A new briefing paper published by campaign group It’s Our Auckland has revealed Aucklanders are facing years of Council service cuts if Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposals are accepted.
The briefing paper, penned by economic researcher Edward Miller, analyses the options put forward in the Auckland Council Long-Term Plan consultation document.
The paper shows that the Long-Term Plan would see “a one-year spending bump fueled by the proceeds of privatisation, followed by a longer period of austerity, in which seven out of ten years see per-capita cuts”.
It also describes the proposal for an Auckland Future Fund as “an attempt to use Auckland’s infrastructure deficit to justify the privatisation of crucial strategic infrastructure”, describing this approach as “sugar-hit economics”.
Author Edward Miller says: “Auckland Council is in a sound financial position – from a debt, revenue and credit rating perspective. These asset sales have more to do with keeping rates hikes at a minimum than addressing any real financial problems.”
It’s Our Auckland spokesperson Max Harris adds: “The options put forward for Aucklanders are uninspiring and lack imagination, and this analysis shows that they don’t make any economic sense.”
Mayor Wayne Brown has been pushing for Auckland’s port operations to be leased for 35 years and for Auckland Council’s airport shares to be sold off, on top of a $300m rolling asset sale target.
Briefing paper author Edward Miller states: “The higher cost of capital for private firms means a greater need to distribute divid
