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Hi Friend,

The silly season is well underway. It's the time for Christmas shopping, summer planning, last minute errands, and when Governments tend to 'take out the trash' – hoping bad news stories are buried in the Christmas rush. So while Christmas is right around the corner Santa's naughty list is growing.

This week, we learned of some sneaky (unannounced) tax changes from Wellington, that rates capping has been delayed until 2029, the bureaucrat golden goodbye bonanza continues, and a record high rates hike in the pipeline for Aucklanders.

Oh, and you might have noticed a bit of media attention the last few days on a new campaign we've not even launched yet! Some comments about that below...

So grab a cuppa. This end of week wrap up is stacked.

Rates Cap Now ✅ or Rates Cap Later ❌



On Monday we learned the good news is that the capping of crippling council rates is coming. The bad news is that the Government has pushed back implementation until 2029.

That means that councils now have three full years to make massive rate hikes before the cap kicks in. And does anyone have faith that they won't?

Most councils are currently working on their Long Term Plans – which are required to be done every three years to set out rates and spending parameters for the following 10 years (yes, I know how that reads).

That means the window of opportunity to force councils to live within their means (and what ratepayers can afford) is narrow. The Government’s delay is an invitation for local councils to hike everything now, bake it into the baseline, and shrug later.

Obviously, we had a lot to say on this issue <[link removed]>, with Tory on Three News making the case for ratepayers and why we need to Cap Rates * <[link removed]>Now* <[link removed]>.



James was also busy. His excellent op-ed for The Post also points out that councils will rush to push rates up while they still can, because once the cap arrives, they’re locked in <[link removed]>. I just love the last line of this:

<[link removed]>

Continue reading over on The Post's website. <[link removed]>

Yours truly had a longer discussion with current Otago Regional Councillor (and host on The Platform) Michael Laws. <[link removed]>

<[link removed]> <[link removed]>

I also spoke with Duncan Garner for his Editor in Chief podcast <[link removed]>.

<[link removed]>

TVNZ bias: even AI is noticing 📺

Strangely, we didn't hear a whisper from TVNZ's One News, despite your humble Taxpayers' Union both proposing the rates capping policy, and driving the campaign to get the Government to adopt it!

Just like One News strived to ignore ratepayers during the whole two years of coverage of the last Government's Three Waters effort, they'd rather stick to "insiders" like Local Government NZ and others who are using ratepayer money to oppose our Cap Rates Now campaign.

And we are not alone.

New AI analysis of the framing of political stories by One News suggests that something is going seriously awry at the taxpayer-owned broadcaster... <[link removed]>

NEW Rates Cap Dashboard: how much have you already been fleeced? 💳🐑

As you know, we track council rates across the country closely. Earlier in the year we exposed that cumulatively, over the last three years, the average rates hike by councils was an incredible 35 percent. 

So on Friday we launched the Rates Cap Dashboard <[link removed]> – a new tool revealing what the average household in every council district would have saved if the Government's rates cap had been in place over the past three years.

James and his team found:

- Across the country, the average household would be between $670 and $864 better off right now had the proposed 2-4 percent cap been in place over the last three years.
- The average household in 21 council areas would have saved more than $1,000 each
- Queenstown-Lakes District ratepayers would have saved the most: an incredible $1,706 lost per household.
- Even in councils with the smallest numbers, a rates cap would still have left hundreds of dollars in the pockets of every local ratepayer.

<[link removed]>

👉 See what your council cost your household in lost savings here <[link removed]>

The campaign isn't over: we've got Cabinet over the line on the Cap Rates bit, now we just need them to do it NOW. <[link removed]>

To back the Cap <[link removed]>Rates <[link removed]> Now campaign and chip-in to the fighting fund, click here. <[link removed]>

Mayor Brown’s Rates Cap Backflip 💥🛑

Wayne Brown campaigned as the guy who’d rein in Auckland Council waste. But fast forward to today, and Auckland Council’s operating spending continues to balloon right under Mr Brown's nose. 

Despite the rhetoric, Wayne Brown has hiked Council spending by more than 20.5% in just three years. Cumulative inflation over the same timeframe has been seven percent.

During the election campaign just been, Brown committed to keep rates no more than 1.5 percent above inflation – which is bang on the midpoint for where the Government has set its cap! But now, just three months later, Wayne Brown has changed his tune. 

Now the Mayor says a rates cap “won’t work” –  announcing a 7.9 percent rates hike within an hour of the Government announcing its policy.

If Wayne Brown gets his way, next year's rates hike will be the highest ever for the Super City!

Brown is blaming the City Rail Link which he claimed will add $1 million a day to ratepayers’ costs. But our friends at the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance <[link removed]> checked the numbers: the actual cost is $26 million a year, or roughly equivalent to 1 percent on rates.

Not nothing, but nowhere near the eight percent figure Wayne Brown is pushing.

Brown isn’t levelling with Aucklanders — and that’s exactly why we need a legally enforceable cap.

With my Ratepayers' Alliance hat on I joined Newstalk ZB to call out Mayor Brown's 'absolute nonsense' <[link removed]> 👇

<[link removed]>

IRD's sneaky pre-Christmas surprise 🎄⚠️

While no one was paying attention, the IRD quietly dropped one of the most destructive tax changes we’ve seen in decades.

Here’s the gist:

- Many small businesses pay owners through a running loan account during the year.
- At year-end, they clear it with dividends or salary — standard practice.
- Under the new rule, if the loan isn’t cleared within 12 months, IRD will now treat the whole loan as taxable income…
- …and the owner still has to repay the loan later using more taxable income.

Yes, taxed twice. Yes, retrospective, covering the current tax year (in fact, IRD say the law will be backdated to come into effect as of Thursday). And no, there was no press conference, no speech, no debate. Just a quiet upload to the IRD website.

Our tax experts say that these changes will have a far greater impact on New Zealand's SMEs and farmers than Labour's proposed Capital Gains Tax. No wonder the Government is mum!

And nothing says “Merry Christmas” like a backdated tax bill.

Sneaking a policy of this magnitude through without fanfare over summer is bad form. You can read our full comments here. <[link removed]>

Submissions close on 5 February (more info here <[link removed]>) – rest assured that the Taxpayers' Union will be back to work well before then! 

Golden Handshakes: More than $837,000 in a single week (and that's just those we know about!) 🤦‍♀️💰

If you thought we’d hit peak golden handshake insanity with Adrian Orr's $416,120 "golden goodbye", think again. This week alone, we already know taxpayers are on the hook for:

- Andrew Coster (disgraced former head of the Social Investment Agency who was allowed to resign and therefore collect a garden leave/three-month's pay windfall) – $130,000
- Diana Sarfati (former head of the Ministry of Health)– $350,000
- Sarah Fitt (former Pharmac boss) – $357,000

Tory spoke to Newstalk ZB on Andrew Coster's golden handshake and the scale of his payout, which you can listen to here. <[link removed]>

<[link removed]>

We’ve also seen another resignation as the Coster fallout continues to reverberate through Wellington.

This time a former Deputy Police Commissioner now at the Civil Aviation Authority, was rewarded with a payout – and one that the CAA chief refused to even declare when asked by MPs during Parliament's scrutiny week.

That’s a) a middle finger to transparency and b) likely to push the total north of $1 million this week alone.

This is why we’re pushing for a hard cap on exit payouts, zero payouts for anyone paid more than an MP, and full transparency in public servants receiving such payouts.

Until then, the golden handshake conveyor belt rolls on.

Labour using taxpayer funded staff to make Party propaganda 📹🚫



At Labour’s conference, their social media adviser — funded by Parliamentary Service — was producing political content on the taxpayer dollar <[link removed]>.

The rules are clear: Parliamentary staff support MPs’ official duties, not partisan content creation for the party machine.

I don’t think it’s complicated, Friend. If parties want political videos, they should use party funds, not raid the taxpayer wallet.

And yes, this all happened during Scrutiny Week. You couldn’t write it better.

Health NZ spending $3.5 million this year on “non-jobs” 🧘‍♂️🌀



The year might be nearly over, but everyone’s favourite Investigations Coordinator Rhys is still hard at work digging into waste across local and national government.

On Friday, Rhys revealed Health NZ employs 13.7 FTE staff dedicated exclusively to DEI, sustainability, climate, and non-clinical “culture” work <[link removed]>.

The total salary bill is a jaw-dropping $3,475,054.

Back of the envelope, that's an average salary of $253,654! 

As is usual, Rhys has linked to all the source material on the website, so you can judge for yourself whether these Health NZ salaries are justified...



As you can see, while Health NZ only give us the salary information in bands, we can work out from the total that most of the roles are paid at the very upper end!

Meanwhile:

- Emergency departments are overflowing
- Waitlists are blowing out
- Surgical backlogs are growing

This is the problem in a nutshell: We’re funding everything exceptactual healthcare.

One more thing... 

Finally, we’ve had a lot of good publicity for our campaign launching very soon <[link removed]>, and now it is our turn to say what it is all about.

The campaign is about Nicola Willis becoming our best ever finance minister. No one wants her to succeed more than than Taxpayers’ Union to cut wasteful spending, balance the books, and keep out a Labour-TPM-Green high tax, high deficit, 'addicted to spending' disaster.

Our pressure campaign is about pointing out the fiscal elephants in the room and her having the incentives from voters to become our best ever finance minister and get New Zealand off the disastrous fiscal track it has been on for so long <[link removed]>.

Watch this space...

<[link removed]>


Jordan Williams
Executive Director
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. 

Ps. As well as the last Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll of 2025, it's looking likely the Government's replacement to the Resource Management Act is going to be released early next week. This is likely to be the biggest (regulatory) tax relief any government has delivered under MMP. As soon as we have worked through the details, we'll get them to you. A big week ahead!

In the Media:

NZ HeraldNicola Willis v Ruth Richardson and the battle to get back to black – Thomas Coughlan <[link removed]>

Southland Times Mayors react to rates cap

NZ HeraldInland Revenue proposes changing tax treatment of loans companies issue to shareholders <[link removed]>

The PostWellington's ‘Future Fit’ blueprint can't sit on a shelf <[link removed]>

NZ HeraldDynamic Business: Nicola Willis warns AI boom could trigger next global market crash <[link removed]>

NZ HeraldTaxpayers’ Union to target Nicola Willis with major campaign on tax and debt - Matthew Hooton <[link removed]>

Newstalk ZBNews Fix: Midday Edition, 4 December 2025 <[link removed]>

NZ HeraldThe Front Page: Local Government shakeup explained <[link removed]>

RNZHealth select committee erupts into heated debate over roll out of oral tobacco and nicotine products <[link removed]>

Chris Lynch MediaAndrew Coster quits public role following IPCA report <[link removed]>

Newstalk ZBJordan Williams: Wayne Brown’s $235m City Rail Link cost ‘absolute nonsense’ <[link removed]>

NZ CityAn unsophisticated theft of public money's led to fears there may be similar cases <[link removed]>

ListenerListener special: How the global rise of radical conservatism is influencing politics in Aotearoa <[link removed]>

Newstalk ZBWayne Brown: Auckland Mayor defends annual $235 million operating cost for City Rail Link <[link removed]>

Newstalk ZBHeather du Plessis-Allan Drive: Full Show Podcast, 2 December 2025 <[link removed]>

The PlatformJordan Williams On The Central Government Proposed Rates Cap <[link removed]>

NZ CityCriticism of Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown - for planning a rates hike, at the same time the Government's put up a plan to force Councils to cap them <[link removed]>

NewsroomSimon says cap your rates – how will councils respond? <[link removed]>

NZ HeraldMcSkimming scandal: Andrew Coster on $1500 a day as investigation to wind up in ‘not too distant future’ <[link removed]>

The PostRates cap is welcome, but 2029 is three years too late <[link removed]>

The SpinoffWill ratepayers come to regret having their rates capped? <[link removed]>

The PressRates cap will force tough decisions as Christchurch councillor suggests selling Enable <[link removed]>

Star NewsGovt announces rates cap policy <[link removed]>

Interest.co.nzLocal Government Minister Simon Watts unveils rates cap with a target range of 2% to 4% increases, saying ‘ratepayers deserve councils that live within their means’ <[link removed]>

Waikato TimesChris Hipkins signals distance from Te Pāti Māori as new poll shows voters want him to rule out deal <[link removed]>

NZ HeraldLabour knows exactly what’s wrong with New Zealand; it doesn’t know what kind of Labour Party to be <[link removed]>

The PostLabour’s universal free GP policy faces workforce warning <[link removed]>



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