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Dear Friend
Holiday
update: Debbie Ngarewa-Packer's postcard from Hawaii
You'll
recall a few weeks back, we raised concerns about Te Pāti Māori
Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer taking time off Parliament for a
holiday to the Cook Islands to celebrate a wedding
anniversary.
But, unlike
Ministers, MPs
aren't covered by the Official Information Act – there's therefore
no ability to clarify whether this, errr, holiday was put on the work
(i.e. taxpayer) expense card.
We asked our supporters to email Parliament's
Speaker Gerry Brownlee, and I'm glad to report that more than 3,800
did so, asking for the Speaker to front up.
We're delighted to report that a few days ago Mr
Speaker messaged us to confirm no taxpayer funds were used for the
Cook Islands trip. Fantastic!
No
to the Cooks, but it seems taxpayers did stump-up for Hawaii... 🏄
But it now
raises a new question: if the Speaker can confirm no taxpayer money
was used for the Cook Islands trip, why couldn't he do this when we
(and the media) asked the same questions back in November when Debbie
Ngarewa-Packer took the Hawaii trip (and
the completely coincidental $39,000 flight expenses)?
It's
possible that our email campaign prompted Parliamentary Services (or
the Speaker) to reject the Cook Islands trip as work-related.
Again, because of the carve out MPs have from the Official Information
Act, we just have no way of knowing.
And Te Pāti
Māori aren't exactly known for fronting up to answer questions: they
literally just ignore us when we email their press team.
So if
you've not already, please take 30 seconds to sign
the petition to make sure MPs can't dodge accountability and are
forced to be as transparent as Ministers on how taxpayers' money is
spent.
School
lunches feeding pet pigs instead of kids 🐷🥪
School
lunches have recently been hitting the trough – quite
literally. 1News
reported on a rural school in Nuhaka feeding 50 percent of their
school lunches not to hungry kids, but to a hungry pig called
'Crackles' instead.
No
one wants kids going hungry, but according to our parenting guide
books, hungry kids don't tend to throw away food. So maaaaaaybe
this programme is missing the mark?
And there
was the other very obvious question 1News wouldn't dare ask:
if Nuhaka school is throwing away half of the lunches it receives
every day, why haven't they, well, reduced the order?!
But then,
if the media asked these questions the stunt by the
teachers' unions wouldn't have really worked.
Luxon
says: "Go make a Marmite Sandwich" 🥪
It's taken
him a year, but it seems Mr Luxon has found some common sense telling
the media that if
the taxpayer funded lunches aren't tasty enough, maybe it's time for a
marmite sandwich... Predictably, the pearl clutchers at Radio NZ
were SHOCKED.
But the
real shocking thing on this story is that it's exposed, we think,
the only person in New Zealand who doesn't appear to know how
to make a Marmite Sandwich.
As a number
of our supporters on social media have pointed out, poor Alex (our
Comms Officer who came to us from our friends at the Canadian
Taxpayers Federation) struggled. The
comments on the video are painfully honest, but go and review his
effort for yourself... 🤢
Te Whatu
Ora's finances aren't looking too healthy 🚑🚨
From the
'the media didn't give this report nearly enough attention because
it was dumped on a Friday' file, a report by Deloitte has become
public revealing the state of Health New Zealand's financial
meltdown.
It
turns out, following the last Government's botched effort to merge the
former District Health Boards, they were left with no financial
controls, no regard for budgets, and massive spending blowouts across
the whole system.
$28 billion of spending being tracked on a single
Excel spreadsheet 📈💰
To remove any doubt that the Deloitte
report was too harsh, get this: Health New Zealand is tracking
their entire $28 billion budget with just a single excel
spreadsheet!
You really
couldn't make this up.
No wonder Christopher Luxon called in the Government's 'Mr Fix-it' to
sort it out.
High Court
puts infrastructure on ice for creepy crawlies ⚠️🐌
Right
as Luxon was courting foreign investors for major infrastructure and
roading projects the High Court released a decision that
effectively bans road building where wildlife might need to be
relocated or disturbed.
Who needs
roads anyway? 🤷🚗
In blowing
a hole in the Government's infrastructure plans the
High Court ruled that the permit which allows NZTA to
inadvertently kill bats, kiwi and other native fauna while clearing
vegetation for the Mt Messenger Bypass was
unlawful.
And
the precedent applies to other projects where, God forbid, spiders and
slugs could be disturbed.
Yes, seriously.
SAVE THE SPIDERS! (And the slugs) 🪧
New Zealand's
'bang-for-buck' on infrastructure projects (i.e. productivity) is
already near the bottom of the OECD. An added helping
of red green
tape means New Zealanders already get less roads at a higher
cost.
The
Government needs to act fast and overturn this bizarre
ruling.
If they don't, our
exposé of the Transport Agency spending $85,000 on a gecko wild
goose chase in Taranaki will just be the start.
Duncan Garner on the whale music for kauri trees
legal fight
It’s not
every day that a journalist complements the Taxpayers' Union,
but we were humbled by Duncan Garner's comments on the legal
threats being made against us relating to the Whale Song for Kauri
Trees.
 Watch on YouTube here
As
Duncan points out, with the mainstream media afraid to go after waste
stories for fear of being cancelled, called racist, or face legal
threats, groups like the Taxpayers' Union have never been
more important.
Thank you
to all of those who responded to Jordan's
request for support.
But we're
better than this, ... 😐
Finally
this week, Jordan has asked me to pass on that while we really
appreciate the support to stand up to the legal threats, it's
very disappointing to learn of someone sending threatening messages
via social media/messenger apps to to the co-director of the "bio
heritage" programme Oranga (Wellbeing) Project.
We
understand the frustration over this wasteful spending, but attacking
or harassing the individual involved hurts our cause and our approach
of playing the issue, not attacking the person. Bullying, threats and
ad hominem attacks are not accountability. Nor does it
persuade the politicians (and the public) we ultimately need on board
to put an end to this type of wasteful spending.
It's also
not what the Taxpayers' Union is all about, and we know 99.9% of our
supporters won't condone it. Please don't be the exception.
Enjoy the
rest of your week,
 |
James
Ross
Policy & Public Affairs Manager
New Zealand
Taxpayers’ Union
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