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New Zealand Taxpayers' Union - Latest News [Page 61]
Waikato Regional Council Profiteering From COVID ‘disgusting’
Wednesday, 17 February 2021, 3:05 pm | Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union is condemning Waikato Regional Council’s proposal to hike rates by 7.3% after running an operating surplus of nearly $3 million dollars due to the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. Union spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke said: “Given ... More >>
Corporate Welfare Model For Private Media Is 'scary' And Will Drive Out Minority Voices
Friday, 12 February 2021, 2:03 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming the Government’s decision to give the $50 million ‘news and journalism fund’ to NZ on Air and says that it will see cozying up to Government and leftwing interests. “Instead of following an Australian or Canadian ... More >>
Auditor-General’s Scrutiny Of COVID-19 Spending Welcomed
Thursday, 11 February 2021, 12:21 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has welcomed the Auditor-General’s challenge for greater transparency in the Government’s COVID-19 response spending. Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “We absolutely agree that more transparency ... More >>
Oranga Tamariki Chairman Matthew Tukaki’s Attacks On Simon Bridges And Others Warrant Resignation
Monday, 8 February 2021, 4:26 pm | Taxpayers' Union
The social media attacks on Simon Bridges by the Chairman of Oranga Tamariki’s new Advisory Board is bizarre, unbecoming, and warrant resignation, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Since being coming Chair of the group – ironically ... More >>
NZ History Curriculum Must Cover 1980s Reforms
Thursday, 4 February 2021, 6:22 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The proposed New Zealand History curriculum must be amended with material on the economic reform of the 1980s, says the Taxpayers' Union . Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “The proposed New Zealand History curriculum is bereft of economic history, ... More >>
Heads Must Roll At Dunedin City Council Over Lead In Water
Wednesday, 3 February 2021, 11:18 am | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling for heads to roll at Dunedin City Council after residents were left unaware of lead contamination of their drinking water of four times the allowable levels. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Providing ... More >>
Tauranga Commissioners Must Commit To Caretaker Mode
Wednesday, 3 February 2021, 10:35 am | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Tauranga City Council’s commissioners to follow constitutional convention and run the Council in a caretaker mode before elected governance can be re-established. “Suggestions that unelected Commissioners ... More >>
Māori Wards: Loss Of Accountability Necessitates Recall Option
Monday, 1 February 2021, 6:30 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
Stronger accountability tools for local government will be needed if the Government succeeds in entrenching Māori wards, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “As more councils introduce Māori wards, a significant ... More >>
Climate Change Report: Prime Minister Must Rule Out 30c Jump In Petrol Taxes
Monday, 1 February 2021, 12:36 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to stick to her pre-election promise not to hike petrol taxes and swiftly reject the Climate Change Commission’s suggestion of increasing fuel costs by up to 30 cents per litre. Union ... More >>
Climate Change Report A ‘Pathway To Poverty’ If Central Planning Implemented
Sunday, 31 January 2021, 2:59 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Climate Change Commission’s economic forecasts appear ridiculously optimistic, and that the approach of central planning, rather than relying on the ETS, is counterproductive. The following can be attributed to ... More >>
Penny Bicknell Saga Demonstrates Why New Zealand Needs Better Anti-corruption Laws
Saturday, 30 January 2021, 2:17 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
Reacting to news that former Provincial Growth Fund Principal Regional Advisor Penny Bicknell has become chief executive of a firm that received $17.87 million by the fund less than a year earlier, Jordan Williams, Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ ... More >>
More Transparency Needed For Government Contracts And Payments
Friday, 29 January 2021, 12:21 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
New Zealand’s high ranking in Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index should not be cause for complacency, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Jordan Williams says, “The corruption ... More >>
Auckland Tram: Taxpayers Deserve The Respect Of A Cost-benefit Analysis
Wednesday, 27 January 2021, 12:42 pm | Taxpayers' Union
“The Government’s failure to even conduct a standard cost-benefit analysis for the most expensive infrastructure project in New Zealand’s history is mind-bogglingly arrogant,” says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “A ... More >>
Report Confirms Rotorua Waste Monument’s Safety Risks - Council Erects Safety Fencing
Thursday, 21 January 2021, 10:22 am | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union has now seen the engineering report provided to Rotorua City Council on the Hemo Gorge’s 3D printed monument to government waste paid for by NZTA, Rotorua ratepayers and others – and it is even worse than feared. Rotorua ... More >>
ACC Payout For Illegal Overstayer: Minister Must Explain
Tuesday, 19 January 2021, 6:27 pm | Taxpayers' Union
ACC Minister Carmel Sepuloni must confirm whether the Government supports ACC’s apparent policy to make payouts for illegal overstayers , says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . Union spokesman Jordan Williams says, “Since when was it ACC policy to ... More >>
'Samoa Humiliates NZ With Progress On Vaccine Rollout'
Friday, 15 January 2021, 4:51 pm | Taxpayers' Union
Responding to news that Samoa is set to begin its vaccine rollout next month , New Zealand Taxpayers' Union spokesman Jordan Williams says: "This is, frankly, humiliating for New Zealand. What are we paying our taxes for, if not to secure a ... More >>
Orr’s 3pm Friday Apology For Data Snafu Anything But Upfront
Friday, 15 January 2021, 3:39 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The Reserve Bank Governor’s apology and claim he will ‘own the issue’ is laughable given the lack of answers and timing of its release. Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union said: “It’s been five days since they came clean, ... More >>
Land Value Based Rates Charges Gets Thumbs Up From Taxpayers' Union
Thursday, 14 January 2021, 2:26 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union welcomes the call by Wellington City Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons for a shift to land value based rates charges. Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "Local government leaders across the country should join in Fitzsimons’s call ... More >>
Council Must Release Engineering Safety Report On Hemo Gorge Monument Lean
Thursday, 14 January 2021, 10:36 am | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Rotorua Lakes District Council to urgently release the engineering report on the public safety and structural integrity of the visible foundation-misalignment and lean of the City’s Hemo Gorge monument to government ... More >>
Rotorua’s Monument To Government Waste Structurally Insecure?
Monday, 11 January 2021, 1:59 pm | New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
The Taxpayers’ Union is alarmed to learn that Rotorua’s Hemo Gorge Sculpture, labelled a ‘monument to waste’ by locals , potentially poses a health and safety risk due to structural movements since its installation. Taxpayers’ Union Rotorua ... More >>
