Calling itself a “union” was deliberately provocative, a piss-take if you like of the political left’s love affairs with trade unions. To this day there still some disaffected types who say that the TPU is not a real union because it’s not a trade union - as if trade unions were only types of unions.
As any half literate person will understand, a union is merely a grouping of two or more individuals for a common purpose. The etymology says it all. Many into one. A marriage is a union. Sports clubs are sometimes called unions. The lefty argument can easily be debunked.
My first involvement with them was when I wrote to Jordan Williams in the early days of the TPU asking if they’d like to investigate the Major Events Fund, a government slush fund which contributed significantly to some marginally economic sports events. That was after I’d been on the Board of New Zealand Golf and and was quite staggered to find that about half the prize money for the New Zealand Open at the time, around 2008, came from government funding.
I love golf and I love the New Zealand Open but I didn’t think the government should have been putting taxpayer money in the pockets of professional golfers, most of whom were not New Zealanders. That request seemed to fall on deaf ears but I note that nearly twenty years later that same Major Events Fund, or whatever it’s called these days, still contributes at least $600,000 a year to the New Zealand Open budget.
That whole Major Events Funding, which includes contributions to the Robbie Williams shows later this year, is in my mind money which a responsible government in a deep, deep fiscal hole like we have at the moment, should not be spending. I actually believe the TPU should have pushed this barrow harder but it’s a battle they deemed not worth fighting, and that is their choice.
All of the above is a long winded way of saying that I’ve followed the TPU’s activities pretty much from the start and applauded a lot of the work it’s done.
It started during a National led government in 2013 and by a margin of 7 years to 6 its existence has had more National-led government than Labour. It therefore has been an equal opportunity critic of government spending and in fact its attacks on National and some its ministers have been particularly robust during the last three years. Local Government Minister Simon Watts is one who cops a regular load, and so he should because of his inability to make both councils and their lobby group Local Government New Zealand more transparent and accountable.
Nothing the TPU does is particularly sensitive or secretive. They have a data base with reputedly in excess of 100,000 names. They send out press releases on a daily basis. They are genuine players in a political market which is a contest of ideas.
At this stage I should disclose an interest. For a time in 2022 and 2023 I was a Board member of the TPU. Jordan recruited me and I was happy to make whatever contribution I could. Auckland businessman Laurie Kubiak was the chair at the time and Ruth Richardson and Casey Costello were both on the Board too.
My time there came to an end because I started doing some work for Reality Check Radio, RCR. It was perceived as an ant-vax outfit backed by Voices For Freedom. Some fellow Board members, Ruth Richardson in particular, didn’t think it appropriate that I do some paid work for RCR while continuing with the TPU - in a voluntary capacity. I didn’t agree with their reasoning but it was decided I step down, which I did with no fuss while still continuing to support their endeavours.
Not long after, Jordan approached me about still having a presence at the TPU by writing some occasional letters to members explaining a particular issue and asking for money. I also started doing some podcasts which I continue to do so on an irregular basis to this day, and for which they pay me a modest fee.
So as someone who was moved on from the TPU Board, you might have thought Nicky Hager might have approached me for his new book. Spoiler alert: he didn’t. But then I have no dirt or hard feelings to express about the organisation.
I write this only a few hours after the book was released. I haven’t read it and from early reportage of the content it seems there are no explosive revelations to turbo charge sales.
What the TPU does is no secret and Jordan Williams’ other endeavour The Campaign Company is also well known among media types as the agency which produces copy and campaign letters for, among others, Hobson’s Pledge, Groundswell and the Free Speech Union. That there is crossover between Williams’ roles is not exactly the scandal of the century.
Jordan was smart ahead of the book release by sending out yet another letter to members. Yes, he was asking for money, but he reckons there will be material in the book which is either untrue or is taken out of context and he wants the resources to be able to fight back, through legal measures if need be.
Williams makes the obvious point in his letter that once again Hager has offered those named and shamed in the book no opportunity to refute the claims or to put them in context.
Hager responded to that by saying “books are uniquely vulnerable. If someone wants to sabotage you .. they can close down the book for ages.”
While this is a possible scenario, Williams insists the TPU had told the publishers they guaranteed immunity from any injunctions because of the content. Hager still refused to get the other side of the story.
As I write this there are no startling revelations from the book reported. There are quotes from Hager’s speech where he challenges the TPU’s assertion of a wide-ranging supporter base and says it’s “angry old men in the 70s and 80s and sometimes in their late 60s … who believed their untruths about the threat of evolving Maori rights.”
I guess Hager is talking about me. I’m in my 70s although I’m not especially angry. I am concerned though “about the threat of evolving Maori rights.” Why shouldn’t I be?
I live in the South Island next to the Clutha River. Ngai Tahu has a claim on that river, and all other freshwater in the South Island, in front of the High Court. It’s a disgrace there is still no decision from Justice Harland after the hearing in February and March last year. That river is important to my well being and the well being of my property. I don’t pay much to access a bountiful resource. If Ngai Tahu win the court case that is likely to change.
You see Mr Hager, that is “the threat of evolving Maori rights” and frankly every New Zealander should be concerned about that.
As for Hager’s other claims about the membership, how can he possibly know without looking at the names and birthdays on the data-base?
The same applies to funding. The public accounts show that the majority of the income is from the small dollar donors. Fifty dollars here, hundred there etc and so it goes. A few more are members of the TPU Caucus which comes at a cost of $1500 a year or more, and that accesses extra TPU information such as in depth polling results, specialist economic analysis and an opportunity to give opinions on the TPU direction and campaign choices.
This is where the left leaning commentators jump on the “money buys influence” bandwagon. In my experience very few ideas about campaigns and the TPU direction come from the donors.
Williams is the undoubted king-pin of the organisation and now with a strong chair in Richardson, the direction of the TPU I’d suggest is driven by those two with support from the rest of the Board and staff.
Yes, the favourite political party of TPU people is Act and many TPU staff have gone on to work for there. But so what?
Politics is a contest of ideas, or it’s supposed to be. The TPU is an ideas factory campaigning against what they perceive as bad government policy and wasteful spending.
If the left don’t like that philosophy, come up with better ideas. Hager’s book is another example of the oldest trick in the world - when you have no ideas, play the personal game.
As I write this “Dirty Work” has only been published for a few hours. But it sounds like there’s little here to excite the non-political types or for it to influence the election.
If a Wellington bookshop is packed out at 6pm on a Tuesday night for the launch that probably says all you need to know about the people of Wellington.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack - where this article was sourced.
I love golf and I love the New Zealand Open but I didn’t think the government should have been putting taxpayer money in the pockets of professional golfers, most of whom were not New Zealanders. That request seemed to fall on deaf ears but I note that nearly twenty years later that same Major Events Fund, or whatever it’s called these days, still contributes at least $600,000 a year to the New Zealand Open budget.
That whole Major Events Funding, which includes contributions to the Robbie Williams shows later this year, is in my mind money which a responsible government in a deep, deep fiscal hole like we have at the moment, should not be spending. I actually believe the TPU should have pushed this barrow harder but it’s a battle they deemed not worth fighting, and that is their choice.
All of the above is a long winded way of saying that I’ve followed the TPU’s activities pretty much from the start and applauded a lot of the work it’s done.
It started during a National led government in 2013 and by a margin of 7 years to 6 its existence has had more National-led government than Labour. It therefore has been an equal opportunity critic of government spending and in fact its attacks on National and some its ministers have been particularly robust during the last three years. Local Government Minister Simon Watts is one who cops a regular load, and so he should because of his inability to make both councils and their lobby group Local Government New Zealand more transparent and accountable.
Nothing the TPU does is particularly sensitive or secretive. They have a data base with reputedly in excess of 100,000 names. They send out press releases on a daily basis. They are genuine players in a political market which is a contest of ideas.
At this stage I should disclose an interest. For a time in 2022 and 2023 I was a Board member of the TPU. Jordan recruited me and I was happy to make whatever contribution I could. Auckland businessman Laurie Kubiak was the chair at the time and Ruth Richardson and Casey Costello were both on the Board too.
My time there came to an end because I started doing some work for Reality Check Radio, RCR. It was perceived as an ant-vax outfit backed by Voices For Freedom. Some fellow Board members, Ruth Richardson in particular, didn’t think it appropriate that I do some paid work for RCR while continuing with the TPU - in a voluntary capacity. I didn’t agree with their reasoning but it was decided I step down, which I did with no fuss while still continuing to support their endeavours.
Not long after, Jordan approached me about still having a presence at the TPU by writing some occasional letters to members explaining a particular issue and asking for money. I also started doing some podcasts which I continue to do so on an irregular basis to this day, and for which they pay me a modest fee.
So as someone who was moved on from the TPU Board, you might have thought Nicky Hager might have approached me for his new book. Spoiler alert: he didn’t. But then I have no dirt or hard feelings to express about the organisation.
I write this only a few hours after the book was released. I haven’t read it and from early reportage of the content it seems there are no explosive revelations to turbo charge sales.
What the TPU does is no secret and Jordan Williams’ other endeavour The Campaign Company is also well known among media types as the agency which produces copy and campaign letters for, among others, Hobson’s Pledge, Groundswell and the Free Speech Union. That there is crossover between Williams’ roles is not exactly the scandal of the century.
Jordan was smart ahead of the book release by sending out yet another letter to members. Yes, he was asking for money, but he reckons there will be material in the book which is either untrue or is taken out of context and he wants the resources to be able to fight back, through legal measures if need be.
Williams makes the obvious point in his letter that once again Hager has offered those named and shamed in the book no opportunity to refute the claims or to put them in context.
Hager responded to that by saying “books are uniquely vulnerable. If someone wants to sabotage you .. they can close down the book for ages.”
While this is a possible scenario, Williams insists the TPU had told the publishers they guaranteed immunity from any injunctions because of the content. Hager still refused to get the other side of the story.
As I write this there are no startling revelations from the book reported. There are quotes from Hager’s speech where he challenges the TPU’s assertion of a wide-ranging supporter base and says it’s “angry old men in the 70s and 80s and sometimes in their late 60s … who believed their untruths about the threat of evolving Maori rights.”
I guess Hager is talking about me. I’m in my 70s although I’m not especially angry. I am concerned though “about the threat of evolving Maori rights.” Why shouldn’t I be?
I live in the South Island next to the Clutha River. Ngai Tahu has a claim on that river, and all other freshwater in the South Island, in front of the High Court. It’s a disgrace there is still no decision from Justice Harland after the hearing in February and March last year. That river is important to my well being and the well being of my property. I don’t pay much to access a bountiful resource. If Ngai Tahu win the court case that is likely to change.
You see Mr Hager, that is “the threat of evolving Maori rights” and frankly every New Zealander should be concerned about that.
As for Hager’s other claims about the membership, how can he possibly know without looking at the names and birthdays on the data-base?
The same applies to funding. The public accounts show that the majority of the income is from the small dollar donors. Fifty dollars here, hundred there etc and so it goes. A few more are members of the TPU Caucus which comes at a cost of $1500 a year or more, and that accesses extra TPU information such as in depth polling results, specialist economic analysis and an opportunity to give opinions on the TPU direction and campaign choices.
This is where the left leaning commentators jump on the “money buys influence” bandwagon. In my experience very few ideas about campaigns and the TPU direction come from the donors.
Williams is the undoubted king-pin of the organisation and now with a strong chair in Richardson, the direction of the TPU I’d suggest is driven by those two with support from the rest of the Board and staff.
Yes, the favourite political party of TPU people is Act and many TPU staff have gone on to work for there. But so what?
Politics is a contest of ideas, or it’s supposed to be. The TPU is an ideas factory campaigning against what they perceive as bad government policy and wasteful spending.
If the left don’t like that philosophy, come up with better ideas. Hager’s book is another example of the oldest trick in the world - when you have no ideas, play the personal game.
As I write this “Dirty Work” has only been published for a few hours. But it sounds like there’s little here to excite the non-political types or for it to influence the election.
If a Wellington bookshop is packed out at 6pm on a Tuesday night for the launch that probably says all you need to know about the people of Wellington.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack - where this article was sourced.
2 comments:
Not a fan of the Atlas network or this USA style right wing dirty politics. Kiwis don’t need this in their lives.
And yet the TPU has not said even a peep about the millions and millions wasted on cancelled roading projects. Nor about the money going back to tobacco companies. Or the tax lost when landlord interest expensing was re-legislated.
If I was a suspicious man, I would wonder why some organisation that claims to stand against waste is silent on these topics of millions and indeed billions of taxpayer dollars. Hmm, how can this be? Curious.
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