T

I do campaigns @ @taxpayersunion / throw your soul through every open door

[Tom Harwood @tomhfh]

"If you look at the economic problems we have today, I don’t really think they’ve got anything to do with Brexit at all.

I mean, our economic problems are we are overspending, over-borrowing, over-taxing, over-regulated, and far too much being spent on working age welfare.

Those are a set of problems that have nothing to do with Brexit."

[T @tory_relf]

Importantly, he’s a consumer advice columnist, so everything he advocates for is what’s the immediate best for the individual and not for the long-term health of the state

[henry cooke @henrycooke]

one thing that really embodies modern britain is that there is a financial advice columnist who is perhaps the fourth of fifth most important news maker in the country. he regularly meets with politicians who are desperate for his approval and he can change govt policy.

[henry cooke @henrycooke]

I encourage any remaining Curia truthers, including Hipkins, to listen to the head of RANZ on At Large with @toby_etc last night. He lays out what the actual issue was and what it was not. He wants Curia to rejoin and says David is both an expert and passionate abt accuracy.

[Pan @pangrey123]

"Oh for fuck's sake what now"

me when asked to do the job I was hired to do

[Katie Lam @Katie_Lam_MP]

Andy Burnham wants to rig the electoral system so that it's harder for us to hold politicians accountable.

How can anybody look at this Government and think that what we need is less accountability?

We will fight this every step of the way.

[Ella Brockway @ellabrockway]

Somewhere out there a Manchester City fan who is also a big Taylor Swift fan is having quite the difficult morning

[Oliver Cooper @OliverCooper]

The Conservative Party is back to being the most popular party among women.

[New Zealand Taxpayers' Union @TaxpayersUnion]

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞-𝐎-𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟑: 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 $𝟏𝟎𝟎𝐤-𝐩𝐞𝐫-𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐛

In Week 3 of the Taxpayers' Union's Bribe-O-Meter, Labour has proposed requiring supermarkets to operate their wholesale and retail arms separately, and to make price gouging illegal. The direct cost to taxpayers is limited to additional Commerce Commission enforcement capacity, which we have costed at $88.6 million, or $42.75 per household.

National's proposal for a Commerce Commission study into a possible structural separation of Foodstuffs has been costed at $5 million. We've also included National's proposal for a referendum on retaining MMP, costed at $16.6 million.

The Greens have proposed allowing councils to auction leases on commercial premises left vacant for over 12 months, with disputes handled by a new tribunal. We have costed the tribunal at $7.2 million. The Greens have also committed $200 million to promoting Te Reo Māori.

Opportunity's $5 billion Climate Resilience Fund adds $2,413 per household. This week we have also added interest costs associated with the party's proposed infrastructure borrowing, adding a further $12 billion, or $5,792 per household.

Te Pāti Māori has announced its first costed policy of the campaign, a $1 billion Energy Sovereignty fund intended to support Māori and community ownership of new renewable energy assets, equivalent to $483 per household.

New Zealand First's "Make NZ Healthy" package, comprising fifteen individual policies, was announced without accompanying costings. We have estimated the package at $2.1 billion, or $1,019 per household, based on comparable programme costs and public sector data. We would welcome New Zealand First's own costings for inclusion in future updates.

Taxpayers’ Union Head of Policy James Ross said:

"This week's announcements show how much of the cost of an election promise can sit off the government's own books. Labour and National's supermarket policies will cost businesses real money, even if most of the bill never shows up on the Crown's balance sheet."

"We've costed New Zealand First's 'Make New Zealand Healthy' at $2.1 billion, but assumptions about how much the party intends to bump nurses' pay are responsible for the lion's share. We invite them to reach out with more detail to update these costings for next week."

"A second party has broken the $100,000-per-household mark this week, with Opportunity joining the Greens. This is over four times as much as the next closest competitors."

Weekly Bribe-O-Meter updates, including our Transparency Score Rankings, are available at https://t.co/VpwWxLr1vh.

[Dane Giraud ✡️ @Dane_Giraud]

The scandal is that a lobby group exists that offends the faux-Left. You may disagree with everything they stand for but in a democracy people have a right to organize and challenge a governments policies.

[T @tory_relf]

Incredibly proud of my team @TaxpayersUnion for carrying on the good fight in Greymouth despite all the noise last night

[Damien Grant @damienmgrant]

While Nicky Hager was launching his fictional best selling, the @TaxpayersUnion was in Greymouth hosting the only debate in for the West Coast.

This is what civil society looks like.

[T @tory_relf]

In response to your article, I want to say this personally. I’m not saying this because it is my job or because anyone has asked me to. I’m saying it as a woman who works closely with Jordan, knows him well, and has formed my own view of him based on that experience. (7/7)

[T @tory_relf]

For the record, Hager’s characterisation just isn’t the Jordan I know.

I’ve worked incredibly closely with him for the last 18 months and have spent a huge amount of time with him, often in stressful and high-pressure situations. (1/7)

[henry cooke @henrycooke]

Nicky Hager says he stands by the sexual harassment allegation and this was a "predictable response" from Jordan Williams.

[T @tory_relf]

I can only speak from my own experience, and they can only speak from theirs, but taken together it makes Hager’s characterisation very difficult to reconcile with the person we know. (6/7)

[Tom Harwood @tomhfh]

Things went sour when being a member of Parliament ceased to be a legislative role and became a sort of pretend-executive 'hyper local mayor / social worker' in the eyes of too many.

Roy Hattersley would never.

[Tracy Edwards @TracyEdwardsMBE]

'It is with a heavy heart that we are going to protect the rights of girls.....' Un-flipping-believable!!!! @Girlguiding

[T @tory_relf]

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Willis is going to hand the next election to Labour if she doesn’t get the economy under control

[New Zealand Taxpayers' Union @TaxpayersUnion]

𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬' 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐅 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭'𝐬 '𝐆𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡' 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧

In light of yesterday's alarming GDP figures and the failure of the Government's current fiscal and economic approach, the Taxpayers' Union is calling on Nicola Willis to present a 'Spring Statement' to decidedly reset the economy on a growth path before this year's Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update.

"Two years into the Government's economic agenda, it is clear the current plan is failing and it's time for a bold change in direction," said Hon Ruth Richardson, the Chair of the Taxpayers' Union.

"The first thing the Government needs to do to deliver growth is get Big Government's foot off the throat of the economy. Despite running on a platform of cutting the last government's bloated spending, Nicola Willis has actually increased government spending as a proportion of the economy. She is perpetuating high levels of deficit and debt, which are dragging the economy down."

"Nicola Willis tried to portray her approach favourably in opposition to my 'short and sharp' approach when I faced similar fiscal challenges in the early 1990s. That approach set the scene for a growth rate of 5 percent - it's better to be short and sharp than this long, painful torture of continuing the last government's fiscal recklessness. Yesterday's numbers are vindication of my high-growth choice."

"New Zealanders cannot afford to stick with failing policies. A course correction is urgently needed. The best way to do it is a Spring Statement to correct the fiscal path, get spending under control and give the private sector room to grow again.”

“The Government must stop pretending that the current approach will work. The attacks on me and others who are pointing out the fiscal elephants in the room do Ms Willis, and all New Zealanders, a disservice. Moving government spending back to, say, the levels of Ardern's 'wellbeing budget' isn't 'slash and burn', it's responsible and necessary."

"Treasury are making clear that the situation is getting worse, not better. The Government says they are on a path to 'surplus', but it's spin over substance. The amount being borrowed per day now is higher than when the Government entered office.”

“It’s time for a hard reset, a shift in priorities towards fiscal responsibility and economic stability.”

“The longer we wait, the deeper the hole. A Spring Statement is necessary.”