Press Release
ISSUED BY AFFORDABLE AUCKLAND

Who Are Len’s Donors?

Affordable Auckland Leader Stephen Berry reckons, “Following David Cunliffe’s admission that he filtered donations for his leadership campaign through a secret trust, I believe it is timely for another Labour party member to declare who made donations to his own secret trust; Mayor Len Brown.”

Len Brown’s electoral return reveals he received a $273,375.22 donation from the New Auckland Council Trust on June 12 2013. Berry says, “That six-figure sum constitutes nearly eighty percent of the donations Len Brown received to fight the 2013 Mayoral elections. The people of Auckland deserve to know why Brown is trying to keep the donors secret and just who they are.”

“Very serious and justified questions have been raised over the integrity of our Mayor since the election. We know he lied when he claimed following the affair there were no more skeletons. We know he lied when he claimed to have had an error of recollection regarding 60 undeclared hotel room upgrades. He has lied to us for years about his commitment to lower rates. What more is the Mayor hiding?”

“People who enjoy the Mayor’s favour have a lot to gain through Council contracts and public funding. Making a donation to Brown’s successful election campaign could certainly have an impact on whether an individual or business enjoys that favour. What conflicts of interest are currently taking place between campaign donors and the Mayor? We can’t tell because the vast majority of his donations are secret but the ratepayers of Auckland have every right to know!”

“I’m calling upon the Mayor to open the books of the New Auckland Council Trust for public scrutiny immediately. What does he have to fear from such information being made public? Will it expose corruption or simply embarrass those who are known to have donated to his campaign?”

Affordable Auckland is a part of the Len Brown Stand Down Coalition.

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