MEDIA RELEASE

Nice try Auckland Council - but the spin only makes you look foolish

7 JUNE 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Auckland Council’s claims in media that changes to make its Albert Street HQ lifts speak Te Reo cost only $700, are totally inconsistent with earlier correspondence from the Council released under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act on the Council’s ‘Reo Uplift Initiative’, made public yesterday by the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance.

Ratepayers’ Alliance Spokesperson Jo Holmes says, “It is concerning that officials now appear to be willing to mislead the public in order to try and quell public criticism about the organisation’s spending priorities. The letter from the Council makes very clear that the whole $6,200 spend was part of the ‘Reo Uplift Initiative’. The $700 only relates to paying someone for the voice recording.”

“Either the Council official being quoted in the media does not know how much her own projects cost, or there is an element of spin. Perhaps there is patch protection going on.”

“It is with some irony that the ratepayer-funded spin doctors are calling this an ‘investment’. Oh please, while Aucklanders are parked on motorways their Council is ‘investing’ in the vocabulary of their office tower lifts.”

Judge for yourself at: http://www.ratepayers.nz/_6k_spent_on_lift_translation

ENDS

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