Revealed: Invercargill Consultant Bill Tops $7.3 Million
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union can reveal under Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request that Invercargill City Council spent $7,334,394 on consultants and legal services in just three years.
The spending includes fees for everything from strategy consultants and cultural engagement advisers to legal firms and planning experts.
Taxpayers' Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, says:
'Ratepayers are forking out over $7 million to consultants while basic council services remain under pressure. When you need a consultant to tell you how to build a playground or put up signage, something has gone very wrong.'
'This is exactly the sort of out-of-control spending that's driving up rates and leaving residents worse off. Too often, councils hide this under the vague label of 'expert advice' but the rates bill ends up in the letterbox of every ratepayer.'
'Consultants don't come cheap but Invercargill ratepayers shouldn't be treated like an ATM every time council wants to outsource its thinking. The Council needs to be forced to focus on core services through rates capping now."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
4 hours ago
- Scoop
Revealed: Invercargill Consultant Bill Tops $7.3 Million
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union can reveal under Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request that Invercargill City Council spent $7,334,394 on consultants and legal services in just three years. The spending includes fees for everything from strategy consultants and cultural engagement advisers to legal firms and planning experts. Taxpayers' Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, says: 'Ratepayers are forking out over $7 million to consultants while basic council services remain under pressure. When you need a consultant to tell you how to build a playground or put up signage, something has gone very wrong.' 'This is exactly the sort of out-of-control spending that's driving up rates and leaving residents worse off. Too often, councils hide this under the vague label of 'expert advice' but the rates bill ends up in the letterbox of every ratepayer.' 'Consultants don't come cheap but Invercargill ratepayers shouldn't be treated like an ATM every time council wants to outsource its thinking. The Council needs to be forced to focus on core services through rates capping now."
The Spinoff
9 hours ago
- The Spinoff
Golf Wars 2: The golf course strikes back
Auckland Council thought it could get rid of one of its 14 golf courses. It's learning a harsh lesson in the power of the putt. Richard Hills seemed cautiously optimistic as he talked last month about the council's plans to pull off the hardest task in local government, and get rid of a single golf course. The North Shore councillor and Tom Mansell, the council's head of sustainable partnerships, made a robust case for change. They needed to transform much of the park occupied by Takapuna golf course into a wetland if we wanted to avoid a repeat of the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods, where two people died and homes and businesses were washed out in the adjacent Wairau Valley. Political support was swinging in behind their plan. Hills pointed to positive noises from local National MPs Dan Bidois and Simon Watts. Local boards seemed to be backing the idea too. But there were flickers of doubt. Laughs that betrayed hints of nervousness. Small asides about Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act requests to respond to; letters being sent by golf advocates. Deep down they knew even a bipartisan effort to save lives, homes and businesses from nature's fury wasn't enough to overcome the intoxicating lure of drives, chips and, indeed, putts. Over the last month, golf has mounted a fierce rearguard action against the council's flagrant efforts to protect the local community. Its campaign has been bolstered by local media, which has devoted several hundred words to the perspective of a woman who thinks her dog will immediately start mainlining duck droppings if the council creates a wetland on the golf course. The golf course's operators have been pushing an alternative plan, which they claim will retain an 18-hole course while still providing enough drainage for 500 million litres of water. Officials have questions about that plan's buildability, but the course operators possess an ally in Wayne Walker, an Albany councillor who's made a career of opposing council proposals. He's attended several public meetings, where he's shockingly aligned himself with people saying no to the council's plans. The list of people saying no keeps growing. It's not just Walker and the golf course. Golf NZ is saying no. Harbour Sport is saying no. The dog is saying no. It's got to the point where even people who used to be saying yes are starting to say no. Earlier this week, Bidois and Watts released a statement noting the 'considerable public opposition to the original proposal and the alternative plan put forward by the golf course'. The Kaipātiki Local Board, which covers the area where the course is located and was once seemingly onside with the council's flood mitigation efforts, now appears to be reconsidering its position. On current trajectory, soon only Hills, Mansell and the ducks will be saying yes. If this sounds familiar, it's because it happens any time any council anywhere tries to remove a single fairway, green or, indeed, rough. There are 43 golf courses in Auckland. The council owns 13 of those. Most are big enough to fit a small town's worth of houses. Many are rented at peppercorn rates. But when the council even started looking funny at the Remuera Golf Course, the Ōrākei Local Board extended its lease until 2091. In 2019, the Albert-Eden Local Board tried to turn nine holes of Chamberlain Park into needed sports facilities. Half of the board members got voted out a few months later. In a just world, things would be different this time. Taking away nine holes of Takapuna Golf Course wouldn't just give people a place to play cricket; it might actually save their lives. But the council is learning the hard way there's no power in local government stronger than a local retiree's will to spend eight hours haphazardly smacking small white balls in roughly the direction of a hole. Last time I gave the council's redevelopment plans a 50-50 chance of success. Those chances are now 25%, and dropping like a drive upon a perfectly manicured Takapuna green.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
NZ Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll reveals nearly half of Kiwis oppose automatic citizenship for Cook Islands
A new poll by the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union-Curia shows that almost half of respondents oppose the Cook Islands having automatic New Zealand citizenship. Thirty percent of the 1000-person sample supported Cook Islanders retaining citizenship, 46 percent were opposed and 24 percent were unsure. The question asked: The Cook Islands government is pursuing closer strategic ties with China, ignoring New Zealand's wishes and not consulting with the New Zealand government. Given this, should the Cook Islands continue to enjoy automatic access to New Zealand passports, citizenship, health care and education when its government pursues a foreign policy against the wishes of the New Zealand government? Taxpayers' Union head of communications Tory Relf said the framing of the question was fair. "If the Cook Islands wants to continue enjoying a close relationship with New Zealand, then, of course, we will support that," she said. "However, if they are looking in a different direction, then I think it is entirely fair that taxpayers can have a right to say whether they want their money sent there or not." But New Zealand Labour Party deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni said it is a leading question. "It asserts or assumes that we have hit a dead end here and that we cannot resolve the relationship issues that have unfolded between New Zealand and the Cook Islands," Sepuloni said. "We want a resolution. We do not want to assume or assert that it is all done and dusted and the relationship is broken." The two nations have been in free association since 1965. Relf said that adding historical context of the two countries relationship would be a different question. "We were polling on the Cook Islands current policy, asking about historic ties would introduce an emotive element that would influence the response." New Zealand has paused nearly $20 million in development assistance to the realm nation. Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the decision was made because the Cook Islands failed to adequately inform his government about several agreements signed with Beijing in February. Sepuloni, who is also Labour's Pacific Peoples spokesperson, said her party agrees with the Government that the Cook Islands had acted outside of the free association agreement. "[The aid pause is] an extreme response, however, in saying that we don't have all of the information in front of us that the government have. I'm very mindful that in terms of pausing or stopping aid, the scenarios where I can recall that happening are scenarios like when Fiji was having their coup." In response to questions from Cook Islands News, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said that, while he acknowledged the concerns raised in the recent poll, he believed it was important to place the discussion within the full context of Cook Islands' longstanding and unique relationship with New Zealand. "The Cook Islands and New Zealand share a deep, enduring constitutional bond underpinned by shared history, family ties, and mutual responsibility," Brown told the Rarotonga based paper. "Cook Islanders are New Zealand citizens not by privilege, but by right. A right rooted in decades of shared sacrifice, contribution, and identity. "More than 100,000 Cook Islanders live in New Zealand, contributing to its economy, culture, and communities. In return, our people have always looked to New Zealand not just as a partner but as family."
