Taxpayer’s Union is wasting taxpayers’ money
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9:24 am, September 15th, 2020 - 35 comments
Categories: broadcasting, election 2020, labour, spin, tax, taxpayers union, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, uncategorized -
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The entity that is full of rabid right wingers but calls itself a union and who believes that strongly in personal responsibility that it took the Government’s Covid wage subsidy claims that it is opposed to Government waste. In fact one of its three professed reasons for being is less Government waste.
Which is why its latest stunt is something of a mystery because I cannot think of a more wasteful use of taxpayer’s money.
It has complained to the Broadcasting Standards Authority about Labour’s first election advertisement.
In its own words:
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has laid a complaint with the Broadcasting Standards Authority regarding the Labour Party’s first television advertisement for the 2020 election campaign.
In the advertisement, Jacinda Ardern misleadingly claims that her Party will “make apprenticeships free”. In reality, these apprenticeships are not free – they are paid for by taxpayers.
Spreading the myth that there is such a thing as a free lunch – or a free apprenticeship – is wrong. That’s why we’re holding the politicians to account.
What does the policy provide? From the Labour website:
Labour is committed to making New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child. A large part of this is making sure every child can get a great education. That’s why we’re committed to lifting the achievement levels of all students, providing opportunities for them to thrive and succeed.
And the detail:
Boosting the apprenticeship and trades training to help people upskill and retrain, often for free in the next two years, and partnering with industry to fill skills gaps.
And here is the broadcast that has so upset Jordan and Co:
Let's stick together – let's keep moving ⏩ pic.twitter.com/0ANBTQaKJl
— New Zealand Labour (@nzlabour) September 11, 2020
The policy is clear. Free education for many to upskill. Of course there will be a cost to the state and the taxpayers generally but that is what happens with redistributive policies.
The TU’s complaint is naff. They have stretched the language way beyond breaking point to try and make a cheap political point. The apprenticeships are to be free for those of us that qualify, and of course there will be a cost to pay.
What should the Broadcasting Standards Authority do?
It can refuse to consider the complaint on the basis that it is frivolous and vexatious. And it can then award costs against the TU again on the basis that the complaint was frivolous and vexatious.
As a taxpayer I hope it takes this course. And I agree with the Taxpayer’s Union that we should hold those that deliberately waste taxpayer’s money to account.
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For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...2 weeks ago
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Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...2 weeks ago
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- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
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The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
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The Green Party says the need is greater than ever for Aotearoa New Zealand to pursue an independent foreign policy. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Winston Peters must apologise
The Deputy Prime Minister should apologise to the public servant he named and blamed for something they did not do, and for misusing the rules of Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
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The Government is taking action to ensure Southland farmers and growers are not affected by unreasonable regional farm plan deadlines, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard say.“Cabinet has agreed to provide more time for farmers and growers to comply with regional rules ...14 hours ago - Bill reaffirms Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending
The Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Bill had its first reading at Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending, Minister for Children Karen Chhour says. “In recent years we have seen an unacceptable spike in youth offending. “This Bill makes ...14 hours ago
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- Better support for victims of sexual violence
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One of the ten young men selected to participate in the Military-Style Academy Pilot has allegedly reoffended. Children’s Minister Karen Chhour is disappointed but says it would be naïve to think that none of these young men would reoffend. “I’m saddened that this young person has not taken this opportunity ...19 hours ago
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- Improving the lives of young New Zealanders
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The Government is reinstating the trade of livestock exports by sea while ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare, says Associate Minister of Agriculture Andrew Hoggard.“The Government will introduce legislation changes to reinstate the trade, enhance oversight, and strengthen requirements for exporters to identify risks and manage the welfare of ...2 days ago
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Tēnā koutou katoa – it is a pleasure to be here today. I would like to begin by acknowledging the important leadership role you all play in ensuring a quality health system New Zealanders can trust. There is enormous clinical expertise in this room covering a wide range of disciplines. ...2 days ago
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Tēnā koutou katoa. Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates. New Zealand, and all nations represented here today, are already dealing with the impacts of climate change. Our households, businesses, and economies are bearing the costs of its effects. The choices we make now will shape the severity of these impacts for generations ...2 days ago
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Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced New Zealand will contribute NZ$10 million to the new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage while at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. “New Zealand is joining the global effort to address the significant challenge of responding to ...2 days ago
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- LGFA increases borrowing capacity to support high growth councils
The Government is welcoming the decision by the Local Government Funding Agency to increase access to financing tools for fast growing councils to support greater investment in critical infrastructure, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says.“Communities across the country are facing an infrastructure deficit and significant population growth is projected in ...2 days ago
- Temporary Traffic Management costs revealed
The Government has revealed that over the past three years, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has spent an eyewatering $786 million of taxpayers’ money on road cones and temporary traffic management (TTM), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“When I became Minister, I was surprised to learn that that NZTA did ...2 days ago
- Jurisdiction of Disputes Tribunal to double
Legislation that will double the financial jurisdiction of the Disputes Tribunal from $30,000 to $60,000 has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith. “We need to improve court timeliness and access to justice so that Kiwis and get on with their lives. Court delays affect everyone, the ...3 days ago
- Protecting New Zealand from foreign interference
Legislation that will specifically criminalise foreign interference and strengthen espionage offences has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “It is normal and appropriate for states to interact and work to influence one another. This encourages cooperation and can have mutually beneficial outcomes. “However, the reality ...3 days ago
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Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed news that the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board has approved funding towards pre-implementation and early works on the State Highway 1 (SH1) Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass Road of National Significance (RoNS). “Reaching this significant milestone is a reflection of our Government’s ...3 days ago
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- Next steps for Regulatory Standards Bill
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- Youth Parliament 2025 announced
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- Police stats show promising change
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- Better coordination of anti-scam efforts
With the launch of Fraud Awareness Week, the Government is committing to new coordination efforts across industry and government to combat online scams, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Online financial scams are a growing problem for New Zealand. New data released today shows that Kiwis lost nearly ...4 days ago
- Minister to consider 7AA select committee report
Minister for Children Karen Chhour will consider the recommendations made by the Social Services and Community Committee in its report back to Parliament on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill. “I want to thank the people who made submissions and those who appeared before the committee in ...4 days ago
- Defence Minister to attend ASEAN meeting
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Vientiane, Laos. “We need to take every opportunity to engage with our international partners, given the increasingly unstable geo-political situation,” Ms Collins says. “New Zealand has a long-standing commitment to this ...4 days ago
- Launching the White Ribbon Ride
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Construction on the next stage of the SH1 Papakura to Drury project will begin early next month, with the contract for works awarded to Fulton Hogan, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. "SH1 Papakura to Drury is a key project that will drive economic growth and productivity, reduce congestion, and enable people ...6 days ago
- NZ signs trade deal with Costa Rica, Iceland and Switzerland
Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has signed a pioneering trade agreement that prioritises New Zealand’s sustainable exports at a ceremony during APEC in Peru today. “The Agreement on Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS), between Costa Rica, Iceland, and Switzerland was concluded in July of this year and opens up significant ...6 days ago
- Government and iwi work together on aquaculture
Five new Aquaculture Settlement Areas will help ensure Ngāi Tahu shares in the opportunities aquaculture offers for Southland’s economy, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. “The Aquaculture Settlement Areas (ASAs) I’m announcing today set aside space so the Crown and Ngāi Tahu can assess their potential for aquaculture development. ...7 days ago
- Government launches review to ensure electricity market is fit-for-purpose
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- Speech to Social Investment Hui: Jack and his whānau need our help
Kia ora koutou katoa. Nau mai, haere mai, piki mai. Ki te mihi atu ahau, ki te manwhenua nei, Te Atiawa, Ngāti toa rangatira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you, Andy, for your introduction. Let me acknowledge you as the new Chief Executive of the Social Investment ...7 days ago
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Toitū te taiao – Our environment endures The Government is consulting on proposals to modernise New Zealand’s conservation management system, aiming to protect relevant natural areas while supporting sustainable growth in tourism and regional economies, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. “Today, the Department of Conservation – Te Papa Atawhai is ...7 days ago
- Government slammed for pushing ahead with boot camps while trial still under way
The coalition has "absolutely no intention of listening to the evidence that comes out of their experiment", Labour MP says. ...51 minutes ago - Smoke and mirrors in heated tobacco debate
Labour claims Government is ‘cherry-picking’ smoking trends data to hide decade-first increase in daily smokers The post Smoke and mirrors in heated tobacco debate appeared first on Newsroom. ...56 minutes ago - Treasury bangs the drum on ‘unsustainable’ superannuation
The Government’s economic adviser is sending a message it doesn’t want to hear – superannuation is increasingly unaffordable The post Treasury bangs the drum on ‘unsustainable’ superannuation appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 hour ago
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A man abused by a former political figure is "immensely relieved" at a government proposal to end secrecy around sex offenders' identities. ...1 hour ago
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There is plenty yet to play out, but the next election is at this rate shaping up as trio versus trio, writes Toby Manhire. A subplot of this week’s historic hīkoi mō te Tiriti has been the sight of the three opposition parties presenting a unified front. Te Pāti Māori ...2 hours ago - All 33 malls in Auckland ranked from worst to best
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The post Daily crossword, Friday 22 November appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 hours ago
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Opinion: The immediate horror of nuclear weapon explosions – the blinding flash, crushing blast wave, and radioactive inferno – is well documented.But what nuclear-armed nations either don’t grasp or won’t admit, is far more chilling: how their weapons could devastate even countries thousands of kilometres from any mushroom clouds.The collapse ...2 hours ago
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- Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 22 November
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 22 November appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 hours ago
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Hmmm. The Taxpayers' Union would seem to me to have the rather large problem that, more or less whenever any commercial outfit markets anything as free, someone will have purchased it or paid for its manufacture, and be forgoing the income from its sale. By that reasoning, the word 'free' (as in beer) must be banished from the English language entirely.
Including their favourite, 'free' speech.
Yeah it's a ludicrously wilful misreading of what 'free' actually means – in this case free training (depending on circumstances) for the apprentice/trainee, ie at no cost to the consumer of the service/offering. The TU must go nuts every time one of those TV ads offers a 'free' set of steak knives with some product, or McDonalds offers a free Coke with a burger.
As for all the ‘free’ roads out there …
That is the issue, apprenticeships should be paid. Work should be paid, even if you are just 'learning' on the job.
How would Winnie think about this in a common-sense way?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/426069/the-elevator-pitch-what-s-needed-is-a-party-of-common-sense-winston-peters
The Elevator Pitch: 'What's needed is a party of common sense' – Winston Peters
This series is exactly as its name suggests – perfect for those with a light appetite for politics or just a short attention span.
Party leaders are limited to the length of an elevator ride to explain why they deserve your vote.
In this episode, Winston Peters went to the top in one of the Beehive's many lifts pitching New Zealand First as the party of promises.
He said no other party had kept promises like it had, over a length of 50 years.
Peters said their party's experience was essential amid the others with extremes.
Every time the TU pop up most folk are reminded of their role in the full frontal DP era alongside moral icons like Barclay, Gilmore, Slater, Eade etc
So carry on Jordan I say, he wears the hypocrisy so well
yes, just like shining a torch on cockroaches, watch him scuttle away when hard questions get asked.
Where is Jason Eade?
Hi “The Standard”. I really like the look of your headlines but I can’t figure out how to actually read the articles. I can’t get past the headlines. Do I need to log in? Is there a subscription? Looking forward to your reply. Don Edmonds, Kaikohe.
Don highlights an issue with viewing the standard through chrome on a mobile – this seems to be a bit random, but I've seen exactly the issue he's talking about (or I think he's talking about). Don, this doesn't happen from a pc, you will be able to view them there.
Switch to desktop view, I have the same problem on mobile. Not on all post though.
Can someone advise this commenter? We aren't all whizzkids you know. Presumably its to do with using a smartphone or such – which I haven't got.
It probably is just something like swiping to the right or touching that button at the top.
Cheers Cricklewood.
Technical problem with wordpress and some browsers when we put tweets into posts. It drives us crazy …
Thanks for that. I hope Don works out what is possible.
From Daryl's comment at 5.1:
Thanks for sharing the information. I am sure the Taxpayers Union is also pleased you are doing so. As for your concern about their use of the term Union do you also object to the various Rugby Union's around the country using the term to describe their organisation?
The rugby unions are associations of people who love to play rugby, and the taxpayer's union is an association of people who don’t…
The Taxpayers union is a union of people who prefer not to pay taxes no matter how much they benefit from being part of society. They also much prefer if other people pay taxes to support them.
Aw you are so cute when you are attempting subtlety please keep trying
Reply to Gosman
Best of the Day, Barfly.
I couldn't believe the shit that was coming out of that idiot Millar’s mouth on RNZ the other afternoon. It was fantastic.
One question that keeps bugging me about their taxpayer funding: shouldn't the taxayer's "union" have insured themselves against pandemics, recessions, and other calamities?
Personal responsibility and all that.
to be fair we need to remember their full title "taxpayers and whingeing hypocrites union ltd"
They quite eagerly accepted the Socialists Handou… Government Wage Subsidy
'The money will be used to support nine of the incorporated society's employees, according to an entry on the Government's public database of wage subsidy recipients.
"This decision was made on the basis of our ethical obligations to staff during the Government-mandated economic shutdown," a post on the group's website said.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/04/coronavirus-taxpayers-union-gives-up-ideological-purity-accepts-60-000-in-taxpayer-wage-subsidies.html
ha Oxymoron….Taxpayer Union and Ethical
By their "ethics" they should have been left to fail in order to encourage other nonprofits to purchase the appropriate insurance.
The taxpayer union will have to prove a decline in income according to rules around the subsidy.
Free publicity for Labours policy from the rabid right.
I give Williams credit for the consistent quality of the parody he does and is
Just desperate to be in the news.
OK, the TU getting the government wage subsidy is still bugging me.
Firstly, why were they eligible?
As in, how did they get a 30% reduction in revenue? Is their business model just monthly subscriptions dripfed by fuckwits whose income dried up over covid?
What services do they actually provide, other than sending furries to political events? Do they release actual research? Where does that research go – into a fuckwit echochamber?
Are their furries registered as actors/entertainment for ACC?
How many employees/EFTEs do they actually have?
Was Jordan one of the employees who kept getting paid because of the subsidy?
Are the board taking disciplinary action against management for not insuring against pandemics and having to rely on a government handout?
Just a little digging…
https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/our_team
https://www.nzbn.govt.nz/
The "team" conflates everyone from the board to interns, with no indication as to whether they're 1 EFTE or 0.1 each.
It used to be the employers paying the apprentices, along with monthly day off paid to attend block courses at the Uni! for, on the top of the Practical skill training on site the skill training of the technical side of the Trades. Now the Unions, used to take care of their apprentices, free of charge ensuring their employer was not rorting the apprentices entitlements under the labour Laws. However, when the then 90!s National Government overhauled in its entirety the then labour rules of employment and at the behest of those employers who had apprentices, crying foul, the cost of these block courses, and the cost of paying for this apprentices tools is crippling, and so the end of apprenticeship!s yet the bosses charging out their day one apprentice as the same rate as a skilled Trades Person. So apprentices are in need more than ever, and the Government is training them.
Wonder if the Taxpayers union is associated or close friends with the a,c,t. who are all in favour of importing skilled off shore semi skilled and skilled cheap workers and in this period of Covid-19 escape from a place of Covid-19, what price the wage to come and work here.
If apprenticeships had never been thrown out, we wouldn't have had the lack of skilled workers needed. Same goes for the MOW , despite the bad jokes about leaning on shovels, the MOW produced highly qualified engineers and expertise in bridge and road building that is sadly missed these days with private enterprise short cuts and botch ups.