The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is welcoming news that the Manurewa Local Board will be the seventh local board in Auckland to allow members of the public to attend workshop meetings, previously hidden from transparency behind closed doors.

Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance Spokesperson, Sam Warren, said:

“For too long ratepayers have been kept in the dark about what goes on behind closed doors. Good governance depends on transparency so that decision makers can be held accountable.

"Previously, councils and local boards have argued that decisions are not made in these workshops, but we have long been concerned that’s exactly what’s happening, and the open meeting is simply a rubber stamp for decisions already made.“

"The threshold for excluding the public from democratic processes should be exceptionally high. It is great to see another local board making openness the default for workshops, but this should have been done along time ago. Other local boards must work quickly to follow Manurewa’s lead.”

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