ACT is slamming Wellington City Council's $2.3 million public toilet blowout ahead of its announcement of council candidates in the city.

"Today, Wellingtonians opened the paper to discover their Council has spent $2.3 million on a glorified toilet block that doubles as a rainbow light show. At the same time, they learned their rates will be hiked by 12.4%," says ACT Local Government spokesperson Cameron Luxton.

"The link between these two stories couldn't be clearer: the Council's failure to get a handle on its exorbitant spending has led to compounding double-digit rate hikes.

"Wellington City Council has abused ratepayers for long enough. Later this week, ACT Local will be announcing its candidates for Wellington City Council, as we continue to roll out challengers for council seats up and down the country.

"Just down the road, ACT is working every day in the Beehive to deliver savings to taxpayers, and we've reined in inflation. But councils like Wellington are undermining our efforts. Rate hikes in most parts of the country far outpace the rate of inflation. They missed the memo on the cost of living crisis, and their refusal to face reality has reached the point of pisstaking.

"ACT is clear: local councils need a wake-up call. Our candidates will fight to slash wasteful spending, deliver affordable rates, and get councils back to core business of roads and rubbish."

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