Dear Supporter,



Petition launched: Trevor Mallard must pay back taxpayers for his $333,000 legal bill







Yesterday it was confirmed <[link removed]> that Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard paid $333,000 in compensation (and legal costs) to settle a defamation claim made by a Parliamentary staffer Mr Mallard accused of rape.



But instead of paying out of his own pocket, he made YOU foot the bill for his careless accusations.



We're calling on Trevor Mallard to pay the money back.



--> Click here to sign the petition <-- <[link removed]>



The Speaker is paid a taxpayer-funded salary of $296,000, so we’re sure he can work out a payment plan with Parliamentary Services. And it's not like $333,000 is a lot of money to him: he spent twice as much building a slide outside Parliament!



Help increase the pressure sharing the petition on Facebook <[link removed]>.



Monumental waste in Rotorua



Three years behind schedule, and $200,000 over budget, Rotorua Lakes Council has finally installed its new sculpture at the Hemo Gorge roundabout:







The reported cost was $743,000, but insiders have told us that the final bill will be even higher once the sculpture's helicopter journey and botched installation are taken into account.



And because it was co-funded by the New Zealand Transport Authority, taxpayers from Invercargill to the Bluff were pinged.



You may remember the sculpture – it was nominated for a Jonesie Waste Award back in July <[link removed]>, but now that it's complete we think its cost deserves more attention. Watch this space.



New Green MP endorses benefit fraud, smears Sir Bob Jones







First it was Metiria Turei. Now Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March has endorsed defrauding the taxpayer.



Here's what the newly-minted MP (and self-proclaimed socialist) said in his maiden speech to Parliament <[link removed]>:



I want to start by acknowledging everybody who has ever had to lie to Work and Income to survive. In our queer community there is a saying that I love. It goes, "Be gay, do crime." … For sole caregivers, it means lying to Work and Income about their relationship status in order to have enough income to feed their children. … When your ability to be who you are—and therefore your survival—is criminalised, it is an act of love to break the rules to allow others to thrive.



Ricardo went on to abuse his Parliamentary privilege (you can't be sued for something you say in the House) by smearing the Taxpayers' Union's landlord, Sir Robert Jones.



Here's what Ricardo said:



I clearly remember seeing clips that night of the Winston Peters and Bob Jones of the world scapegoating immigrants for the housing crisis, for unemployment, and for inequality in general.



Had Ricardo spent five seconds checking Google before his speech, he would have found opinion pieces by Sir Bob titled ‘Migrants good for NZ - the more the merrier <[link removed]>,’ and even ‘Welcome illegal immigrants with open arms <[link removed]>’.



He might have even discovered that Sir Bob sponsors a  <[link removed]>scholarship for the daughters of refugees <[link removed]>, with recipients including the likes of Fanus Amanuel Mehreteab, whose family fled war-torn Eritrea and who writes <[link removed]> ‘I sincerely thank Sir Robert Jones, and everyone involved in this scholarship, for giving young refugees an opportunity to make their dream come true.’



Clearly, the idea that Bob Jones is some kind of anti-immigrant populist is nothing more than a figment of Ricardo’s imagination, conveniently justifying his own prejudiced views of New Zealanders who don’t share his politics.



Needless to say, the Taxpayers' Union will be closely watching the Parliamentary career of Ricardo Menéndez March.



Ratepayers' Report league tables in the media (and an update to the rankings)



If you haven't already, make sure you see how your local council stacks up in the 2020 edition of our Ratepayers' Report league tables <[link removed]>.



The 2020 edition of the Report, released on Tuesday, has already been covered by RNZ, 1 News, Newshub, Stuff, the Dominion Post, the Timaru Herald, Waitomo News, and the Otago Daily Times (see the links at the bottom of this email).



<[link removed]>



I was interviewed by Corin Dan on RNZ's Morning Report <[link removed]> and made the point that that small councils need to beware of costly property projects (think Carterton's $500,000 clock tower renovation), while big councils like Auckland would do well to examine day-to-day expenses like top-heavy salaries.



We've also had to update the report: Grey District Council now officially has New Zealand’s lowest average rates.



This update comes because Central Otago District Council came clean and publicly admitted <[link removed]> it gave us incorrect rates data!







It’s astonishing that despite having explicitly been asked to review data before its publication, Central Otago District Council still got it wrong. That said, good on them for publicly fronting up to their mistake.



Have a great weekend,





Louis Houlbrooke

Campaigns Manager

New Zealand Taxpayers' Union



<taxpayers.org.nz/donate>



Media coverage:



Homepaddock  Pay it back petition <[link removed]>



Otago Daily Times  Big increase in number of Christchurch City Council employees earning six-figure salaries <[link removed]>



Newstalk ZB  The Huddle: Does Trevor Mallard need to stand down as Speaker? <[link removed]>



The Spinoff  A guide to passive aggressive Christmas gift giving <[link removed]>



Stuff  Auckland Council Budget: Ratepayers lobby alleges mayor misled market <[link removed]>



RNZ  Carterton residents pay highest rates in country, Central Otago lowest <[link removed]>



Dominion Post  The small district with the highest rates in the country <[link removed]>



Newshub  Who is paying the highest and lowest rates in NZ? <[link removed]>



Timaru Herald  South Canterbury rates among the lowest in New Zealand <[link removed]>



Stuff  Carterton residents pay highest rates in country, Central Otago lowest <[link removed]>



NZ Herald  Revealed: Who pays the highest rates in New Zealand? <[link removed]>



1 News  Towns with highest and lowest rates revealed in new report <[link removed]>



Homepaddock  Stick to your word <[link removed]>



RNZ/Newsroom  $70 million and how to share it: Behind the scenes at Creative New Zealand <[link removed]>















-=-=-

New Zealand Taxpayers' Union Inc. - 117 Lambton Quay, Level 4, Wellington 6011, New Zealand

This email was sent to [email protected]. To stop receiving emails: [link removed]

-=-=-



Created with NationBuilder - [link removed]