Latest news with #TaxpayersUnion
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
New poll shows Labour ahead of National
politics about 1 hour ago The Taxpayers Union Curia Opinion poll was released on Monday morning has Labour now ahead of National on 33.6 percent - up two - and National on 31.8 down two. Acting political editor Craig McCulloch spoke to Corin Dann. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Wellington mayoral hopeful Rob Goulden banned from Taxpayers' Union debates
Former Wellington city councillor Rob Goulden insists he was not aggressive, when denied access to the debate. Photo: ROB GOULDEN / SUPPLIED Wellington mayoral candidate Rob Goulden denies he was aggressive towards staff and student volunteers, after being banned from future debates held by the Taxpayers' Union. Executive director Jordan Williams said the ban resulted from Goulden's behaviour at a mayoral debate run by the union's affiliated student group - Generation Screwed - at Victoria University on Wednesday night. Goulden was not allowed into the event and told at the door it would run a panel with only five of the 12 candidates for the capital's top job. "It's been reported to me that Mr Goulden was aggressive and rude to our university student coordinators, and treated Taxpayers' Union staff and volunteers disgustingly," Williams said. "That is totally unacceptable." "We won't tolerate that kind of behaviour, especially toward young people who care enough to engage in politics. If he tries to attend any of our future events, I have instructed our staff to call the police." Goulden said he was not aggressive. "I had two exchanges with people at the door. I was calm, I was polite. "I did say to them I thought what had happened was discourteous." He said he had been invited to the event, had not received any update telling him otherwise, and was annoyed they had wasted his time and cherry-picked candidates. Victoria Relf of the Taxpayers' Union told NZ Herald that organisers initially sent expressions of interest to all candidates, but decided to pick "the ones that were either the most high profile or the most relevant to students". Those were Alex Baker, Ray Chung, Karl Tiefenbacher, Andrew Little and Kelvin Hastie. Diane Calvert was also invited, but did not attend, due to sickness. In 2009, during his term as a city councillor, Goulden was escorted from a committee meeting by police, after a ban for aggressive behaviour. Goulden told RNZ that had been "a stitch-up job", saying: "I've never hit anybody, never assaulted anybody - I was upset years ago. "Just because you remonstrate with someone or put someone in their place... and last night was no different. I wasn't angry, I was disappointed. "I thought last night was a disgrace." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
30-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Are Our Pints Too Pricey? Tamatha Paul Thinks So
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union is backing Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul in calling for cheaper beer, arguing a $5 pint is only possible by cutting alcohol excise taxes. Taxpayers Union spokesman Rhys Hurley said: "The price of a pint has increased by a total of 20.6 percent through excise alone in just four years, before even accounting for inflation." "Not only is this causing further inflation but it is hampering hospitality's recovery from the lows of Covid lockdowns. Many businesses are on their last legs, if they haven't fallen over already." "Instead of trying to slap more taxes and restrictions on the majority who safely consume alcohol, how about properly targeted interventions on those causing harm?" "Paul has obviously seen the damage the tax has done to her electorate and the lack of people able to afford and enjoy a night out. It's time for the government to cut the booze tax and stop punishing people for enjoying themself."
RNZ News
15-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
West Coast Regional Council chair defends rate rises
West Coast Regional Council chair Peter Haddock. Photo: LDR / Lois Williams The West Coast Regional Council is defending its rate rises, and contesting figures put out by Taxpayers' Union showing the council topped the country for rate hikes over the past three years. Council chair Peter Haddock said the figures were flawed. The West Coast Regional Council's [WCRC] total rates increase this year was in fact 18 percent - higher than the Taxpayers Union figure of 12 percent, he said. The council itself previously reported the increase as 12 percent, but the figure did not include targeted rates and charges for Civil Defence and the new District Plan. But the total rate rise over three years was lower than the Taypayers' Union figure of 65 percent, Haddock said. "Our cumulative rate increase was more than 10 percent less than that … it was still high at 55 percent over three years but there are very good reasons why Coast rates have increased," he said. The council had previously started to fail on delivering mandatory work programmes because of cost cutting in previous years, and it was running an unbalanced budget, using mining bond deposits and prudent flood protection reserves held on behalf of ratepayers, to cover operational costs, Haddock said. "As a council, we couldn't continue this approach which amounted to kicking the can down the road," he said. "It would mean the next generation had to pay for unbalanced budgets just to make increases in WCRC rate requirements look better on paper." The cost of administering the new combined District Plan had also landed on the regional council, along with the cost of upgrading flood protection for Westport, Franz Josef and Hokitika. "I know West Coasters are doing it tough, and I know average incomes for many people are considerably less than the rest of the country. But I also know kicking the can along isn't good business practice," Haddock said. The impact of the 18 percent rate rise on individual ratepayers would vary. "Those with properties with a higher capital value will pay more rates than those with a lower capital value, that is fair." "We will not … live beyond our means. The government expects us to be financially prudent, and more importantly, so do Coasters. We've worked hard to rebuild council and ensure it is positioned to deliver for the community." The WCRC's job was to create the environment for the community and businesses to thrive, the chair said. "Our environment is dynamic … we've been investing heavily in flood protection work to ensure our communities remain safe and businesses can keep operating." Striking the right balance between development and management of effects was difficult when those effects took a long time to appear or were not fully understood, but the council had to ensure future generations did not have to pay for its mistakes, Haddock said. As the council completed the flood protection schemes, the costs passed on to the community would significantly reduce, he said. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
14-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Council rate increases of up to 65% too much, Taxpayers' Union says
Photo: Jo Danilo / Supplied Rates increases at levels double the scale of inflation over the past three years show local bodies' spending needs to be reined in, the Taxpayers' Union says. The lobby group has released its rates dashboard which ranks local bodies across the country on how much they have increased rates. It's been campaigning for the government to bring in a cap on rates increases . Its survery found, on average, rates have increased 34.4 percent in total over the past three years - that's more than two-and-a-half times the rate of inflation during the same period. "Over the last three years West Coast Regional Council had a rates increase of 65 percent. It's absolutely up there and it's driving the cost of living for a lot of people," Taxpayers Union local government campaigns manager Sam Warren said. West Coast Regional Council has been approached for a response. Other noticeable rates increases were seen in Wellington with the capital's city council increasing rates 47 percent while Wellington Regional Council was up 54 percent. Taranaki, Queenstown, Hastings and Central Otago were also among the top 10. "We'd like to see a return to focus on the basics particularly when families are doing it so tough," Warren said. He said while each council had it's own needs and challenges, spending was increasing across councils in various areas. "Employee costs were up 7 or 8 percent and finance costs up 16 percent off the top of my head. "I make a career of finding a lot of council waste, so it's endless obviously, but really I think right now when it's so difficult they need to tighten their belts," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
