Latest news with #AucklandRatepayers'Alliance
Scoop
03-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Revealed: Auckland Transport Paid Social Media Influencers More Than $147,000 In 12 Months
The Auckland Ratepayers Alliance has slammed Auckland Transport for paying social media influencers $147,765 between May 2024 and May 2025. All campaigns were centred on dissuading Aucklanders from using their own cars as a transport option. 'Auckland Transport really does everything but actually getting our roads moving—it's ridiculous. They don't need a marketing and comms department, they need to pull their heads in.' said Sam Warren, an Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance spokesman. 'You're a transport provider; provide transport. That's it.' 'While Auckland Transport will not confirm how much each influencer was paint , we can average the total between the 10 of them. That's nearly $15,000 per influencer, paid for by Auckland ratepayers.' 'This obsession with engineering the public's behaviour is as silly as it is expensive. They answer is to focus on the basics well, provide excellent service and let Aucklanders choose what's best for them.' 'Mayor Wayne Brown this week began his much anticipated CCO reform, starting with the dissolution of Eke Panuku and Tātaki Auckland Unlimited. Next in line is Auckland Transport, who is as guilty as the others for wasting ratepayer money on ideological twaddle that Aucklanders don't need or want.'
1News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- 1News
Desley Simpson rules out Auckland mayoral bid
Auckland deputy mayor Desley Simpson has announced she intends to serve as Wayne Brown's deputy again if they are both re-elected. In a midday media conference at the Auckland Town Hall on Thursday, Simpson said she would not be challenging Brown for the mayoralty. "After a lot of deliberation, I'm pleased to advised that I'm standing again for the fine ward of Ōrākei. I really enjoy being the councillor for that board, and that's why I am going to ask for their support for another term." Simpson said she had gotten to know Brown "really well" in the past three years and found they had "complementary skills". Cold coming, PM's press secretary scandal, science of sleep (Source: 1News) ADVERTISEMENT "I am here to support the Mayor's vision." She praised Brown's vision to bring down the council's budget deficit during his mayoral term. "You've got to look at what's good for Auckland," Simpson said. While Brown often used colourful language and had "no filter", she said the substance of his discussions were good. "You gotta shake it and shake it and get rid of the dirt around it until you come to the gem at the end," she said. Brown told media that the pair had a good working relationship and had "never actually had an unpleasant conversation". He said while he wasn't as passionate about arts and culture as Simpson, their interests were "complementary," which added balance to their collaboration. ADVERTISEMENT Brown appointed Simpson as his deputy following the 2022 mayoral election. Speculation had built in recent months about whether Simpson would run against Brown for the mayoralty. Her interest in leading Auckland first came to attention when the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance revealed the domain had been registered last year. Simpson is a three-term Auckland councillor representing the Ōrākei ward, which includes Remuera, Meadowbank, Glendowie, and St Heliers, Kohimarama, and Mission Bay. She was a long-standing member of the Communities & Residents group but resigned her membership in late 2023. The local elections open for voting on September 9 and close on October 11, when the results will be announced.
Scoop
27-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Auckland Transport Hits Pause On $380,000 'Gold-Plated' Raised Crossing Project
Auckland Transport's proposed $380,000 raised crossing project in Waiuku has been paused following public backlash for its high cost. "This is not the first time, and unless someone bangs the heads of the AT planners together—it won't be the last." said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance. 'AT needs to start listening more. People are fed up with these expensive projects when more affordable alternatives can be found. The disconnect is insane, to think that this is an appropriate use of ratepayer money, or that the 30-day road closure was at all necessary." "We have here an overzealous agency that should be focused on getting traffic flowing, not stemmed." 'By all means, build well, improve safety. But gone are the days when you think you should provide gold-plated solutions for problems that don't exist. Do better.' The Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance is a not-for-profit community group dedicated to championing prudent fiscal management of our Super City. Membership is free and open to all Aucklanders who sign up at
NZ Herald
23-05-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Auckland deputy mayor Desley Simpson to announce mayoral bid decision next month
'Timing that works for me', she said. In response to Wilson's most recent query - yesterday - on her plans, Simpson said with a smile: 'You'll be surprised.' The longtime National Party member's potential interest in leading the city first came to public attention in January, when the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance revealed the domain had been registered by her son last year. Simpson told the Herald her son registered the domain at Christmas 'as a bit of a laugh'. 'It doesn't mean I'm doing it, but that doesn't mean I'm not doing it either.' He'd heard about it 'very recently' and hadn't spoken to Simpson yet, Brown said at the time. In April, the mayor apologised to Simpson after telling Wilson all his deputy 'thinks about is how to help people buying their next Lamborghini'. The Ōrākei ward includes the wealthy eastern suburbs of Remuera, Kohimarama and St Heliers. Brown chose Simpson as his deputy when he won the mayoral election in 2022, but they are understood to no longer be close, Wilson wrote in April. In the aftermath of the deadly Auckland Anniversary weekend floods in 2023, Brown stayed behind the scenes as Simpson fronted the council response. Then- Herald writer Steve Braunias wrote at the time that Brown had 'become the vacuum to his deputy mayor's power: the one person we have been able to look to for an example of leadership and strength…She's fronted. She's stood up.' Brown said the media hadn't been his focus with Simpson doing some of that work while he was out with building inspectors, and geotechnical engineers, visiting broken bridges and picking up rubbish with the student volunteer army and navy groups. 'I've been on the ground.' Along with Brown, Whau councillor and Labour Party member Kerrin Leoni has announced she will stand for the mayoralty in October. She wanted to be the first Māori mayor of the Super City, said Leoni, who is Ngāti Paoa, Ngāitakoto and Ngati Kuri.
Scoop
21-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
More Than $3 Million Spent Promoting Auckland Council's $36 Million Food Scrap Bins
Press Release – Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance The Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance revealed last night on Newstalk ZB's Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive that $3,248,785 has been spent on advertising and promotion for Auckland Council's $36 million Food Scrap Bin Programme. Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance, has slammed Council, saying: 'An extreme amount has been wasted on a poorly planned programme. Council seems desperate to make it work—and after all that money wasted, they say only a third of residents actually use the bins.' '$1.4 million on paid media, $620,000 on an agency for concept and designs — and even $70,000 for 'research'. Even after $194,000 on 'community engagement programmes and training' Aucklanders still aren't interested.' 'The obscenely expensive programme has been exposed for its lack of full emissions auditing, and the more digging done, the worse it actually seems to get. It's fast becoming nothing short of a scandal.' 'As it's been pointed out, the scheme doesn't stack up from an both environment and an economic standpoint. Auckland Council seem to have acted desperately to make this work, and have spent more than $3 million of ratepayers' money flogging a dead horse.' 'As pressure grows on Council for its virtue-signalling, we've called for the scrap bin programme to be scrapped—or at the very least, an opt-out option for those two thirds of Aucklanders not using the bins but are still forced to pay for them.'
