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Hi
Friend,
This week
your humble Taxpayers' Union exposed more taxpayer funded
anti-government environmental lobbyists, and the $94,000 vanity
project for Rotorua's Mayor.
EXPOSED:
Department of Conservation funding eco-lobbyists to... fight the
Government? 🌳✊
A few
months ago, our Investigations Coordinator, Rhys, emailed supporters
to expose the funding received from the Ministry for the Environment
to eco-activist organisations like the Environmental Defence Society
and Forest & Bird.
It turns
out MfE isn't the only Government agency funding the Environmental
Defence Society, they
have also received $157,000 from the Department of Conservation — on
top of the $377,743 of taxpayer funding it already raked in from the
Ministry for the Environment
That’s more than half a million dollars in
taxpayer cash for a group whose main output is lobbying and legal
action against government policy.
How is it that you pay your
taxes, for government bureaucrats to use, to give activist groups to
lobby the government? It's
not on.
If the
Environment Defence Society had genuine public backing, it wouldn’t
need taxpayer funding.
This isn’t
conservation — it’s backdoor political activism funded by taxpayers.
And with 2,533 staff at DOC, why are they also paying activist
groups?
And let's
be frank, reports churned out by groups like EDS can’t be treated as
impartial when they’re funded by the same agencies that they also hold
to account. It’s an
echo chamber activism love-in, paid for by the
taxpayer.
We say it's
time to stop taxpayer funding for political lobbyists — left, right,
or green.
Rotorua’s $94,000 Mayoral Vanity
Project 🛁🍇
From
taxpayer funded lobbyists to ratepayer funded adverts of 'influencers'
self-promoting politicians. This week, our team uncovered that Rotorua
ratepayers just copped a bill for a $94,000 TV ad starring [checks
notes] their Mayor Tania Tapsell.
The
so-called ‘Robe Trip’ campaign, to encourage tourists to wear their
robes while visiting Rotorua's hot pools, cost $42,784 to produce and
another $51,201 to air through the Council's tourism arm,
RotoruaNZ.
While the
Council claims “no general rates” were used, the reality is grim: the
cost was via targeted rates (somehow that makes it better 🙄). We can
see from the documents that it went through 15 rounds of meetings just
to get Mayor Tapsell some airtime.
Infrastructure is crumbling. Crime is rising. But
Rotorua’s leadership thinks undressing the Mayor — complete with robes
and slow-mo — to put her on the telly should be the focus.
Call us
prudes, but here at the Taxpayers' Union we think politicians
should always keep their clothes on...
This
campaign might be dressed in a robe, but it’s ratepayer exploitation,
plain and simple.
Taxpayer Hero - Minister Brown on State-Owned
Enterprises! 🔥
This week,
Minister Simeon Brown asked the tough questions about underperforming
State-Owned Enterprises like NZ Post and Pāmu (what Landcorp is now
calling itself).
The
Minister for State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) told several of the SOEs
that the Government was “disappointed and concerned” by their lack of
performance.
That this
is even news shows how far we've come in accepting dumb, rudderless,
underperformance in Wellington.
Friend, if
a household owned a bunch of money-draining assets, they’d rightly ask
whether it’s time to improve them or sell. Those who insist on the
Government holding on to commercial duds that can’t turn a profit
should put their money where their mouth is.
Take, for
example, NZ Post. During the COVID lockdowns, logistics and courier
company profits
skyrocketed – while
NZ Post needed bailouts!! Something is wrong here...
Over
on X (formerly twitter), our Communications Officer Alex shared our
excitement on the Minister's comments.
Each Kiwi household's $275,000 share of
government assets costs us money, instead of making a
profit. That’s more than $570 billion in
state-owned assets failing to pull their weight.
Past asset
sales worked: better services, less debt, and stronger performance.
It’s time to stop subsidising failure.
Minister
Brown’s words are a good start. Now let’s see some action.
Sell the dead weight, keep the performing enterprises, and get
taxpayers a return on what they own.
Why We’ve Given the National Debt Clock a Serious
Tune-Up ⚙️
Big news:
our New Zealand Debt Clock just got a makeover, and no, it’s not
Botox, it’s Total Crown Borrowings.
The
traditional measure of government debt – known as "Core Crown Debt" –
is starting to paint a misleading picture due to more and more debt
being allowed to incur in the non-core Crown balance
sheet.
Our economic boffins
have laid out all the reasoning here.
Cutting
through the smoke and mirrors 🔪
The
new measure more closely links to what the Government actually pays in
interest, and it means every dollar of government debt, no matter
which branch racks it up, is now front and centre for all to
see.
And what
a number it is. Treasury’s Budget 2025 papers project debt rising from
$250.9 billion this year to $354.2 billion by 2029. That’s more than
$100 billion more or $49,160 per household. You’ll
need a pretty generous Afterpay plan to cover that.
This change
isn’t just cosmetic – it’s critical. Interest doesn’t care who
borrowed the money. Whether it’s a Minister or a Housing Agency doing
the borrowing, you’re still footing the bill.
It may
sting, but it’s the truth. And frankly, it’s about time someone gave
the numbers a little interest.
Taxpayers'
Union @ National Fieldays - come and meet the team! 🐮🚜
Are you
heading to National Fieldays at Mystery Creek this year,
Friend?
We'll be in the rural living marquee (RM52), come and say hello and
meet the team!
If you can't make it
to Fieldays and want to see what we get up to, we'll be keeping our
social media updated all week.
Taxpayer
Talk: Hon Casey Costello on her first 18 months in
Parliament
Former
Taxpayers' Union Chair - and current Minister and New Zealand First MP
- Casey Costello joins me to discuss her experience as a new MP, her
ministerial briefs on health, organised crime and anti-smoking), and
why it's important for New Zealanders to look beyond the
headlines.
You can
listen to the episode on our website, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and all other good podcast
apps.
One more thing, ...
Unlike the
most pressure groups – like the so-called Environmental Defence
Society 👀 – the Taxpayers' Union doesn't take funding from the
Government/taxpayers.
We remain
100 percent independent with our work reliant on supporters like you
chipping-in to keep the lights on.
If you
agree with our mission of Lower Taxes, Less Waste, More
Transparency, please consider
joining as a member (from just $25) or making
a secure and confidential donation.
Thanks for making the work
possible, Friend.
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Jordan
Williams
Executive Director
New Zealand Taxpayers’
Union.
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