Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register

Local Govt | National News Video | Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Search

 

Auckland Has Work Ahead to Catch up "Liveability"

6 October 2005

Media release

Auckland Has a Lot of Work Ahead to Catch Up with “Liveability” of Australian Cities

With all Australia’s major cities ranked in the top 4 of the world’s most liveable cities, compared to Auckland’s 20th, “we have a lot of work to do to lift our game,” said Michael Barnett, chief executive of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.

He was commenting on The Economist magazine’s latest ranking of the world’s most liveable cities in which:

- Melbourne is ranked 2nd with Vienna and Geneva, behind Vancouver at number one;

- Perth, Adelaide and Sydney tied at number three; and

- Brisbane was ranked 4th, with four other cities.

In contrast, Auckland and Wellington tied with several other cities at 20th of the 63 cities that fell into the top liveability bracket in the Economist’s survey.

“If Aucklanders make a shared commitment to lift our game, I cannot see why any of the Australian cities or Vancouver should be a more liveable city than Auckland,” said Mr Barnett.

“Our environmental assets are just as good as any of the higher ranked cities – if not better. Clearly, factors that disadvantage Auckland are things we have created ourselves,” he said. “Our incomplete and confusing transport infrastructure is a big difference from Australian cities and Vancouver, but so also is the standard of living that is available.”

The annual gross domestic product (GDP) difference between New Zealand and Australia and Canada is now $7500 and $8500 respectively. “This means that someone working in an Australian city doing the same job as in Auckland will earn around $150 more a week.”

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

Mr Barnett said the recent announcements by Auckland City to make the City more attractive for hosting events, coupled with the initiative by the Regional Council to promote Auckland’s attractiveness as a destination to work and live, were very timely. “Our collective challenge in the period ahead is to convert our rhetoric into actions and results.”

With the right strategy, Auckland should be able to become a top liveable city alongside Vancouver, he concluded.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Gordon Campbell: On How Climate Change Threatens Cricket‘s Future

Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else and complaining that he's inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” - which is how most of us would describe his own coalition agreements, 100-Day Plan, and backdated $3 billion handout to landlords... More


 
 
Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More


Green Party: Petition To Save Oil & Gas Ban

“The new Government’s plan to expand oil and gas exploration is as dangerous as it is unscientific. Whatever you think about the new government, there is simply no mandate to trash the climate. We need to come together to stop them,” says James Shaw. More

PSA: MFAT Must Reverse Decision To Remove Te Reo

MFAT's decision to remove te reo from correspondence before new Ministers are sworn in risks undermining the important progress the public sector has made in honouring te Tiriti. "We are very disappointed in what is a backward decision - it simply seems to be a Ministry bowing to the racist rhetoric we heard on the election campaign trail," says Marcia Puru. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.