June 18, 2026
The Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance is welcoming the announcement by New Zealand First that it will campaign to abolish the Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB).
Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen said:
"The IMSB is unelected and unaccountable to anyone, yet it wields considerable power. We have previously called for the Government to strip the IMSB of voting rights on council committees."
“But the time has come to get rid of the IMSB altogether."
“Auckland Council should be governed by representatives who are elected by, and accountable to, Aucklanders. There is no place in local government for a body with special statutory privileges that ratepayers have no ability to vote for or remove."
"The Independent Māori Statutory Board was established as a temporary political compromise during the formation of the Auckland Super City. More than 15 years later, it has become an entrenched layer of bureaucracy that undermines democratic accountability."
"Local democracy works best when governors are directly answerable to the public. Abolishing the IMSB would be a step toward restoring that principle."
June 17, 2026
The Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance is responding to reports of a "toxic" culture at Auckland Council, with some councillors alleging they were bullied and intimidated for opposing Wayne Brown's record-high rates increase.
Ratepayers' Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen said:
"Auckland Council is going the way of Wellington under Tory Whanau and Tauranga under Tenby Powell."
"This is a mayor who threatened to 're-arrange' the face of a ratepayer advocate, regularly insults and belittles his council colleagues in public, and uses his social media platform to disparage government ministers."
"It's unsurprising that he has fostered an atmosphere of fear and loathing in the council chamber."
"We understand that Brown now plans to use an upcoming committee reshuffle to punish those councillors who dared to vote against his record-high rates increase."
"Brown's Trumpian behaviour is leading Auckland Council down a path of dysfunction that will inevitably result in government intervention unless the Mayor pulls his head in and respects the right of councillors to vote against him. After all, this is a democracy, not a dictatorship."
June 10, 2026
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has released a legal opinion from Franks Ogilvie confirming that the Government could remove the voting rights of the Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB) through a simple amendment to the Local Government Systems Improvement Bill currently before Parliament.
Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen said:
"Local Government Minister Simon Watts has claimed it is too difficult to close the loophole that allows Auckland Council to grant voting rights to the IMSB despite backing from the Prime Minister."
"However, the Franks Ogilvie opinion confirms that Watts could include a simple amendment to an existing bill already before Parliament. He can act now if he chooses to do so."
"Aucklanders are simply asking for the same democratic protections that the Government is extending to the rest of the country."
"If Parliament is willing to protect equal voting rights everywhere else, there is no reason Auckland should be treated differently."
June 08, 2026
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is responding to comments made by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Newstalk ZB this morning in which he promised to strip the Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB) of voting rights after the election.
Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen said:
"The Minister of Local Government, Simon Watts, has previously said the IMSB will not be affected by his ban on unelected members’ voting because it sits outside of the Local Government Act."
"Watts claims it would be too difficult and time-consuming to resolve this issue before the election. But now he has the full backing of the Prime Minister, why wait?"
"It only requires a simple amendment to Auckland Council’s enabling legislation to remove a single clause that currently gives Auckland Council the authority to appoint IMSB members to any council committee."
"If the Government is serious about protecting local democracy in Auckland, then it must act urgently and change the law now."
June 03, 2026
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has slammed the Government for exempting the Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB) from a law change to ban unelected members from voting on council decisions.
Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen said:
"This morning on Newstalk ZB, Simon Watts said, quite rightly, that it is wrong for unelected members to have voting rights. So why should Auckland's local democracy be the exception?"
"The IMSB is a textbook example of unelected appointees voting alongside elected members on key council decisions, as we saw last week with the Budget Committee vote on Wayne Brown's record high rates increase."
"There is no reasonable justification for exempting Auckland from the law change. This just goes to show how little regard the Government has for local democracy in our largest city."
"If it’s not democratic for Hastings and Tauranga, it’s not democratic for Auckland."
May 26, 2026
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance says a bloc of supposedly centre-right councillors has helped ram through the biggest rates hike in Super City history, despite Auckland Council’s spending blowing out by nearly $1 billion since Wayne Brown’s first budget in 2023.
Josh Van Veen, a spokesman for the Ratepayers’ Alliance, said:
"Today’s disgraceful decision by Auckland Council’s Budget Committee, with support from the unelected Independent Māori Statutory Board, to approve a 7.9 percent rates rise is a betrayal of Auckland ratepayers."
“What makes this even worse is that some of the councillors who made it possible present themselves as centre-right and fiscally responsible. Aucklanders expect better from councillors elected on promises of restraint and value for money."
"Since Wayne Brown’s first budget in 2023, council spending has increased by nearly $1 billion — a staggering 28 percent blowout. That tells Aucklanders everything they need to know. This rates hike is not the product of careful budgeting. It is the product of a council that has failed to control its own spending."
"The Mayor claimed the 7.9 percent increase was entirely about paying for the City Rail Link, but today’s committee proceedings confirmed there were alternatives. Instead of cutting a bloated budget, the council majority chose to reach deeper into the pockets of already stretched households."
"Ratepayers have every right to ask why councillors who talk like conservatives keep voting like big spenders. Aucklanders were promised discipline. What they are getting is higher spending and a record rates increases."
The supposed centre-right councillors who voted Wayne Brown's record high rates increase were Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson, Councillor Victoria Short (Albany), Councillor Andy Baker (Franklin), Councillor Daniel Newman (Manurewa-Papakura), Councillor Matt Winiata (Manurewa-Papakura).
May 20, 2026
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling on Mayor Wayne Brown to stop relying on the unelected Independent Māori Statutory Board to force through the biggest rates increase in Super City history.
Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen said:
“When councillors vote on Wayne Brown’s record-breaking rates increase next week, Aucklanders deserve to know the outcome is being decided by elected representatives — not unelected appointees.”
“We understand that 11 councillors are prepared to vote down the record-breaking rates increase, but the two unelected Independent Māori Statutory Board members on the Budget Committee give Wayne Brown the numbers he needs.”
“Sneaking through a budget using unelected members is both undemocratic and a middle finger to the majority of elected members tasked to govern our Super City.”
“No other major city in New Zealand allows unelected members to decide how much ratepayers should be forced to pay.”
“If Wayne Brown is confident Aucklanders support his rates increase, he should let elected councillors decide the issue on its merits instead of putting his thumb on the scales.”
May 05, 2026
Wayne Brown is looking more and more like a Temu Donald Trump as he picks a fight with David Seymour in a vain attempt to distract Aucklanders from the Mayor's total failure to keep rates under control and effectively govern.
"Wayne Brown promised to stop the bloat, cut the consultants, and keep rates under control," says Jordan Williams, a Ratepayers' Alliance spokesman.
"Instead, Wayne Brown is attempting to pass the highest ever rates hike in the Super City's history."
Sixty-three percent of the submissions received during the council's consultation for Wayne Brown's draft budget rejected the Mayor's super rates hike proposal.
"Even Len Brown and Phil Goff did better. Wayne Brown's proposed 8 to 10 percent rates hike would cement him as the most fiscally irresponsible Mayor to date."
"It's not even clear if the Mayor is still in charge. Despite complaining about the Council's inflated consultant spending, under Brown the Council's consultant spending has ballooned, according to the recently released Ratepayers' Report league tables."
"Unable to defend his financial mismanagement, or get away with his attempts to blame the CRL for his rates blow-out, Wayne Brown is resorting to a 'grumpy old man' Donald Trump-caricature in an attempt to distract the media from his own failings."
May 04, 2026
New Zealand’s “Super City” is operating on a scale unparalleled across the country, as the Taxpayers’ Union’s 2026 Ratepayers’ Report league tables reveal the per household cost of Auckland’s massive bureaucracy.
Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance spokesperson, Josh Van Veen, said:
"Auckland Council serves more than 1.8 million people — around a third of New Zealand’s population. With that scale should come serious financial discipline.”
“Instead, Auckland is running a $693 million council payroll, rising to $1.3 billion once council-controlled organisations are included. That is around $2,000 per household or nearly a third of the average residential rates bill.”
“The Ratepayers’ Report league tables give ratepayers the chance to judge whether that reflects value for money or bureaucratic bloat.”
“Auckland Council employs at least 194 staff on more than $200,000 a year, 52 paid more than a minister outside Cabinet, and more than 1,025 staff in management or communications roles. It’s fair to ask if the Council needs that many backroom staff on gold-plated salaries.”
“With the cost of living and now the fuel crisis hitting households hard, the Taxpayers’ Union is calling for tighter financial discipline and an immediate rates cap on New Zealand’s largest council.”
Prior to publication, every council were provided their figures for error checking, with requested corrections made. We encourage ratepayers to compare their council for themselves at RatepayersReport.nz.
April 23, 2026
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling on councillors to follow the public’s overwhelming rejection of Wayne Brown’s proposed 8-10 percent rates hike – a record high for the Super City.
According to Auckland Council’s own public consultation results, 63 percent of respondents - including more than 3,300 from Ratepayers’ Alliance supporters - opposed the Mayor’s proposed budget.
Josh Van Veen, a spokesman for the Ratepayers’ Alliance, said:
"The message from Aucklanders couldn’t be clearer: councillors need to put a stop to Wayne Brown’s rates blowout and rein in his wasteful spending."
