The Auckland Chamber of Commerce wants strict controls placed on any sell down of assets by the Auckland City Council as
a result of the Birch Expenditure Review.
Michael Barnett, chief executive of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, said that the Chamber had long been an advocate
for the Council disposing of commercial assets such as carparks, airport shares and operating businesses.
The Chamber has also advocated that housing is a central government not a local government role. The continued role of
Council using ratepayers’ money to subsidise selected tenants in central Auckland is double taxation on Auckland
ratepayers who pay once via their taxes to support NZ lower income earners in state housing and again through their
rates.
“We favour using the sell down to retire debt and using the balance to create an infrastructure development fund to be
used under strict rules to ensure its sustainability for the long term benefit of the City.”
It is plainly not a core business of Council to be owning and operating carparks where the Council is competing with
private sector operators while also regulating them. “That’s an abuse of the private sector and a potential conflict of
interest in the role to be an impartial regulator.”
Despite the Review coming up with close to 50 recommendations to save money, Mr Barnett said that the findings were not
all one way. “It is reassuring that good business practice and management by the Council’s executive has been
confirmed.”
The Birch Review is a timely contributor to the coming debate on why granting local authorities a power of general
competence could be a huge mistake, said Mr Barnett.
“Plainly, Auckland City’s performance proves that virtually anything and everything that councillors dream up can be
established under the current legislative framework and without strict cost benefit analysis, to the extent that the
majority of rate payers’ money is being diverted to non-core areas.”
A power of general competence plainly is not needed and will only be a distraction to Mayor Banks’ challenge to get
Councillors focused on giving priority to delivering high quality core services.
Ends