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Hi Friend,
For once,
it's been a great week for taxpayers! News that the
Government is finally getting on top of the Ardern/Hipkins-created
"consultant gravy train" is welcome, as are the details
for what amounts to the
most important thing the Luxon-led Government is likely to do to
improve New Zealand's long term prosperity.
Plus,
thanks to a very talented Taxpayers' Union student intern, we have an
exclusive for supporters of the Taxpayers' Union: we've
been leaked a recording of Christopher Luxon's recent call
with President Donald Trump, where The Donald gives a lesson
on growth... 😉
$800
Million Saved: Crusher Collins Crushes Wellington Consultant Gravy
Train 💥🚂
As Minister
for the Public Service under Jacinda Ardern, Chris Hipkins
grew the core public service (i.e. back-office bureaucrats) so much
that by 2023, salary costs were up by 72
percent in six years!
But
that surge doesn't count what's made the Wellington partners of
KPMG, Deloitte, PwC etc, very well off indeed:
a boom in the so-called "cling-on
bureaucracy" of consultants.
Now
the new Minister, Judith Collins is crushing it, with
the Beehive announcing this week:
The Government’s move to cut public sector
spending on consultants and contractors is on track to save $800
million over two years – double the initial target, Public Service
Minister Judith Collins says.
“We set a two-year target to cut $400 million
in spending on consultants and contractors across the public sector by
2024/25,” Ms Collins says.
“The latest
update anticipates savings will come in at more than $800 million
by the end of June. [continue
reading here]
$800 million amounts to $398 for every New
Zealand household. Bravo Judith! 👏👏👏
Scrapping
the RMA: The Biggest (Regulatory) Tax Cut in Our Lifetime?
🎉🥳
Time and
time again, the economic gurus tell us that the biggest handbrake on
growth – and therefore New Zealand's long term economic prosperity –
is the Resource Management Act.
The RMA is
the cause of New Zealand's housing crisis. It blocks (or, at best,
seriously hikes the costs of) building infrastructure, it stifles
growth, and it makes us all poorer.
So the
Taxpayers' Union has always argued that scrapping the RMA
isn't just mission critical. It is the litmus
test of whether the political elite are serious about New Zealand ever
getting back into the top half of the OECD for what we produce per
capita.
Labour's
David Parker tried to scrap the RMA but failed. Parker's
Three Waters-style co-governed, anti-democratic 'Central Planning
Committees' regime would have made things even worse! (It was so
bad, in fact, that we spent
a month on the road to raise awareness).
So, the
Government's bolder initiative to Go for Growth and deliver planning
laws based on property rights should be more than welcomed. And
so far, we like what we see:
- Property rights will be front and centre
— if your land use doesn’t harm others, you can get on with
it.
-
Standardised zoning rules will replace
the tangled mess of 1,000+ local variations.
-
Red tape will be slashed, with up to
45 percent lower compliance costs
According to National's Chris Bishop and ACT's
Simon Court, the reforms are all about returning decision-making back
where it belongs: with property owners.
That means minimising potential interference by busybody
activists, politicians and clipboard-wielding council
officials except where there is a genuine impact on
neighbouring property owners (what
economists call externalities).
Chris
Bishop cites a consultant's report (ironic, we know, given above)
which estimates his alternative will deliver a 45 percent improvement
in administrative and compliance costs when compared to the current
system.
But
there's a looooong way to go yet... 💣
No
changes will kick in until 2027 – and there's still a lot that could
go wrong between now and the actual laws being drafted, consulted on,
and passed through Parliament. Chris Bishop says his target is to get
it done before next year's election.
But already, the vested interests who thrive on the
bureaucratic kumbaya approach of the RMA are out there in the media
complaining. A perfect example: Government’s
RMA reforms an ‘open attack on Māoridom’ (Stuff.co.nz).
To our astonishment, despite being arguably the
most important work stream by the Government, 1News
didn't even bother to mention the announcement on Monday's six o'clock
bulletin. So if you're interested in a deep dive into the detail (or
don't trust how the media is reporting on it), head over to
the Beehive's news item (in particular, see the
"Factsheet" listed under "Related
Documents").
So, let's ensure that the Government holds firm,
and we hope that this announcement reflects a willingness for the
Government to be bolder in "Going for Growth". 👍
(EXCLUSIVE) LEAKED CALL: President Trump's Advice to
Chris Luxon on how to 'Go for Growth' 🚀💰
Speaking of Going for Growth, we've published an
exclusive recording of one of our scarily talented student
interns President Trump's recent call with Prime Minister
Luxon.
In
it, The Donald tells Luxon how he should kickstart New Zealand's
economy (and I
can 100 percent assure you , no AI was used for this
recording).
 Listen to the leaked
recording here
Bang for
buck, the best possible tax cut: Full Capital Expensing 🚀
In
case you missed our Briefing
Paper on Full Capital Expensing, head over to our website.
😉
It's the best tax idea for the Government to Go for
Growth, but most people haven't heard of it. It lets businesses
write off capital investments (the very things that will make New
Zealand more productive) instead of drip-feeding depreciation
deductions over many years.
Full Capital
Expensing = more investment = higher productivity = faster growth =
higher wages.
It worked in the US and Britain, and
we break it down here.
Health
officials lobby against...slides and sandwich boards? 🛝🥪
Public health officials have been called out by the new
Health Minister for lobbying: it
turns out money meant for health services is being used to employ
the fun police.
Instead of tackling public health, officials have been
submitting against lawful developments that have nothing to do with
public health. Public Health officers have been spending
taxpayer money (meant for the health service) lobbying
against:
-
A Mitre 10 in Petone (because it had too many car
parks)
-
Extremely hazardous, err, Sandwich boards outside
Nelson bakeries
-
A
McDonald’s drive-thru in Wānaka, because... "planetary health" (yes,
seriously!)
-
School
charity raffles in case they lead to a life of high-stakes
gambling
-
A
children's playground in Lower Hutt (kids playing outdoors is far too
risky, apparently)
- And even housing developments, because they might
"block mountain views"
Every dollar spent nitpicking is taken away from
actual healthcare.
So,
a round of applause to Minister Chris Bishop for calling it out
— and even bigger props to Health Minister Simeon Brown for
finally putting a stop to it.
Predictably, the poor do-gooders taxpayer-funded lobbyists managed to
find a Stuff journalist to complain: ‘It’s censorship’:
Public health leaders slam ‘Trumpian’ edict (Stuff.co.nz).
We
say a Ministerial instruction to bureaucrats to stop using taxpayer
money to lobby for things that most taxpayers would not agree is far
from 'censorship'. And (regardless of your views on Trump!) surely
these taxpayer-funded lobbyists are a lost cause when they have to
resort to 'Trumpian' name calling of Minister of Health Simeon
Brown.
PETITION: Support
equal voting rights in Local Government 🙌🗳️
Last
week, National MP Sam Uffindell introduced a Bill to give everybody
equal voting rights in local elections.
The Bill extends the equal voting protections for
Parliamentary elections in the Bill of Rights Act to local
elections—common sense, right?
Right now, different votes can count for
different amounts – whether directly through rural
or Māori wards or indirectly, thanks to unelected
appointees with voting rights. This Bill doesn’t fix the
problem of unelected members being appointed to local council, but
it's a big step towards 'unscrewing the scrum'.
Equality of suffrage is seen as bad by Radio NZ
🤪
Incredible, New Zealand's very own Pravda
– the fully taxpayer funded Radio NZ news service
labeled equal voting rights a ‘step backwards’
As
highlighted by Taxpayers' Union Cofounder, David Farrar, over on Kiwiblog:
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell
has a simple proposed members’ bill to amend the Bill of Rights Act to
have equal suffrage extend to local government.
Equal suffrage is a
fundamental human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
says:
The will of the people shall be the basis of the
authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and
genuine elections which shall be by universal
and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote
or by equivalent free voting procedures.
The International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also states:
To vote and to be elected at genuine
periodic elections which shall be by universal
and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret
ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the
electors
So equal suffrage is a
fundamental human right, included in both major global human rights
declarations. It is also in the NZ Bill of Rights Act:
has the right to vote in genuine
periodic elections of members of the House of
Representatives, which elections shall be by equal
suffrage and by secret ballot
So our law already states
that equal suffrage applies to national elections. Uffindell’s
bill would change NZ BORA so it reads:
Every New Zealand citizen who is of or over the age
of 18 years has the right to vote in genuine periodic elections
by equal suffrage and secret ballot
of members of the House of Representatives;
and members of local authorities.
So a very simple law
change that enhances human rights in New Zealand. So how does Radio NZ
report on this proposed bill. Well in
this article they quote two opponents of the bill as a “backward
step”, and doesn’t go to a single person (apart from the MP proposing
it) supporting it for comment.
Remind me why we fund RNZ again? Because if it's
objective or trusted news, taxpayers should be demanding their money
back!
Unlike Radio NZ, we think this Bill is a good
one, but say it should go further and ban unelected appointees from
having voting powers at Council as well.
If
you have 30 seconds, please back us and sign
our petition calling for equal voting rights in local
elections.
ACC's
latest $243,000 is a pain in the backside 🍑🤭
And in a
slightly less serious vein (brought to us by an Official Information
Act request thought up by yet another creative intern), the
team this week exposed the amount ACC is spending on,
well...
ACC
shelled out more than $125,000 last year for injuries involving
foreign objects lodged where the sun don’t shine – that's
more than double the previous year. And with $117,799 already spent
this financial year, 2024/25 is shaping up to be a record-breaker a real
pain in the [redacted].
Auckland
topped the list for ‘rear-end mishaps’, with Wellington, Southland,
and Otago bringing up the errr rear.
But
with ACC levies on the rise, and the organisation facing long-term
fiscal headwinds, it’s hardworking New Zealanders who are the butt
of this joke. Ouch.
Wellington
City Council's $22,000 Hikoi 'flush-fund' 🚽🧻
Our
investigations team have caught Wellington City Council spending
$21,702 of ratepayer money on portaloos for the Toitū Te Tiriti Hīkoi
protest—despite never funding toilets for any other protest or
having a policy to do so.
The Council admitted this was a one-off
exception, not part of any established process. Every other
protest pays for its own loos, so why were
ratepayers forced to cover the bill for a cause
council officials happen to support?
With an 18.5% rates hike already hitting
Wellingtonians, the portaloos aren't the only thing that stinks here –
especially when it's public facilities/services that only appear when
it's a protest the Mayor's own Green Party sides with.
Other news
in brief 📰⏰
Have a
great weekend.
 |
Jordan
Williams
Executive Director
New Zealand
Taxpayers’ Union.
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