Dear Supporter,

Shadbolt's wristbands: ratepayer-funded electioneering?

Stuff and Newshub last week reported on our discovery (thanks to a supporter using our confidential tipline) that Invercargill City Council has been using ratepayer money (about $3,000) to produce more than 2,000 wristbands promoting Mayor Tim Shadbolt. These wristbands have been handed out at civic events as recently as a month ago.

We understand Sir Tim is very popular locally, but this shouldn't allow him to get away with ratepayer-funded electioneering, or his record of extravagant spending in general.

We warn MPs of Zero Carbon Bill's costs for taxpayers

On Friday, our economist Joe Ascroft fielded questions from MPs on the Environment Select Committee about the Government's Zero Carbon Bill.

The Bill would tie New Zealand to stricter targets for carbon emissions, likely meaning new environmental taxes and charges.

Joe's advice for MPs was to avoid signing off on legislation when they haven't considered its full economic cost for taxpayers and the economy as a whole. You can read our full submission here.

MP salaries set to rise again as Government passes the buck

Remember last year when the Prime Minister announced a freeze of MPs' pay? Well, that didn't last long.

The Government has announced it's handing the chequebook back to the Remuneration Authority, which oversaw annual pay hikes in MP salaries until 2015, when John Key switched to an equation-driven system.

This is a cynical move that will not curb pay hikes. The Remuneration Authority is not accountable to taxpayers or voters – in fact, it is one of the very few public agencies totally sheltered from the Official Information Act. It's the same group that last year hiked salaries for local councillors by 3.9 percent, far above the inflation rate.

If MPs were serious about giving up the gravy train, they would tie their salaries to the cost of living and leave it at that.

A taxpayer-funded deal for Ihumātao?

There's growing chatter in Wellington that something's happening behind the scenes between the Government and Ihumātao activists.

In the House last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern refused to deny that she was negotiating a taxpayer-funded loan for iwi to buy the land.

This would be a disaster for taxpayers. It would re-open a tidal wave of new demands from protestors, emboldened by the knowledge that formerly "full and final" settlements are now up for renegotiation.

Our petition telling the Prime Minister to stay out of it has so far received almost 1,500 signatures. Click here to add your name.

Taxpayers will be tempted to call ten-five on cost of Police’s promotional campaign

When we first saw the Police's flashy "105" ad, we had a hunch it was expensive. An official information request has proven us right: the video cost taxpayers $238,000, involving around 100 hours of Police time, and the overall campaign cost $1.22 million.

The educational campaign was necessary, but it didn't need to be this expensive.

Remember the super-low-budget ‘Auckland Glass’ ads? Every Aucklander knows that number: ‘oh-eight-hundred, eight-oh-four, eight-oh-four’.

Embarrassingly for the Police, there have been reports of callers waiting an hour or more for an answer on the 105 line. Perhaps the video production budget should have been used on phone operators.

Revealed: "Vaping Facts" campaign costs $1.2 million

We've recently found that the Government's "Vaping Facts" campaign is costing taxpayers $1.2 million.

The campaign promotes e-cigarettes as a less harmful option for smokers, and helpful in quitting. This sounds like a good cause, but confusingly, it comes at the same time as the Minister, Jenny Salesa, is trying to ban private companies from paying for this promotion themselves.

This approach only makes sense if you think that every problem requires a taxpayer-funded solution.

We say the Minister could save taxpayers money today by pulling the plug on the "Vaping Facts" campaign, and allowing e-cigarette producers to continue promoting their products to smokers.

Auckland Council rubs it in ratepayers' faces with:

It's hard to have sympathy for local councils that tell us they need more revenue at the same time as they throw money at frivolous vanity projects.

Phil Goff's Auckland Council, faced with ballooning debt levels, has paid drag queens to patrol the streets as "fashion police" during Auckland Fashion Week. Click here to see the ratepayer-funded video (warning: it's pretty embarrassing).

While the expense is minor, it shows an extraordinary lack of self-awareness from a council that's busy introducing new rates and taxes.

What waste have we missed?

The Taxpayers' Union's War on Waste is currently what you might call a "target-rich environment", with so many cases of absurd spending at local and central government that we can't always keep track.

If you know of something we've missed, or haven't given enough attention, make sure you nominate it for October's annual Jonesie Waste Awards.

Click here to make your nominations.

Have a great week and thank you for your support,

Louis Houlbrooke Communications Officer New Zealand Taxpayers' Union