Responding to news that Wellington City Council has 54 members in its comms team, with a total annual budget of over $5 million, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said:

“Pipes are bursting, roads are crumbling, and rates are rising. To try and convince ratepayers that all is fine and dandy, rather than fix the issues, the council is papering over the cracks with dozens upon dozens of spin doctors.

“Council officials apparently don’t like Wellingtonians grumbling about our city and think spending millions on shutting them up is justified. But ratepayers won’t have the wool pulled over their eyes by a t-shirt campaign.

“If the council did its job and stopped wasting hundreds of millions on vanity projects like multi-million dollar corporate handouts, funded by cuts to core community services and rate hikes, there would be no need for a fleet of propagandists. The results would speak for themselves.”

© Scoop Media