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Hi Friend,
The
politicians might still be sitting under their Pohutukawa trees eating
ice creams, but like rust, government waste never takes a day
off.
It's only
week two of 2025, but here's what we've found so far...
MBIE's New
Year's Resolution: The Ministry of Silly Walks Sitting up Straight 🪑
Some say that
bureaucrats spend too long on their backsides. Well, hold on to your
seats for this one, because we can reveal that the Ministry of
Business, Innovation and Employment have
spent $500,012 to learn how to sit at their desks
correctly.
MBIE has spent half a million
dollars on coaching staff on how to sit up straight!
💸
That's right – half
a million dollars over the last two-and-a-half years teaching
bureaucrats how to sit.
As
I put
it to my comments to the media:
"The public service can posture all
it likes about their being no fat to be trimmed, but when MBIE’s happy
to chuck hundreds of thousands away on posture training it’s taxpayers
who are left bent out of shape."
Sacking
back-office consultants is one thing, but how about the Government
sack these back-alignment consultants too?
You can read more
(including MBIE's official advice about setting up a workstation) by
heading over to our website.
Speaking
of sitting at a desk... officials caught accessing p*rn from work
machines 👀
Turns out,
sitting incorrectly isn't the biggest blunder public servants have
made recently.
In just six
months, the Ministry of Māori Development has recorded
217 instances of explicit content being accessed on the
clock.
Just to
hammer home that these aren't just some flukey Google accidents, over
the same period the Ministry of Women recorded only one
incident.
Time is
money, so
when bureaucrats sit watching *ahem* entertainment in the
office maybe they lack enough to do?
But is it racist to call out bureaucrats watching p*rn at
work?
, calling out public officials for using taxpayer
computers to access adult material is far from our most important or
valued work. We asked a number of government agencies mostly because
wanted to know whether the Government is implementing the sorts of
internet filters and security that are standard in the private
sector.
Other than
some anecdotal feedback giggles from our friends in the media,
the story wasn't covered by any of the mainstream outlets.
But then,
we got an out of the blue request from Māori Television. They wanted
to know whether we had targeted the Ministry of Māori
Development and whether we'd asked other departments about their
computer use...
Of course
when it comes to snuffing out government waste we take an equal
opportunities approach – but it raises the question about fourth
estate priorities when an agency is embarrassed, the media are more
interested in 'why are you asking this', or even seeming to imply a
racial motive, rather than holding a taxpayer funded agency to
account...
As the
media become so agenda-driving, is it any wonder so many New
Zealanders support
the Taxpayers' Union?
Police
dogs chasing criminals, but biting taxpayers 🐕👮
Call us old
fashioned, but if you get yourself injured whilst breaking the law we
don't think taxpayers should be on the hook for patching you up
again.
The
Taxpayers' Union can reveal that ACC has
paid out $217,674 for 255 claims for police dog bites over the last
four years.
And even
they recognise that the figures are likely be an under-estimate! It
only includes claims where "Police Dog" was voluntarily mentioned – so
the real bill is likely to be even higher.
This is at
the same time as those of us with (non-criminal) jobs are facing 16
percent hikes in our ACC levies over the next three years, and drivers
have another 24 percent tax hike coming over the same
period.
We say,
that if you put yourself in harm's way, and are caught breaking the
law, 'accident compensation' costs should be on you not the taxpayer.
If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
Unelected
Iwi council reps 'call out' elected councillors (for daring to
disagree) 🙅♂️🗳️
Unelected
reps sitting on the Taranaki Regional Council got themselves into a
tizz last week when the elected councillors rejected spending
ratepayers' money on taking an Official Council Position and
submitting on ACT's Treaty Principles Bill.
Here at the
Taxpayers' Union, we say that council should stick to their knitting.
Spending ratepayer money on lobbying (especially on matters not
directly related to core services) is compelled speech. Why should
Joe-and-Jill-ratepayer be forced to pay rates money to lobby for
things they may not agree with.
Well, you'd
think the sky had caved in. After
the Council decided to remain impartial, the six (yes, six) unelected
appointees formally lodged complaints and declared "no confidence" in
the elected council members being an 'impartial governing
body'.
Someone
needs to sit these reps down and explain to them how democracy works.
The Council specifically rejected taking a view on a contentious piece
of national legislation. Sounds pretty 'impartial' to us!
Here at the
Taxpayers' Union, we say that unelected, undemocratic appointees have
no business trying to ram through political campaigns unrelated to the
council's core job. Whether it's Iwi reps or the kids with voting
powers in Hastings, they also need to learn democracy comes
first.
Like what
we do? Why not join the team? 🫵🥸
If you like
bureaucrats buying you drinks, we don't suggest becoming an intern or
researcher at the Taxpayers' Union. But if you're looking for a role
that mixes public policy, economics, politics, communications and
advocacy, we have a deal for you! We are looking for talented
additions to our team.
So if
you've got a passion for keeping more money in taxpayers' pockets, and
fighting for more transparency and accountability within government,
drop us a line.
Have a
great week.
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James
Ross
Policy and Public Affairs Manager
New Zealand
Taxpayers' Union
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