Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown met this morning with Epsom MP and Act Party Leader David Seymour.

The meeting lasted an hour and was “a meeting of minds on trimming wasteful bureaucratic spending”.

They discussed what Mr Brown has described as the “economic and fiscal storm Aucklanders are sailing towards” made worse by this week’s bad news on inflation and interest rates.

Mr Brown said he had ordered Auckland Council and its Council-Controlled Organisations (CCOs) and other entities to review all head office overhead and return savings to Auckland households.

He told Mr Seymour he expected central government to do the same.

Mr Seymour said his party would be urging the Government to put a strict cap on new spending in next year’s Budget and discouraging all parties from making reckless spending promises during the election campaign.

On the question of the port and all council land, Mr Brown and Mr Seymour agreed it should be used for its highest and best use, measured broadly.

Mr Seymour briefed Mr Brown on his deputy Brooke van Velden’s Housing Infrastructure (GST-sharing) Bill, which would encourage local councils to invest in infrastructure, cope with a growing population and let more homes be built through a GST-sharing scheme that would transfer 50 percent of the GST revenue of a new house to the local council that issued the consent.

Mr Brown said he supports the Bill in principle and hopes it will make it through its forthcoming First Reading so that it can be properly debated by Parliament and the public.

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