Last week we headed to a petrol station in Takapuna with a mission: expose high fuel taxes by refunding motorists the tax on their bill. In Auckland, tax now accounts for 52% of the price at the pump.

To prevent a stampede, we announced the location publicly just an hour beforehand of the half hour event.

Word got around and a queue quickly formed down the street, with Newshub, 1News, and even Radio NZ turning up to see what the fuss was about. 

Click here to see Newshub's coverage.

Click here to see 1News's coverage.

The Taxpayers' Union wouldn't usually give handouts, but in this case it was a small price to pay to get fuel taxes into the six o'clock news.

Half what you pay at the pump is tax 💸

As I pointed out to Chris Lynch on Magic Talk this morning, looming war in Ukraine is likely to lead to disruption and sanctions that will drive fuel prices even higher.

Jacinda Ardern might not be able to control Vladimir Putin, but she can shield taxpayers from the cost of conflict by pulling back the petrol tax lever.

>> Sign the petition to cut fuel taxes <<

The petition now has more than 11,000 signatures.

Please don't do this 🙈

Someone bought this sticker from the Taxpayers' Union store and put it on a petrol pump:

Putting stickers on petrol pumps is naughty behaviour that we cannot possibly endorse.

If Taxpayers' Union supporters started pasting hundreds of these stickers on fuel pumps up and down the country we would be so upset that we would ask you to send us photos so we can expose this bad behaviour on social media.

Click here to order your sticker.

Starting to taste victory? Three Waters legislation delayed

Late last year it was widely reported that the Government had delayed its Three Waters legislation until at least March, after facing overwhelming public opposition.

A new update from the Department of Internal Affairs confirms that the delay is even longer: the Government will now introduce the legislation "mid-year".

This is fantastic news for the campaign to Stop Three Waters. Firstly, it shows just how spooked the Government is by our efforts. They're on the back foot and are working desperately to massage the reforms into something more palatable to New Zealanders.

Secondly, the delay means that the legislation is likely to face public consultation in the same period as local body elections. We'll be working with council candidates to expose the nasty details of Nanaia Mahuta's asset grab in town halls and on election billboards across the country.

We can win this!

We know another why the Government has had to delay Three Waters. It relates to a court challenge that was filed last year but that we'll be announcing tomorrow... Keep an eye on your email.

🎤 Our members grill Christopher Luxon

On Thursday, we hosted an event for Taxpayers' Union supporters to meet National Party Leader Christopher Luxon, questioning him on any topic, free from the prying eyes of the media.

The BBQ was exclusive to Auckland-based members and financial supporters of the Taxpayers' Union. With COVID rules limited attendance to 100, but in future we hope to host much larger face-to-face events. If you're not already a member, join the Taxpayers' Union to get onto the invite list.

(Thank you to everyone who came along and gave such positive and helpful feedback to me, Jordan, Sara, Levi, Annabel, and the team. It was great to meet so many of you and put faces to names!)