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28 May. We came so close to stopping Wayne Brown’s rates blowout. But a few gutless councillors folded at the last minute — choosing to put their personal ambition before Auckland ratepayers. So what happened?Last night, Auckland Council’s Budget Committee made the disgraceful decision to approve the biggest rates hike in Super City history. It was after what was a fierce debate. Councillor John Gillon (North Shore) and Councillor Bo Burns (Howick) made a last-ditch effort to stop Wayne Brown with a sensible proposal to cut $60 million of wasteful spending and lower the rates increase to 5.9 percent. To be clear, even 5.9 percent is far too high. But it’s better than Wayne Brown’s 7.9 percent blowout. We say annual rates rises should be in line with inflation (currently 3.1 percent) — and we know that at least 80 percent of Aucklanders agree with us. So Councillors Gillon and Burns deserve praise for standing up to Brown and at least putting an alternative on the table. They put a serious dent in Wayne Brown’s claim that the 7.9 percent hike was unavoidable and “entirely” needed to pay for the City Rail Link. Under intense questioning by councillors at Town Hall yesterday, Council officers finally admitted that the Council is raising $87 million more than is required to fund the operational costs of the City Rail Link. For context, $87 million is the equivalent of $143 per household. With officials now admitting the truth, it is simply not credible for Wayne Brown to continue to claim his 7.9 percent rates hike is all down to the costs of the Rail Link. But that’s exactly what the Mayor continues to do… The good 😇In the end, eight councillors decided enough was enough, including the Chair of the Budget Committee himself, Greg Sayers (Rodney), and the Deputy Chair, Maurice Williamson (Howick).How embarrassing for Wayne Brown. The two councillors Wayne Brown hand-picked to be his Budget Committee Chair and Deputy Chair called out the Mayor on his own BS! They were joined by John Watson (Albany), Mike Lee (Waitematā and Gulf), Christine Fletcher (Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa), and Ken Turner (Waitākere). All of these councillors deserve recognition as Ratepayer Heroes. 😘 The bad 🫤We won’t say too much about the likes of Richard Hills (North Shore) and Julie Fairey (Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa), who have turned out to be Wayne Brown’s biggest cheerleaders around the Council table this term. They were always going to vote for higher rates and more spending. At least they are honest about it. But National Party-aligned Councillor Andy Baker (Franklin) deserves special mention. After all, he ran on a platform promising to champion Franklin businesses and reduce the cost of Council services. Instead, he has become a loud supporter of Wayne Brown’s rates blowout and an apologist for bureaucratic bloat. The ugly 🖕We understand from multiple sources around the council table that initially 12 councillors pledged their support for a move to reduce the rates rise. This included Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson (Ōrākei), Councillor Victoria Short (Albany), and so-called “centre-right” councillors Daniel Newman and Matt Winiata from Papakura-Manurewa. These gutless wonders could have stopped the biggest rates hike in Super City history, slashing wasteful spending, but instead put their personal ambition before Auckland ratepayers.
We are told that Desley Simpson caved in because she is fearful of being sacked by Wayne Brown as Deputy Mayor. The others were worried about losing their committee positions (and therefore having their pay slashed) if they didn’t support the Mayor. Greg, at the election, these councillors were happy to stand as fiscal conservatives. But when the time came, they cared more about their precious perks and own pay packets rather than the people they are supposed to represent and their pre-election policy positions. Councillor Matt Winiata literally signed the “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” specifically promising the voters of Manurewa-Papakura before the election that he would never vote for a rates increases above the level of inflation. Frankly, if Matt Winiata had any decency, he’d have resigned after yesterday’s vote. He’s proven that his word to voters means absolutely nothing. What about the Independent Māori Statutory Board?After our emails last week, we’ve had lots of questions about the role of the IMSB in yesterday’s decision. Let me be clear: the IMSB had two members on the Budget Committee — Tau Henare and Tori Ngātaki — with full voting rights. Neither were elected, yet they were able to vote on the biggest rates hike in Super City history. While Henare and Ngātaki did not swing the vote in the end, the fact that they could have is troubling. Where to from here?The fight is far from over. The final budget still needs to go through one more Council vote. We say Aucklanders deserve to know exactly which councillors stood with ratepayers and which ones folded under pressure. Earlier today, I spoke with ThreeNews on the 7.9 percent increase and shared what Auckland Ratepayers think of Wayne Brown’s rates blowout.
We’ll continue to hold these politicians accountable and expose the waste, spin, and backroom dealing that led to this record-breaking rates hike. But we can’t do it alone. Thank you for standing with us.
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