Responding to Wellington Water’s $354,000 spend on PR contractors, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says:

“Instead of pipes, Wellingtonians got press releases from highly-paid spindoctors. It’s no wonder rates bills are expected to spike across the region.”

“Wellington Water’s spend on PR contractors for one year was the equivalent of that year’s entire rates bill for around 130 households. This is a disgraceful waste of ratepayer money that was sorely needed to deliver core services.”

“No amount of PR material will smooth over the reality of sewage pipes bursting across the region. In fact, by resorting to the use of contractors, Wellington Water is losing the opportunity to build up in-house capability to communicate with the public in the future.”

© Scoop Media