Responding to news that Wellington Water has requested $2.5 billion in funding from Wellington City Council, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“When even elected Councillors are treated like children and only allowed to see snippets of a ratepayer-funded secret report into Wellington Water’s failures, Wellington’s closed-shop bureaucracy is spitting in the face of local democracy.

“This isn’t the first time Council officials have stifled information to railroad decisions. A crucial KPMG report was buried until just two days before the long-term plan vote, a report on the town hall’s $147 million blowout was shoved down the back of the sofa for months, and ratepayer-funded legal advice over airport share sales was hidden from elected representatives.

“Despite their culture of secrecy, we can all see the Council isn’t working. Before even considering doling out billions of dollars, Wellington needs to open the books to show some respect for the ratepayers who pay their wages.”

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