March 24, 2025
The Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance says Auckland Councillors' acceptance of free concert tickets from Eden Park 'stinks' and is the sort of behaviour you'd expect in third world countries, not a council about to vote on Eden Park's future.
Ratepayers' Alliance Spokesman Sam Warren said:
"These gifts were clearly a breach of the Council's own Code of Conduct. The Code instructs councillors to avoid accepting gifts that give rise even to a perception of impropriety or creation of a conflict of interest."
"The councillors were given tickets because they are councillors, at the very same time they're considering the future of the stadium. It's beyond belief that anyone is defending this."
"Councillors aren't concert reviewers. These gifts were clearly 'kick-backs' by Eden Trust's management to buy goodwill with councillors. It should be illegal."
"The idea that councillors were given tickets to the events, but somehow avoided speaking to the stadium's lobbyists targeting them—who coincidentally were in the very same corporate boxes—is similarly fanciful. The fact that the risk was identified means that staff knew full well that risks of impropriety were real."
"Not since Len Brown's appointment of his mistress into a paid Council 'ethnic advisor' role have we seen such sleaze around Auckland's Council chamber. The councillors who took the gifts should be paying every cent back, or at least preserving the integrity of process by recusing themselves from Thursday's vote."
March 19, 2025
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance can reveal through a Local Government Official Information Act request that Auckland Council has spent $175,000 funding the International Buskers’ Festival over the last three years.
Joint sources of funding came from the Auckland Council Regional Events Grant, Waitematā Local Board Events Partnership Fund, and council’s soon-to-be abolished urban regeneration body, Eke Panuku.
"This really hits the wrong chord for Auckland ratepayers” said the Alliance Spokesman, Sam Warren.
“Council will again try justify this wasteful spending while insisting year on year that rate hikes are necessary, well above the rate of inflation. How are we supposed to believe them when this is how they spend ratepayers’ money?”
“Last year, the Prime Minister and then-Minister for Local Government, Simeon Brown, told councils to get rid of the nice-to-haves and stick to the basics. This ain't it.”
“Ratepayers are sick of seeing their hard-earned money being spent on things completely out of scope. Performance fees, manager fees, accommodation fees, ‘miscellaneous’ fees—it’s time to get real.”
“Aucklanders are tightening their belts in an increasingly difficult city to live in. It’s time Auckland Council did the same.”
March 11, 2025
The New Zealand Herald has today revealed an 18-month tender process for Auckland Transport’s $350 million outdoor advertising deal has essentially been restarted following a series of blunders and setbacks.
“What insiders have described as a ‘circus’ is an unfortunate insult to clowns” said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance.
“At least clowns can be funny.”
“Incompetence from Auckland’s most loathed organisation has resulted in countless man-hours, 35 official meetings, and more than a million dollars in contractor costs, wasted. Now it’s back to square one – all covered by the ratepayer.”
“There’s no version where this would fly in the private sector. Either the standards are simply lower at Auckland Transport, or they genuinely do not care about the ratepayers funding them.”
“Claims that the ‘investment in this process has not been wasted’ would be rejected by locals sick of a transport provider distracted by everything but delivering on its core services.”
"What business does AT have in brokering the largest ever media procurement in New Zealand’s history? Time is running out for them. In the meantime, lose the distractions, stick to the basics, and cut the waste. The rest will follow."
February 13, 2025
Auckland Council and its controlled organisations were a strong force at tonight’s fabulous Taxpayers’ Union ‘Jonesie’ Awards – taking out three nominations in the Local Government Waste category.
"Auckland Council certainly knows how to put on a show when it comes to wasting money” said Spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance, Sam Warren.
“Of the five slots available – Auckland received no less than three nominations, punching well above its weight in local government waste and frivolity.”
“From Auckland Council’s $263k stairs at Milford beach, to Auckland Unlimited’s $737k promo of a bloke from Finland ‘seeking happiness’ in an embarrassing attempt to improve perceptions of the Super City – it really was a celebration of the best of the worst when it comes to setting ratepayer money on fire.”
“This might be a good time for Auckland bureaucrats to take notes on 'what not to do' – so as to stay out of next year’s Jonsies altogether.”
February 04, 2025
Concerns have been raised by the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance towards unknown expenditure by Auckland Council on the 2024 Matariki Festivals.
A request under the Local Government Official Information and Meeting Act last year revealed Auckland Council spent $717,941.95 on Matariki festivities – with more than $126,400 spent on just one of the 88 events, alone. The final bill however remains unknown as costs are not expected to be finalised until 30 June 2025.
“It’s concerning to see such huge amounts still unaccounted for” said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance.
“Every dollar spent by Council needs to be readily defendable. Proper scrutiny is next to impossible if it takes the Council more than 12 months to know what even they’ve spent.”
“Aucklanders deserve better transparency on how their money is being spent – and it’s troubling to see such huge sums of money are put towards festivals without a clear view on how big the pot might actually be.”
“In August last year the Prime Minister and then-Local Government Minister Simeon Brown made clear their expectations to councils to do away with ‘nice-to-haves’ and rein in spending. How on earth can councils do this when it takes over a year to find out how much they’ve actually spent?”
“Better reporting practices are desperately needed for Auckland to stay on top of ratepayer-funded expenditure.”
January 30, 2025
The race for Auckland’s mayoralty has begun. The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance can reveal the domain ‘Desleyformayor.co.nz’ has been registered by the son of Wayne Brown’s Deputy Mayor, Desley Simpson, on 13 December 2024.
“Simpson has been long-rumoured to want a tilt at the top” said Sam Warren, a Spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance.
“Until now, Simpson has been biding her time supporting Mayor Wayne Brown, as she did with each of Phil Goff’s rates increases when he was Mayor. Having a domain registered for an upcoming campaign, she has shown us her hand.”
“The dynamic now changes. Brown is heavily tipped to run again. With strong National Party links, Simpson’s bid splits the centre-right vote, potentially handing Auckland to a candidate backed by the Labour-Green bloc.”
January 06, 2025
The New Zealand Herald has today revealed the number of Aucklanders postponing rate payments has skyrocketed to 648 in the last financial year – up 65 percent from only five years earlier.
“The number of Aucklanders having to delay rates payments is far higher than other parts of the country, with other large councils having less than ten postponements in the same five-year period” said Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance Spokesman, Sam Warren.
“Even after factoring in the large population increases in our largest city, this increase is staggering.”
“We get dozens of emails each month from ratepayers up and down the country, many of which are from retirees on fixed incomes, who are hit hard by ongoing rate increases.”
“It’s fine that councils offer some kind of reprieve for those struggling, but I think this highlights the urgency that more must be done to rein in bad council spending decisions to keep rates manageable.”
“The cost of living remains stubbornly high, in part, because rates have increased so much – averaging 14 percent across the board just last year. Incredibly, Auckland is actually below this average, but still well above inflation with further rates increases planned year-on-year still.”
“In December last year, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown announced a raft of changes to councils, including the possibility of introducing a rates capping mechanism. Considering today’s news, employing such a system would be well overdue to keep councils in check.”
December 03, 2024
Ratepayers across the Super City will be breathing a collective sigh of relief following today’s announcement by Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown to restore democratic accountability to Auckland’s transport system.
Speaking on behalf of the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance, St Heliers ratepayer Jordan Williams said:
“For years, Aucklanders have been trapped in a backed-up system of bad decisions, but today the Browns have brought the plunger—and they’re not afraid to use it.”
“Ratepayers have often said that Auckland Transport is like a blocked toilet—expensive to fix, full of crap, and nobody is willing to take responsibility. That finally ended today.”
“Our team gets more complaints about Auckland Transport’s shoddy service, and speed hump fetishes, than any other part of Council. It has become a law unto itself, and today’s announcement is exactly what the Ratepayers’ Alliance has been campaigning for. Breaking it down, today’s announcement provides a much-needed sense of relief:
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Shifting transport planning back to Auckland Council: “Today’s announcement strengthens democracy by scrapping Auckland Transport’s ‘statutory independence’ forcing it to answer to voters. No more flushing ratepayers’ money down the drain without oversight.”
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The new Auckland Regional Transport Committee: “This ensures all the big transport decisions will now be made by people who can be held accountable—if they drop the ball or leave something smelly behind, they’ll answer for it at the ballot box.”
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Local Boards taking control: “Finally, Auckland’s neighbourhoods will have the power to tidy up their own backyards, whether it’s parking policies or speed limits. The status quo wasn’t cutting it. For years, Local Boards have been stuck cleaning up flaming turds left by Auckland Transport’s tone-deaf decisions, which ignored the clear views of local communities.”
“We congratulate Wayne Brown for taking a stand. He was elected to eject the bloated, constipated Auckland Transport, slim down the Super City, and make it run smoothly. This is a welcome relief for Auckland ratepayers—and not a moment too soon.”
Mr Williams concluded: “Now that Auckland Transport is back under Council control, the real challenge is to ensure strong leadership and cross-party unity to pave the way for the infrastructure Auckland desperately needs. Aucklanders cannot afford the Mayor or Council to skid off course.”
December 02, 2024
A seven-page report accidentally made public has revealed major concerns for cost blowouts and time delays for New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project, the City Rail Link.
“Human error has given us a glimpse into how dire the situation really is” said Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance Spokesman, Sam Warren.
“Critically, the material shows a lack of confidence in the project’s main contractor, French company, VINCI Grand Projects.
“If this was entirely a government project, greater tools for transparency would be available. However due to the structure of the joint company set up between Auckland Council and the Government that oversees the CRL, scrutiny is near impossible.
"The initial $2b–$3b budget has exploded to $5.5b since the project started in 2016. It shouldn't take human error to keep the public informed. If this massive undertaking is in danger of blowing out further, it’s well within the public’s interest to know.
"We’re calling for greater transparency from City Rail Link Limited to release any and all critical information surrounding setbacks, delays and cost overruns, so that officials and contractors involved can be held accountable.”
November 28, 2024
The Auckland ratepayers' Alliance can reveal through a Local Government Official Information and Meeting Act request that Auckland Council has spent $2.2 million on purchasing phones in the last three years, and a further $1.5 million on mobile connections last year alone.
“The question must be asked, what's costing ratepayers money, unnecessarily?" said Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance Spokesman, Sam Warren.
“Using phones as library scanners is well-and-good, but in 2024, virtually everyone already owns a phone. Why are corporate staff even considered for mobiles, on-call or not?
“Yes, work related travel should induce allowances for data and phone calls, but is this deal the most cost effective option? A yearly bill of $1,522,893 is massive, and will only get bigger.
“Chief Executive Phil Wilson must find cuts and efficiencies, big and small, throughout Auckland Council to avoid rates rises reaching double digits next year.”
