22 December 2025. With the new Auckland Council term now underway, I want to thank Rodney residents for the trust placed in me. It is an honour to represent our community, and I remain focused on the issues that matter most: fighting rate increases, stopping wasteful spending, returning Council to its core responsibilities, and ensuring more of our rates are invested back into Rodney.
We have made meaningful progress in getting a greater share of local rates spent locally, but the imbalance is still evident. Too much funding continues to be directed toward the central city, while important issues in our communities wait for attention. Addressing this remains one of my top priorities.
In a challenging economic climate, Council needs to show restraint. However, Auckland Council has already signalled an average residential rates increase of 7.9% next year. A significant portion of that increase is driven by the opening of the City Rail Link (CRL). 
The breakdown of the 7.9% rise is as follows:
- 2.0% for inflation maintaining existing assets and services
- 1.5% for maintaining the new assets built as Auckland continues to grow
- 4.4% for the CRL’s annual operating cost of $235 million, including interest on the $5.5 billion project
Most Rodney residents will receive little to no benefit from the CRL, yet are still expected to contribute to its operating costs. I am fighting for Rodney to be excluded from this portion of the rates. Rodney’s rate increases would be significantly lower, while the average increase across the rest of Auckland would be slightly higher. The public will be empowered to have their say about this in February before the final voting decision via the Mayor and Councillors in May. Public consultation opens on Friday 27 February and closes Sunday 29 March 2026.
Another option to fight rate hikes is increasing the Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC)—the fixed charge every property pays for core Council services such as libraries, roads, and administration. Raising the UAGC would lower rates for most Rodney households while increasing rates in across Auckland with lower property values. Reviewing this has been supported by the Mayor and most Councillors, agreeing to make a decision about consulting with Aucklanders in time for the 2027 rating year. 
Regarding cost savings – $400 million pa is spent by the Council to subsidise public transport use – at the same time as running empty big buses on routes people do not use much, just because policy says Auckland needs to have public transport and run it to connect places, which people would rather travel to by car. Council wants to be able to call towns cities to make Auckland suburbanized, and force people to ride the bus by simultaneously getting rid of parking spaces.
The $50 a week bus fare cap means a $3.5 million a year loss of revenue by not charging users the full price, but it still costs just as much to run the buses – Nothing is for free. So, how are all these subsidies funded – by rate increases!
The necessity for rate increases would be dramatically decreased if central Government paid rates for the property it owns and uses in Auckland. At the moment the law exempts the Government from having to pay its share of $38 million a year in Council rates.
Also, central Government collects a tax on a tax, that is GST is paid on the rates collected. The GST collected on rates in Auckland should be returned back to Auckland. This would generate near $400 million of income a year for new infrastructure – to put that into perspective – that is equivalent to 16% rates raise, which Aucklanders could completely avoid. I am pushing for this change to happen.
There are still many bureaucratic difficulties within Council. The Mayor has appointed me to a number of leadership rolls which put me right at the heart of being able to positively influence outcomes for Rodney:
To ensure Rodney’s interests are strongly represented, I have taken on several key leadership roles, including:
- Chair of Budget (Finance) & Performance Committee
- Member, Transport & Infrastructure Delivery Committee
- Member, Policy, Planning & Development Committee
- Member, Value for Money Committee
- Member, Appointments & Performance Review Committee
- Member, Civil Defence Committee
These roles place me at the centre of major financial, infrastructure, and policy decisions, giving Rodney a strong voice where it matters most. I am still 1 vote out of 21 (ie: need 11 to get change), however, I am fighting hard for Rodney.
My door is always open, and I’m readily available to help anyone with Council-related concerns. Thank you again for your support and I sincerely look forward to working hard on your behalf.