Taxpayer Talk New Zealand Taxpayers' Union Inc.

This week on Taxpayer Talk, Taxpayers' Union Campaigns Manager, Callum Purves, sits down with ACT Party MP, Simon Court, to discuss the recent Three Waters rebrand, the proposed resource management reforms and what ACT is proposing to solve New Zealand's significant infrastructure and planning problems.

Simon Court is ACT's spokesperson for infrastructure, the environment and local government and has been leading their response to the contentious Three Waters and RMA reforms. Prior to becoming an MP, Simon was a civil and environmental engineer working both in the private sector and for local government. Simon believes that local control, strong private property rights and the right incentives for councils to make good decisions will be what leads to solving some of our biggest problems going forward.

Later in the podcast, for our War on Waste segment, Taxpayers’ Union Deputy Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, reveals a 19-month long investigation into the Government’s decision to give millions of taxpayer dollars to a gang-affiliated meth rehabilitation program and the bureaucratic process of simply getting straight answers from officials.

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This week on Taxpayer Talk, Taxpayers' Union Campaigns Manager, Callum Purves, sits down with Wellington City Councillor, Ray Chung, to discuss Wellington’s shocking 12.3% rates rise and why this is being driven by inefficient, wasteful spending at the Council.

Councillor Chung was elected just last year as the representative for Wharangi / Onslow-Western Ward. He's one of the few fiscal conservatives on the Council and is able to provide some interesting insight into its inner workings and explains why it is so hard – and expensive – to get anything done. We also get to hear why Councillor Chung is a vocal opponent of Three Waters and co-governance along with discussing potential solutions for the Council's severe infrastructure deficit.

Later in the podcast, for our War on Waste segment, Taxpayers’ Union Deputy Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, analyses the growth of managers in the public service and investigates whether the growth in the public service is driven by the core frontline workforce or simply a ballooning of the backroom bureaucracy of managers and consultants.

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On this episode of Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams speaks with former Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand Chair, Rob Campbell, to discuss political neutrality within the public service.

Campbell was publicly sacked from his high-profile position in the public service after making controversial comments about the National Party's Three Waters policy on his LinkedIn account. Campbell has doubled down on his comments and feels he should be free to give his opinion on controversial issues. Since recording this podcast, he has also been dismissed from his role at the Environmental Protection Authority but remains unremorseful.

Throughout this episode, Peter and Rob dive deep into the responsibilities of public servants, where professional responsibility ends and where personal opinion begins.

Later in the episode we are joined by Taxpayers' Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, to hear his perspective on the state of political neutrality within the public service.

Also this week, we hear from our War on Waste team who have uncovered a million dollar truancy awareness campaign. But will it get kids to go to school?

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If you have any comments, questions or suggestions feel free to email peter@taxpayers.org.nz 


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This week on Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams sits down with Nick Stewart to discuss the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle. The recent cyclone devastated many parts of the country, particularly Hawke's Bay and Gisborne on the East Coast of the North Island. Along with claiming lives and livelihoods, the cyclone exposed serious problems with the adequacy of our infrastructure.

Nick is the Chief Executive of Stewart Group, a Hawke's Bay based financial services firm. Being from the area, Nick is understandably interested in the effects this event will have on the region, and country, over many years to come. He shares his perspective and insights as to how we can recover and different ways this rebuild could be paid for.

Also in this podcast, our War on Waste team target exorbitant spending by government departments on catering.

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If you have any comments, questions or suggestions feel free to email peter@taxpayers.org.nz 
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In the latest edition of Taxpayer Talk, the focus is on local government with guests Dr Oliver Hartwich and Callum Purves. A review into the future of local government has been commissioned but it fails to address the main issues affecting the sector, in particular the way it’s funded and what its main functions should be. 
New Zealand Initiative Executive Director, Oliver Hartwich, explains to host Peter Williams why more localism is such an important concept and why it can be great for a country’s economy. Taxpayers' Union Campaign Manager, Callum Purves, himself a former councillor in Scotland, explains what was wrong with the recent local government review. 
Also in the podcast, our War on Waste team focus on some silly spending by the Wellington City Council.

Submit on the Review on the Future of Local Government at www.protectlocaldemocracy.nz

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If you have any comments, questions or suggestions feel free to email peter@taxpayers.org.nz 
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In the latest edition of Taxpayer Talk, host Peter Williams talks with Federated Farmers’ Paul Melville and Mark Hooper about the proposed new planning and environmental legislation to replace the Resource Management Act.

While there is almost unanimous agreement the much maligned RMA needs to be updated and changed, Federated Farmers have serious doubts the new Natural and Built Environments Bill and its companion Spatial Planning Bill is the way forward.

Also in this edition, a new segment called War on Waste where a member of the Taxpayers' Union staff exposes profligate spending by government or local authorities. This time researcher Alex Murphy has Auckland Council in his sights.

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If you have any comments, questions or suggestions feel free to email peter@taxpayers.org.nz 
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