is "treating" our kids (and grandkids) with.
So if you really want to scare those brats knocking at
your door tonight – send them over to the Official
Government Debt Clock.
Right now,
Government borrowing amounts to $90,388 for every New Zealand
household.
And despite what
the media would have you believe about so-called "cuts" in Wellington,
Nicola Willis is borrowing
money at an even faster rate than when Grant Robertson was in
charge!!
Spooky.
And nearly as annoying as sugar-charged kids on a school night, are
those damn "e-cards" that land in your email inbox. Well, brace
yourself.
EXPOSED: Sport NZ spends $170k on 298 emails (yes,
seriously)🥇💌
Sport New Zealand is one of those Government quangos that sounds
all very well, until you realise they simply have too much time (and
too much of our money).
The fully-taxpayer-funded crown entity is to be the (to quote from
there website):
kaitiaki (guardian) of the play, active
recreation and sport system in Aotearoa New Zealand.
[...]
The Sport NZ Group also
includes High Performance Sport NZ,
which leads the high performance sport system, supporting athletes and
coaches to deliver performances on the world stage that inspire the
nation and its communities, helping to build national identity and
promote New Zealand internationally.
Your humble
Taxpayers' Union has uncovered they spent $170k as part of a
"campaign" to thank Kiwi coaches.
The website generated an "e-card" (i.e. an email with a picture in
it).
Sport NZ pumped
$131,598 of taxpayers' money into the project (topped up with another
$40 grand from charity) to generate [double checks notes] just 298
emails!
, that's $575 per
e-card...
Nothing says "thanks coach" like spam a $575 email 🥰🙏
Back when I was an "elite" sportsman (I'll have you know I was the
captain of the third soccer team in my 7th form
year) thanking the coach was a bit different.
Back then, a physical card, a slab of beer, or a box of chocolates
would have said "thanks". But it's 2024 and kids need to get with the
programme. Sports NZ would prefer Kiwis spam their coach to show their
appreciation!
The $171,598 spent could have bought
8,580 rugby balls, 4,903 pairs of swimming goggles, or 34,320 tennis
balls. Instead we got 298 emails!
If wasting money was a sport, guess who just got the gold
medal. 👏
Wellington Council boo-hoo: Crown Observer appointed, Tory is
"disappointed" 😢
Speaking of coaches, Wellington City Councillors better get their
e-card ready because they've got a new coach on the way.
The City Council is now officially in the naughty corner after
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown sent a Crown Observer to clean
up their mess.
Not a moment too soon, with rates and debt both set to triple!
Initially, the Wellington Mayor was the bigger person. The NZ
Herald even ran a front page splash that the Mayor was "contrite".
Alas, it didn't last long though, as later the very same day:
The Mayor of Wellington really doesn't help her own
cause...
We know there's a real danger here, a Crown Observer is sorely
needed, but as we saw in Tauranga it can be a slippery slope to
Commissioners.
Wellington's leadership might have well and truly dropped the ball,
but at least they were democratically elected.
Putting another unelected bureaucrat at the top isn't
going to make that go away. As we saw in Tauranga, things aren't going
to get better until we have some decent, elected leadership at the
top.
We say that a
better option than appointing unelected mandarins to "fix" a wayward
council, would be giving New Zealanders the option for recall election
as is common overseas.
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown – a true reformer to
improve local democracy? 🗳️
Coincidentally, we hosted the Local Government Minister at our
Auckland offices last night. He was taking questions from members of
our Taxpayer
Caucus (our most generous supporters of the Taxpayers' Union)
along with Former Local Government Minister Dr Michael Bassett.
As well as building on the points of the
Prime Minister's excellent speech to the LGNZ conference back in
August, Simeon Brown said he reads our emails and that his office
is forwarded our updates (particularly those from Peter Williams about
Three Waters) "sometimes by 500-or-so people". Good to know you're
getting the message, Minister! 😉
On the subject of
recall elections, the Minister was well versed on the arguments and
not ruling it out – especially if local councils eventually move to a
four year electoral term.
We hold our small events with Ministers and policy influencers
regularly. If you (or your business) would like to consider stepping
up your support and joining the Taxpayer Caucus, contact me or or my
colleague Michelle van der
Veer.
Gold coated canapés? Health NZ has you covered🥂🚑
You'll recall a few weeks back Health New Zealand's senior leaders
were exposed for swanning around a conference spending more than $9000
on canapés alone!
Given Health New Zealand's deficit has blown out to $1.76 billion -
that's about $880 per household – bureaucrats at the top chowing back
canapés at $32 a piece is a bitter pill to swallow.
Meanwhile, newly
announced plans to reduce the quality of the food in hospital canteens
rubs salt into the wound.
Bureaucrats get gold, but patients get the scraps?
Our
Canadian colleague, Alex, joining Micheal Laws on The Platform to
discuss this rort.
And taking this absolute grift as a personal challenge, Alex
went went one step further to see how many canapés he could whip up
for the cost of just a single one of theirs.
NZTA spending $710k on art not roads 🎨👨🎨
New Zealand's roads are in a state. With potholes, gridlock, and
hazards, every dollar should be going where it is most needed.
So when our research team discovered the enormous amount NZTA is
spending on art, the petrol heads in our office shook their
heads. Our latest investigation has
revealed a $710,000 price tag of some of the sculptures going up in
the Mackenzie Basin.
This price tag is only a drop in
the ocean. NZTA couldn't even tell us how much they'd spent on
sculptures just this
year. When we asked, we were told it was too much
work.
Here at
the Taxpayers' Union, we appreciate art. But
having Wellington bureaucrats splash
our cash on some giant tweezers, sorry, 'roadside sculptures' means
less money for, well, roads.
New Plymouth Council spends $1.2 million on beach ramp ⛱️
Yesterday, the Taxpayers' Union called into question New Plymouth
District Council splashing out a whopping $1,280,841 on a new set of
beach stairs and ramp at Fitzroy Beach, and we’re left wondering: is
this really the best use of $1.2 million?
New Plymouth’s “Beach Street Access for All” project touts
accessibility for everyone, and who wouldn't support making beaches
more accessible?
But here's the kicker: New
Plymouth already has an extensive coastal walkway that connects most
beaches, making them accessible from other points.
Local Government Campaigns Manager Sam Warren didn’t mince words,
suggesting
the project could see further cost blowouts and questioning whether
the nearly $1.2 million price tag is justifiable in today’s tight
economy.
With rates already up 11.5 per cent, New Plymouth ratepayers should
be asking for a detailed breakdown of where every cent is going.
Taxpayer Talks: Mayor Nick Smith on the future of local
government
On this week's episode of Taxpayer Talk, Jordan sat down
to talk with current Nelson Mayor and former National Party Minister,
Nick Smith.
First elected as a Member of Parliament in 1990, Nick Smith would
remain an MP for over three decades. Nick served across a number of
portfolios, including Education, Local Government, and Housing. He was
elected as Nelson's Mayor in 2022 and now chairs LGNZ's Electoral
Reform Group.
With Wellington and Hastings councils in the news over the last few
weeks, and the local elections looming next year, Nick joins us to
talk local government and local democracy.
Listen to the episode on our
website | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeart Radio
 Enjoy
your trick or treating! 👻
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Jordan
Williams
Executive Director
New Zealand Taxpayers’
Union
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