Auckland Council: Hark to DCC’s well-tried model of corporate welfare

Sky City International Convention Centre and hotel.

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Somebody ruthlessly slips the word “National” into the name for Auckland’s proposed convention centre.

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 17:32, December 22 2014
Auckland Councillors blast Sky City ‘corporate welfare’
By Niko Kloeten
Auckland ratepayers should not have to pay for a blow-out in the cost of the Sky City National (sic) Convention Centre, councillors say.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce raised the prospect of the Auckland Council chipping in to help fund the project, after new estimates revealed the cost could blow out by as much as $128 million. The increase in cost could leave taxpayers on the hook for any shortfall, but Joyce said the council could provide some assistance. “If you look at the Wellington Council, they’ve just done a deal to do a convention centre there, a much smaller one, but they’ve under-written some operating costs and that might help was well,” he told Radio New Zealand.
Howick councillor Dick Quax said the money would be better spent on the city’s much-needed transport projects, several of which have been delayed due to funding pressures. “It could be the beginning of an endless group of corporates coming to the council with their hands out. I don’t support corporate welfare at all.”
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█ Dunedin City Council bought professional rugby and simultaneously lost 152 cars. But wait, there’s more.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr