A change in Government is not enough
we need a change of direction to protect New Zealand’s prosperity.
While we work to prevent Covid-style big spending government from becoming orthodoxy, protecting the foundations of democratic accountability underpins our effort.
The Taxpayers’ Union is a not-for-profit citizens’ group founded by David Farrar and Jordan Williams in 2013. The group’s mission – Lower Taxes, Less Waste, and More Accountability – enjoys the support of more than 200,000 registered members and supporters.
That makes the Taxpayers’ Union the most popular centre-right pressure group in the English-speaking world on a per capita basis, with one-in-19 voting age Kiwis supporting one or more of our campaigns and opting-in to regularly hear from us.
The Taxpayers’ Union maintains an office a few hundred metres from Parliament on Wellington’s Lambton Quay. We also have a presence in Auckland, where our External Relationships Manager, and Local Government Campaigns Manager are based. In Auckland, we also run our Auckland Super City offshoot, the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance (refer to pages 19 & 20).
The Taxpayers’ Union regularly fields interviews and media requests for comment. This is in addition to holding press conferences and issuing regular media releases, commentaries, online postings and publications to advocate on behalf of taxpayers.
Taxpayers’ Union representatives speak at functions, make presentations to government, meet with politicians and organise petition drives, events and campaigns to mobilise citizens to effect public policy change.
Any New Zealand taxpayer committed to the Union’s mission is welcome to register as a supporter at no cost.
government, and taxpayer rights all over the world.
The Taxpayers’ Union stands up for hard-working taxpayers like you by fighting for better value for our tax dollars. A key part of that is uncovering and publicly exposing government waste.
But with moves to centralise public services and decouple governance of whole swaths of public services from democratic accountability, our work to protect and promote the value of democracy is becoming more and more of our daily work.
Three Waters, the health reforms, and recent proposals to impose
unelected decision makers on all of New Zealand’s local councils are the most talked about, but there are many others.
The Taxpayers’ Union, like all pressure groups, relies on changing public policy by changing the hearts and minds of New Zealanders to influence the political process. That is now under threat.
You cannot fight for a more prosperous New Zealand through the political process when many of the ultimate decision makers are not accountable to voters.
As democrats, we believe that proposals such as ‘co-governance’ are not a recipe for accountable decision making.
That is why, as an organisation we have changed our mission from Lower Taxes, Less Waste, More Transparency to: Lower Taxes, Less Waste, More Accountability.
If decision makers are not accountable for the decisions they make on our behalf, we can no longer say that we live in a liberal democracy. As democrats first and foremost, we say that is not good enough.
With a general election approaching and the polls tightening, there is a risk many will take for granted that a change of government will reset New Zealand’s direction. It will take more than just a change of Prime Minister to correct course. A change of direction is what is needed if we are to remain a country where our kids will have the opportunities older generations took for granted.
So the election will naturally be one of our key focuses for 2023, but we are not a shop for any particular party or politician. One of the strengths of the Taxpayers’ Union is its independence and mission-led advocacy. Consequently, we will be working to ensure that good ideas – whether it be policy, or even Parliamentary bills –are available for an incoming government, no matter the party combination.
We will also continue to pursue issues like income tax threshold indexation, fair fuel taxes, and measures that will reduce wasteful spending at local and central government levels.
The bloated and stubborn public service must be addressed and an election is the time to push parties to justify their approaches to managing the beast that is our public sector. As Liz Truss found out, tax relief is not realistic without credible plans
to tackle government spending. We need to provide the politicians the space to cut spending, without vested-interests and the bureaucracy scaring them off from the tough decisions.
We cannot let economic black clouds allow Wellington to entrench unaffordable policies that will be difficult to unwind. Stimulus based on borrowing cannot last forever, and we must force Parliament to be as careful as households are in the current cost of living crisis.
Whether Labour leads the government for a third term or National come in, the concentration of power in the ‘blob’ of public service, media, quangos, and the consultants hanging onto the edges, must be disrupted. That is why whoever is in power will have their feet held to the fire by the Taxpayers’ Union.
David Farrar Co-founder
The principles of good policymaking have not changed, and the importance of valuefor-money of every dollar spent by government remains.
The media is dominated by groups whose policies demand more spending funded by taxpayers and ratepayers. We expose government waste, resist groups that constantly demand more spending for their pet causes, and create a public climate that demands less wasteful spending, and lower taxes.
Our efforts highlight and reduce the public’s tolerance for low quality and unnecessary government spending. We do this by relentlessly championing the interests of those who fund central and local government.
The Taxpayers’ Union remains independent of all political parties and will never become one.
Our War on Waste campaign lifts the veil of secrecy from wasteful spending and demands better value for money from proposed spending initiatives by the Government, councils, political parties and other lobby groups. Due to an absence of other groups campaigning for fiscal responsibility, many of these stories would not have become public without our efforts.
We operate a 24-hour media line for comment on taxpayer issues.
We also operate an anonymous tip line for members of the public to submit examples of wasteful government spending – some of our best exposés have come from insiders and bureaucrats using this service.
We are not a think tank. We rely on the good work done by traditional think tanks but communicate ideas to a wider audience. Therefore, our target market isn’t the intellectual elite in Wellington – we are here to capture the hearts and minds of everyday New Zealanders. Our value is our ability to influence the public debate, and the politicians who must respond to it.
OUR CAMPAIGNS:
• scrutinise government spending
• expose and fight government waste
• demand more accountability from the politicians and bureaucrats who spend our money
• fight for lower taxes to enable people to keep more of their own money
• make clear that citizens are better with their own money than politicians and bureaucrats
• organise taxpayers so they have an effective voice in the corridors of power and
• champion the benefits of an efficient tax system and public policies which advance New Zealanders’ prosperity.
But our continued existence is never guaranteed. Our efforts are due to you and our many other supporters financially contributing to our mission of Lower Taxes, Less Waste, More Accountability.
Thank you for your support.
Jordan Williams Executive Director / Co-founderOur anonymous online tip line enables anyone to blow the whistle on government waste. It gives members of the public the chance to submit their own observations of wasteful government spending – a tool also proven to attract insiders and bureaucrats to expose questionable expenditure. Through official channels, we confirm all stories that come to us via tip-offs.
We file more requests under the Official Information Act and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act than any other organisation in New Zealand. While only a small portion of our requests result in a media story, each and every one reminds officials that there is someone looking over their shoulder at what they spend your money on.
We work with economists, industry, and outside experts to ensure our work is accurate, authentic, and hard hitting. In addition to our in-house economist and researchers our external advisors include numerous former senior Treasury, Inland Revenue, and Reserve Bank officials.
We’re committed to being ready for comment moments after a story breaks to ensure the perspective of the hardworking taxpayer is never forgotten.
Our spokespeople appear on national radio, TV news bulletins and panels on a weekly basis. We maintain a loud presence on a wide range of media channels including Newstalk ZB and Radio NZ.
Reports based on primary research, and literature reviews with detailed analysis, lay the foundation of our campaigns.
Our social media presence is designed to recruit support with ‘calls to action’ such as petitions and opinion polls that build our support base, spread the message, and allow Kiwis to make their voices heard.
Regular and direct engagement with MPs, Ministers and government officials strengthens our efforts to build support for changes in policy.
Our volunteers across the country are key to our effective grassroots effort, delivering petition cards, hosting yard signs, and amplifying our messages.
We exposed that the Government was taking more than half the cost at the pump in tax, which saw the PM on the back foot, and forced to cut fuel duty (see page 26).
No one has a monopoly on good ideas. We often work with other groups from across the political spectrum from both here and overseas to build broader support for our policy objectives.
A year ago, few understood the implications of Three Waters with opponents being painted unfairly. Now, it’s biggest thorn in the side of Chris Hipkins, with the vast majority of Kiwis on our side (see pages 23 - 25)
In what was possibly the fastest backtrack to a tax policy ever, the Government announced, then unannounced a dramatic tax grab on New Zealanders’ retirement savings within just 48 hours (see page 28).
While the National Party said they’d repeal the Government’s Three Waters scheme, it was not until mid-way through our nationwide ‘Stop Three Waters’ roadshow that National formally took the position that whatever replaces Three Waters will not include undemocratic ‘co-governance’ arrangements.
Laurence has an extensive background in business and governance. He is a former CEO of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, former Chair of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Trustees Executors Ltd, and Director of Northpower.
“Government spending needs to create value for the New Zealand taxpayer, and robust, independent scrutiny is of vital importance in any healthy democracy. The work of the Union will never be more important than in the years ahead.”
David is a well known political blogger and commentator. David also owns and manages the specialist polling agency Curia Market Research and has an active involvement in internet regulatory issues. He is an experienced political campaigner and former parliamentary staffer.
“I helped form the New Zealand Taxpayers Union because I believe that New Zealand needs a lobby group to stand up for the rights of taxpayers and ratepayers, and fight against those who treat them as a never ending source of funds.”
Jordan’s background is in law and accounting and, in 2011, he was spokesperson for Vote for Change, a lobby group that campaigned against the retention of the MMP electoral system. In 2019, Jordan was elected onto the Board of World Taxpayers Associations.
“There are thousands of groups, often taxpayer funded, that argue for more money to be taken from Kiwis to fund pet projects. The Taxpayers’ Union balances the debate.”
Ruth was Minister of Finance in the fourth National Government, has been Chairperson and Director of a range of private and public companies as well as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and coaches sovereign states seeking to transform their prospects.
“Governments make spending and regulatory choices, but not in an accountability vacuum. The Taxpayers’ Union gives well researched and often noisy voice on behalf of we who pay and suffer the consequences of ill-designed public policy. As a lifetime activist in these causes being a Director of the Taxpayers’ Union sits well with my DNA.”
Casey’s background is in security and law enforcement. After leaving the Police as a Detective Sergeant and vice-president of the NZ Police Association, she has held various management roles including with the Parliamentary Service. Casey is also a Trustee of Hobson’s Pledge advocating for equality before the law for all New Zealanders.
“A powerful minority are increasingly speaking for all Māori as if we don’t have political beliefs as varied and unique as any other culture. The Taxpayers’ Union challenges those who incorrectly think they can speak for me.”
Chris is a former councillor at Hutt City Council, a former chair and trustee of the Nikau Foundation (Wellington’s community foundation), a trustee of the Nga Manu Nature Reserve, and a part owner and director of the boutique small goods manufacturer Martinez Ltd. He is a former ACT Party Parliamentary Chief of Staff.
“The Taxpayers’ Union’s focus on waste, efficiency and transparency occupies an important public niche and the organisation offers a constant reminder to both local and central government that they cannot spend money that they have not first taxed from productive workers and businesses, so the quality of their spending really matters for a prosperous New Zealand.”
Peter has nearly fifty years of experience in the media as a TVNZ news presenter, sports writer, and radio host. Peter hosts our weekly podcast – Taxpayer Talk – which is available across all good podcast platforms.
“The Taxpayers’ Union is a significant watchdog of how our taxpayer money is spent, or as has been the case too often lately, squandered. Taxpayers’ Union campaigns have a significant strike rate in changing or amending government policy, and I’m looking forward to ensuring there are many more such successes.”
Callum has an MA in economics from St. Andrews University and worked as a Regional Campaign Manager and Head of Field Operations for the UK Conservative Party. He also served as a councillor and in parliamentary research and advisory roles.
“Politicians and unelected officials are far too quick to spend your money. They often seem to live in a bubble detached from the everyday lives of the people that they are meant to represent and serve. At the Taxpayers’ Union, we shine a light on government waste, champion lower taxes and fight for greater transparency and accountability in the democratic process.”
An enthusiastic supporter for a number of years, Derek joined us in April 2022. He has more than 20 years experience in senior management positions in commercial and non-profit environments in New Zealand and Australia, including with Consumer NZ.
“Too often local and central politicians treat taxpayers and ratepayers as ATM machines to drive their bureaucratic extravagance. I am proud to be part of a great team that will hold government to account and ensure taxpayers get value for their hard earned tax dollars”
Sara has extensive experience in corporate services and deals with all our office administration including assisting the Executive Director, Funding and External Relationships Manager, and Board with donor engagement and fundraising.
“I have worked in both the government and private sector – working at the Taxpayers’ Union has been a very different experience and one I am really enjoying. It is a great team environment with enthusiastic, committed individuals working hard to further the mission of the Taxpayers’ Union.”
Georgia has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Politics from Massey University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Political Science from Victoria University.
“I believe New Zealanders deserve quality government services – with systems that are easy to navigate and customer centric. The Taxpayers’ Union helps shine light on unnecessary government spending. With greater accountability of how and why money is spent, I believe we could achieve better outcomes for all New Zealanders.”
After a career in public and private sectors, including seven years as New Zealand’s Regulatory Affairs Manager at Rio Tinto, Ray was looking for a role that combine his enjoyment for advocacy and analysis. The Union fitted the bill perfectly. Ray has undergraduate degrees in science and economics, a diploma in business and a master’s degree in economics.
“If a government justifies an investment as strategic – it’s a safe bet it’s not economic”
Connor is currently in his final year at Victoria University studying a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Public Policy. He researches issues of tax, government waste, and accountability.
“I find it frustrating when successive governments tell voters that somehow we will be better off if we have less money in our pockets. No one is as careful with someone else’s money as they are with their own and government wastage is a perfect example of this. I’m here to advocate for value for money on all government spending and a greater level of transparency for taxpayers.”
Tree is responsible for visually communicating campaign messages. She has helped ensure the success of our campaigns through creating graphics that are seen online, in the media, and in thousands of locations around the country.
“Democracy is fragile so it’s an honour to work with a team who are actively strengthening our democracy through campaigning for transparency and accountability.”
In 2022, we bade farewell to our Campaigns Manager, Louis Houlbrooke, after five years of dedicated service to the Taxpayers’ Union. Louis was shouldertapped by Jordan when he was working as a Parliamentary press secretary and what a great recruit Louis turned out to be!
Over the years, Louis has led the charge on our most successful campaigns including shutting down the capital gains tax, forcing the fuel tax reduction, the Stop Three Waters! roadshow, and uncovering what amounts to billions of dollars of wasteful government spending.
Louis is known for his out-of-the-box thinking and there was always a method to his madness. His knack for engaging media through creative and unique campaigns was incredible and drove a great deal of our success.
Louis has been taking an extended break travelling around South America and has now settled in Colombia. We wish Louis all the best in his next chapter!
I’m proud of my role in growing the Taxpayers’ Union as real force for good with old-fashioned people power. When I joined the team, we had 35,000 subscribed supporters. Five years later, we’ve built that up to more than 200,000, entrenching the Union as a major force for good in New Zealand politics, independent of the political parties, to hold central and local government to account (regardless of who’s in office!).
Five years in one job is a decent stint for a 28-year-old these days – all the more so in Wellington, where it seems anyone with a communications background has spent the last five years jumping from government agency to government agency and taking advantage of the eye-watering public sector salaries on offer under this Government, so I am enjoying taking a long overdue OE.
At the Taxpayers’ Union I learned that when working in politics, your sense of humour needs to be proportionate to your passion for the job. Fortunately, along with our great young team, I found plenty of fun alongside the hard work.
Thanks for your making it possible.
With New Zealand’s universities dominated by the left, we are often approached by enthusiastic, like-minded university students wanting help to develop their public policy, advocacy, and research skills.
You can ensure the next generation of young leaders are properly armed to take on those trained by the student and industrial unions.
If you would like to sponsor an intern, or make a legacy gift towards developing the leaders of tomorrow, please contact our Fundraising and External Relationship Manager, Derek Bonnar, on 021 486 330.
Alex is one of our part-time research interns. He is in his second year at Victoria University where he is studying a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Economics and Political Science.
“I’ve been blown away by the amount of waste and lack of respect government departments have for taxpayers’ money.”
Dan is one of our student research interns. He is currently undertaking a BA in Philosophy, Politics and International Relations. His roles include following up on the tip-line, social media, and policy research.
“I’m super passionate about politics and civic engagement. Working at the Taxpayers’ Union provides me with a place to apply the skills I’m passionate about, and an equally passionate team of people with whom to discuss things. With my research, I’m able to better understand the finer points of government policy and spending and use that insight to help ensure our leaders are accountable.”
Lloyd worked as a research intern on a bursary from the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation. He is studying Honours in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The University of Western Australia, having studied a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma of Japanese. At the Union, he researched taxation and government spending.
“In liberal democracies, it is necessary to have institutions that hold the government to account, especially in matters pertaining to taxation and spending. Civil servants’ responsibility is to the people and the flourishing of society. The Taxpayers’ Union plays a key role in ensuring they remember this.”
Porky is our highly visual mascot and Chief Waste-Hater. Porky’s role is to expose those politicians and public servants who waste money and act as a warning to the others that Porky is watching them.
“If there’s one thing I hate it’s pork barrel politics. Every year, millions of dollars are wasted by giving unjustified privileges to special interest groups and funding politicians’ pet projects that don’t pass the sniff test, let alone a cost benefit analysis.”
We are always on the lookout for great additions to our team. Do you enjoy politics and want to be part of a growing movement? Do you agree with the objectives of the Taxpayers’ Union? Our ability to hire staff depends on our success in fundraising, the support from members, and our current workload. A background in politics, communication, law, accounting, economics or finance is an advantage. If this sounds like you, send your CV and a cover letter to our National Campaigns Manager.
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has attracted more than 30,000 members since its launch in 2015.
The Alliance is a coalition of individual Aucklanders and ratepayer groups dedicated to championing the prudent fiscal management of New Zealand’s largest city. Its mission is ‘Reasonable Rates, Sensible Spending in our Super City.’
Identifying that local government was going to be a vital focus for the Taxpayers’ Union going forward, we brought Josh Van Veen on board as Local Government Campaigns Manager. Josh combines his work on local government issues affecting the whole country with running the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance.
More recently, a group in Tauranga has formed to advocate for ratepayers who currently have unelected commissioner running the council with no democratic accountability. The Tauranga Ratepayers’ Alliance has already attracted thousands of local supporters and is growing quickly.
The elections brought about several shifts in the dynamics of councils. Most notably 76% of elected councillors now claim to be opposed to the Government’s Three Waters reforms. Additionally, for the first time in the history of the Super City, Aucklanders elected a mayor who is not aligned with the Labour Party.
We commissioned a regular monthly poll in the lead up to the local body elections and this allowed Aucklanders to be informed and rally around a single centre-right candidate.
Our annual Ratepayers’ Report attracted media interest for the wealth of data and analysis of council efficiency it always provides.
Three Waters reforms have made local government an important battleground for policy and politics. Just as the issue dominated local elections thanks to campaigns like our Stop Three Waters campaign, it will continue to be a key issue going into the 2023 general election.
Ratepayers’ Report is our interactive online local government league table, accessible via RatepayersReport.nz. The Report makes it easy for New Zealanders to compare the performance and financial position of their local council against others. Thousands of data points are collated, including metrics such as council debt, assets, spending types, and staff costs, shown on a per-ratepayer basis. Since its first publication in 2014, many councils now use the Ratepayers’ Report for internal performance benchmarking.
Josh’s most recent role was as a Funding Advisor at Auckland Transport – he has seen inside the belly of the beast! Prior to that, Josh worked in the private sector and as a Parliamentary Researcher in the office of Winston Peters. Josh is a contributor to Victoria University’s Democracy Project and has a Master of Arts with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland. His Masters thesis was on the history of the Labour Party.
Sam is our Bay of Plenty Campaigns Coordinator and Spokesman for the Tauranga Ratepayers’ Alliance. He is passionate about local democracy and justice. Sam has previously worked in the New Zealand meat industry and for the Department of Corrections where he was a national union delegate for the Public Services Association.
Jo Holmes was the Deputy Chair of the first Waiheke Local Board under the Auckland Super City and has chaired the Waiheke Businesswomen’s Group. Jo has no political party affiliations and her professional background is publishing.
We encourage political and government insiders to ‘dob in’ examples of government waste and extravagance using our confidential tip line. Many of our best stories come from sources within government, including bureaucrats frustrated with waste and inefficiency.
The War on Waste campaign is the backbone of our activity. It reminds the public that they are better stewards of their hardearned money than wasteful politicians and bureaucrats.
Twelve months ago, we could barely get the media to cover opposition to Three Waters. Now it is the thorn in the side of the Government’s hopes of being re-elected.
We identified the key reasons to oppose the legislation based on our mission and stayed in our lane. That made it more difficult for the supporters of Nanaia Mahuta’s proposals to write off opposition with personal attacks.
We travelled all over the country hosting public meetings and facilitating discussions about Three Waters.
Through our roadshow, social media campaigns, and Stop Three Waters banners we engaged our grassroots support.
We created our StopThreeWaters.nz website and made it easy for our supporters to share their thoughts on the Water Services Entities Bill with the select committee. More than 68,000 submissions were made using our online tool.
In an unusual move, the Labour-Partydominated Finance and Expenditure Select Committee decide to ban digital submissions so we collected the submissions from our web tool, printed them all, and delivered them by hand... more than 68,000 of them.
Franks Ogilvie completed a legal opinion and this was reviewed by Gary Judd KC. The opinion concluded that while “Ministers have repeatedly asserted that Councils will have ‘ownership’ of the four new ‘entities’… The claims are false, misleading and deceptive. The councils will have none of the bundle of rights that define and are conferred by ownership in any sense familiar to lawyers, or understood as the common significance of ownership.”
Our roadshow garnered media attention that countered the Government’s propaganda advertising campaign.
We campaigned hard to make sure that Three Waters was on the lips of every local government candidate. We created a How To Vote tool which shared key policy positions of candidates including on Three Waters
Opposing the Government’s expensive Three Waters reforms has been the most significant campaign of the past year for Taxpayers’ Union. With the support of our grassroots network, we took to the road to mobilise New Zealanders to speak up against the reforms. Our roadshow highlighted how unpopular the proposed reform is and put pressure on councils and councillors. We decked our campervan with ‘Stop Three Waters’ signage and held public meetings in 39 centres.
Following our roadshow, New Zealanders sent a loud message to the Government to Stop Three Waters, with 68,661 submissions lodged at www.StopThreeWaters.nz on the Government’s Water Services Entities Bill. Of those, 8,634 people indicated they’d like to make an oral submission. This is more submissions than ACT and National gathered combined!
Despite the huge interest in the bill, the select committee elected to spend just 4 days hearing oral submissions. We spent nearly ten times as long on our Stop Three Waters roadshow!
Thanks to our supporters we were able to make Three Waters the issue of local government elections 2022. After the elections, Newsroom’s survey of 220 newly-elected mayors and councillors found that 76% of respondents opposed the Three Water reforms. The Spinoff’s survey of 66 elected mayors found that 43 were opposed to the reforms, 14 were undecided, and nine supported them.
Victory! – Pressure from our roadshow led to National committing to any alternative to Three Waters excluding co-governance.
New Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has signalled changes to Three Waters are likely as he understands that the public aren’t behind the reforms.
Early in 2022, the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union petition to cut fuel tax received 16,000 signatures and our fuel tax refund event in Takapuna highlighted the fact that 52% of the cost at the pump in Auckland was tax. The Union has also been selling “I did this” stickers which New Zealanders have used to highlight the Government’s previous hikes to petrol taxes.
As a result, we secured a tax cut for motorists. This was to be temporary, but has been extended, twice, into 2023 by Jacinda Ardern and now a third time by Chris Hipkins.
Inland Revenue is using unprecedented powers they gained quietly during the pandemic to snoop on Kiwis’ spending habits and family dynamics. So we launched our Nosey Parker campaign to help Kiwis to tell Minister for Revenue, David ‘Nosey’ Parker, to butt out.
The powers allow IRD to put their stickybeaks into the spending habits and family dynamics of Kiwis and legal power to demand personal information even if totally unrelated to your tax liabilities. This avoided scrutiny by being snuck behind a bill introducing the new 39% tax bracket. That meant zero public consultation.
Kiwis are being compelled to tell the Government intimate details about what they spend their money on and the nature of their closest personal relationships. If they don’t comply, they risk hefty fines.
We initially wrote to the Privacy Commissioner requesting a review as the project makes a mockery of our Privacy Act Principles, but when we had no luck there we launched a website and letter-writing form so concerned Kiwis could write directly to the Minister.
What makes the situation worse is how vague and evasive the Government have been about how the data will be used and who will have access to it. Around the Western World there are numerous examples of tax agencies becoming political. We cannot take the standard we expect from our IRD for granted.
In what was possibly the fastest tax policy U-turn in New Zealand history, in August the Government pulled a swift backtrack on a $103 billion tax grab on savings and retirement funds. Minister David Parker was defending his plan to charge GST on Kiwisaver and other savings scheme in the morning, but by lunch time the policy was out.
Kiwis are experiencing a cost of living crisis and seeing more of their paychecks go to basic needs like housing, food, and fuel, leaving little for savings. But instead of a helping hand, the Government sought to stick its grubby hands deeper into Kiwis’ savings.
Our quick communications and social media response contributed to the rapid pushback against this new tax. This incident highlights the importance of our reactive work challenging big Government.
We hold an annual Oscars-style award ceremony at Parliament to celebrate the best-of-the-worst of government waste.
The Jonesie Awards highlight and lament the most absurd examples of wasted taxpayer money to emerge in the previous 12 months.
Behind the tuxedos and gilded statuettes is a serious message: politicians and bureaucrats in both local and central government happily fritter away your hard-earned money on bizarre pet projects and ill-planned schemes without fear of consequence.
The Jonesies serve as a shot across the bow for anyone in charge of a government chequebook: rein in the waste, or see your name up in lights at the next Jonesie Awards.
Winner Local Government: Wellington City Council
The capital council received a record of three nominations this year, so this was an easy decision for our panel. These were;
• $20,000 to go to Eco Church NZ to help churches “understand their carbon footprint and develop climate action plans”.
• $570,000 roundabout in Hataitai
• a misspelt “WELL_NGTON” sign that cost ratepayers $130,000
Winner Central Government:
We had a shopping list of options to choose from for our transport agency leading to a gruelling Single Transferrable Vote style runoff for the worst spending from Waka Kotahi, but the $336,712 opening ceremony for Transmission Gully takes the cake.
Winner Lifetime Achievement Award: Reserve Bank
Governor Adrian Orr
Mr Orr’s Large Scale Asset Purchase programme saw the Reserve Bank buy $53.5 billion of New Zealand Government Bonds on the secondary market. The final cost of this programme is yet to be determined, but Grant Robertson puts the expected loss at $8.46 billion. Treasury have been authorised to spend up to $200 million a month indemnifying the Reserve Bank’s loss.
Under his watch, the Reserve Bank recently spent $100,000 rebranding the organisation, nearly $400,000 on a sculpture of Tāne Mahuta and more than $6 million on a new website.
Peak number of subscribed supporters this year
204,293
– more than one in 19 adult Kiwis!
2,471,713 unique people reached
November 2021—October 2022
14,354 donors in 2022
$2,729,791 total revenue
A supporter is anyone who voluntarily signs-up to the Taxpayers’ Union mailing list. There is no cost associated with being a supporter. As a courtesy, we regularly remove from our lists those people who have not opened our emails in the past three months. They are, of course, welcome to resubscribe at any time.
Note these figures also include the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance and the Tauranga Ratepayers’ Alliance.
While most income is from donations, individual membership costs only $25 per year, with various categories of membership for business and corporate taxpayers starting at $5,000. Full financial accounts are available and are filed annually with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies (Companies Office).
No individual donor or industry member contributes more than a few percent of our total revenue.
As the board and staff plan for the year ahead and set priorities for election year to promote our mission of Lower Taxes, Less Waste, More Transparency it soon became clear that there was an elephant in the room.
Concerns about the Government’s proposals to centralise public services and decouple governance
from democratic accountability were not just the key feedback from our supporter surveys, but are also becoming more and more of our daily work.
Three Waters, the recent health reforms, and new proposals to impose unelected decision makers on all of New Zealand’s local councils are the most talked about, but there are many others.
The Taxpayers’ Union, like all pressure groups, relies on changing public policy by changing the hearts and minds of New Zealanders to influence policy through the political process. That is now under threat.
The short point is that you cannot fight for a more prosperous New Zealand through the political process when many of the ultimate decision makers are not accountable to voters.
That is why, as an organisation we have adopted the new mission: Lower Taxes, Less Waste, More Accountability.
If decision makers are not accountable for the decisions they make on our behalf, we can no longer say that we live in a democracy. As democrats first and foremost, we say that is not good enough.
Over the coming year, we will be tackling the Government’s proposals to implement cogovernance across local and central government in a similar way in which we convinced most New Zealanders to oppose Three Waters. For us, it is simple: Local and central government must be accountable to taxpayers and ratepayers. If we don’t like decisions taken, we must be able to remove those decision makers democratically at the ballot box.
I hope you’ll agree that this refocussing of our efforts is necessary and essential, if we are to achieve our vision of a prosperous, low tax New Zealand with efficient, transparent, and accountable government, and that you will continue to support our efforts.
Thank you for your support, and the feedback that we use to guide our work. I hope that you will support our new mission: Lower Taxes, Less Waste, More Accountability.
Laurence Kubiak Chair
The full economic impact of the pandemic is impossible to quantify, but it is clear big government spending has to be reined in. So too do policies that serve to undermine New Zealand’s liberal democracy. The decisions made now will have consequences for generations to come.