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Hi Friend,
You won't
top these Golden Hogs 💫🐷
Thanks to
those who joined us at Parliament last week where we hosted the 2025
Jonesie Awards for Government Waste.
In case you
missed it, you
can watch a replay of the red carpet, golden-glitzed (and, tongue
firmly in cheek) awards ceremony here.
This year's
Jonesies winners were up there with the best of them.
Spoiler
alert: The who's who of government waste 🥇
This year’s
winners did not disappoint. In the Local Government Category, the
Hastings District Council took the bacon for its disastrous fiscal
management and putting unelected kids members of its "youth council" onto its
council committees and giving them voting rights.
To
our delight, a Hastings District [Youth] Councillor flew all the way
to Wellington to accept the award on the Mayor's behalf.
Congratulations Councillor Zoe!
The Central
Government Winner was Dr Ayesha Verrall for her time as Minister of
Science and Innovation in approving the "research" of Whale Song to
cure Kauri trees costing taxpayers four million bucks.
And as for
the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award – click
here to watch the ceremony to see which very lucky Mayor took
home her very own golden bicycle.
"Will
do my utmost to never be a nominee for these awards" - says
Minister 🎉
The purpose
of Jonesies-style name-and-shame efforts is to discourage officials
and politicians from making wasteful spending decisions in the first
place.
So
we know we're right over the target when a Minister (in this case the
Hon Andrew Hoggard) publicly comments that he
"Will do [his] utmost to never be a
nominee for these awards."
We hope so
Mr Hoggard! 😉
Why are
polls looking for gloomy for the Government? ⤵️
Off the
back of last week's Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll and another
poll which also showed a potential change of government, Jordan was on
RNZ's Morning Report to discuss what our research says Mr Luxon needs
to do. Click
here to listen.
Eh?! New
Zealand's closing up shop? 👀
The economy might be in bad shape, but even for
the Taxpayers' Union, the latest government announcement might be
slightly overselling the gravity of the situation. On Sunday,
the Government announced a new tourism campaign with the
slogan "Everyone Must Go".
In a sign that the Beehive's political antenna
remains on the fritz, many were quick to point out the blindingly
obvious: is this a closing down sale or a snazzy catchphrase to draw
in Australians?
But here's the kicker. The $500,000 ad campaign
was funded
out of the International Visitor and Tourism Levy – a tax on
[checks notes] all non-Australian tourists. So officials are
using the money to attract the only type of tourism that is
exempt.
Look, we're not against a little tourism
promotion, but is this really the serious economic reform
Luxon's been promising?
To save us from the next campaign (pictured
below) surely the Government can do better, right?
Government accountability: Sir Saint Brian Roche's
music to our ears 🎶🙌
Glory glory, Hallelujah! The new Public
Service Commissioner is certainly singing from our hymn
sheet.
At last week's New Zealand Economics Forum, Sir
Brian Roche didn't waste any time sugarcoating - it was truth-bomb
after truth-bomb:
- The public
service has exploded by more than 30 percent in six years – accounting
for 63,537 public servants 'workers'.
- Over the
same timeframe, total salary costs grew a staggering 72 percent, to
$6.1 billion ($3,043 per household) per year. And that doesn't include the wider
public sector such as defence personnel, police, teachers, public
healthcare workers.
- In terms
of the public service structure (his words) "to say it's complex is an
understatement". There are 46 chief executives in the core public
service (again, that excludes police, teachers, frontline departments,
etc).
- “The
system is inefficient” “not fit for purpose” and "We’ve got too many
small, overlapping agencies, eating up resources, duplicating work,
and driving up fixed costs."
We've been waiting for a long time for a Public
Service Commissioner who knows our government's become a money-sink.
But
he's only in the role until June 2027 - so there's no time to
waste.
How bad's the problem? 💣
Friend, it wasn't in Sir Brian's speech, but to
illustrate the points the Commission was making, here are two factoids
to bank.
The first is this comparison produced last year
by our friends at the NZ
Initiative (a Wellington-based think tank).
Here is New Zealand's "Public
Policy Responsibility Flowchart" drawing the lines of
responsibility between Ministers, departments, and major sectors of
the economy.
And here is a country of roughly the same size,
Norway. Notice
any difference?
In the humble opinion of the Taxpayers' Union, the
report should be compulsory reading for every
MP: especially the former Minister for the Public Service who
shepherded through Parliament the Public Sector Act 2020 and got us
into this mess, one [double checks notes] Rt Hon Chris
Hipkins...
The
full research note is online here.
Judge for yourself: MBIE accountable to all or
accountable to no one? 🥸
Here's today's second factoid for you to pull out
when some left-wing media claims that reform in Wellington isn't
necessary.
The screen shot below is taken
directly from the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment
website. Just look how many Ministers MBIE officials are
"accountable" to (click
for larger version):
Double check my maths, but I
think that's 21 Ministers across 29 portfolios. When
something goes wrong, or officials
go rogue, just who is responsible? Clear as mud then.
Sir
Brian, you know what to do.
$12,700 worth of bad news: the cost of just two
years under performance 📉🚮
Ever wondered how poor New Zealand's growth is?
Nicola Willis, take heed.
GDP per capita is $5,300 lower than
Treasury forecast just two years ago. And stunted growth
means another $7,400 can be shaved off where Treasury forecast we'd be
in two years' time.
As the NZ Herald's Thomas Coughlan put
it: $12,700
for every New Zealander - the cost of no
growth.
Nicola Willis' speech at the NZ Economics Forum
was significantly less inspiring than Sir Brian Roche's. Trite lines
about prioritising economic growth, but still no real meat to back it
up.
Budget 2025 is just 93 sleeps away. If we
want growth, we need ambitious policies.
But your humble Taxpayers' Union
is here to help. Keep an eye on your inbox later this week for the
"best tax policy you've [probably] never heard
of" ...
EXPOSED: grifting as an Art Foundation art form
🎨💰
The Arts Foundation was set up to raise
private money for the arts – you know, helping young,
starving artists get their shot at the big time and giving humble arts
organisations a boost. Fair enough.
You’d think their funding would go toward
paintbrushes, canvases, and theatre productions, right? Wrong.
Instead, they’ve raked in $1,180,300 from Creative NZ (i.e. taxpayers)
since 2021/22 — but not for art, not for artists, but, drumroll
please… lobbying!
That’s
right, instead of funding tortured geniuses, the Arts Foundation is
now being funded by the taxpayer to practicing the art of schmoozing
politicians.
Picasso once said, “Art is a lie that makes us
realise truth.” Well, here’s the truth: Creative NZ is funnelling
millions to a private charity, which then turns around and lobbies the
very government that funds it. Talk about a taxpayer-funded
money-go-round.
Why paint the system when you can game it? You
can read what our research team have uncovered over on our
website.
Enjoy the rest of your week, Friend.
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James
Ross
Policy & Public Affairs Manager
New Zealand
Taxpayers’ Union
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