National Party candidate backing 'Cat Tax' - petition launched
11 JULY 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Prime Minister should rule out moves by Local Government New Zealand to implement a Council “Cat Tax” – following
comments by LGNZ head, and National Party Tukituki candidate, Lawrence Yule on this morning’s AM Show.
Responding to Mr Yule, Jordan Williams, the Union’s spokesperson said, “Mr Yule suggests that a cat tax is something
communities are calling for, but since this story broke we have been bombarded by emails and calls from cat lovers
across the country saying the proposal is nuts. Our petition on the issue has attracted a thousand signatures in less
than 24 hours.”
“We just can’t figure out how councils charging $80 per year to register a cat, employing cat rangers and passing cat
bylaws, is the biggest issue facing local government. No wonder infrastructure is in crisis, and confidence in local
government is at record low levels.”
“The advice we have received is that the policy would cost at least $56 million to implement, even if it only applied to
half of the nation’s moggies” (see notes below).
“According to an expert from Forest & Bird it is rodents, not birds that cats catch at night. Nevertheless, Council’s want to use cat curfews as an excuse to
dig deeper into our pockets. It is totally nuts.”
“At the last election, the National Party promised ‘no new taxes’. Bill English should overrule Mr Yule and clarify that
the ‘no new taxes’ promise extends to letting councils tax cat owners.”
The online petition against the proposals for compulsory registration of moggies is available at
www.taxpayers.org.nz/cats_petition.
ends