Bull unleashes a reader backlash over rates

Herald readers turned their fury on Auckland Regional Council chairwoman Gwen Bull yesterday, after she said 200 per cent-plus rate hikes were "the absolute fairest way we could go". This is an edited selection.


Your paper reported Gwen Bull as saying that only 100 angry emails have been received by the Herald. Please add mine to the list. A woman who can arrogantly accept a pay rise which is 80 per cent of the average NZ wage proves herself totally ignorant of the plight of the residents she was elected to serve.

Please continue to feature the outrageous rate rise and provide a vehicle to save the ordinary ratepayer from these draconian measures. - Meredith Caisley

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With regard to the views of Gwen Bull ... If you believe her version of public opinion about ARC rating you would believe people are for the most part joyous and grateful for being given the opportunity to be robbed blind.

The only conclusion I reached from her comments were that if you are skilled in the art of propaganda and clever at twisting the truth you must be worth another $26,000 a year (paid by the public of course). - Peter Culpan

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Our ARC rates have risen from $126 to $342 per year. According to Gwen Bull this is a fair and equitable rating system. Get real, how can it be equitable when people are charged different amounts for a similar service, in some instances for no service at all? We know the names of all the councillors who voted for this "fair" system. Enjoy the perks and inflated salaries while you can, your time is limited. - David Moon

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Our ARC rates have risen from $91.40 to $351.84, which is scandalous. We find Mrs Bull's attitude to complaints insulting and recommend she should resign immediately and the ARC conduct a review of all accounts sent out so far. - Keith and Judith Lord

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The increase in rates is fine for the likes of Mrs Bull who is on a high salary and a ridiculous one at that.

I would love to see Mrs Bull stripped of her income and put onto a small one, and then made to manage like the rest of us.

I'm a solo parent (through no wish of my own) and have never asked for handouts. For the last four years I worked 6 days a week full time to try to get ahead only to have it taken away from me. We are told to save for old age - why? And how can we with these terrific increases all the time? There will be nothing left for my retirement, which is not too far off. - Glenis Milne

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Our ARC rates in Whangaparaoa have gone up 89 per cent and there is perhaps only one effective way to do something about this indecent rise.

Seven ARC councillors voted for the increase, one abstained and five had voted against.

Vote for the ones who were against it or abstained at the next election.

Guess who also voted for a rate rise recently according to the paper: Gwen Bull. - D. Veen

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So Gwen Bull is not worried at the level of public outcry at the huge hike in ARC rates. I bet her increase is nowhere near as steep as some, since she lives in "a rural area near Papakura". It shouldn't be a hardship for her to pay either. The gall of the woman! If she chooses to ignore the ratepayers in this way, she had better enjoy her overpaid job while she can. Let's see if she can handle the payments when all she gets is her pension. - Kevin Skinner

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So the ARC only had 27 irate phone calls? Well it seemed rather pointless complaining, it was a done deal by the time it came through our letter box. The Herald is providing an excellent public forum for irate ratepayers but perhaps Gwen Bull has stopped reading the paper because she doesn't like what it's telling her.

I would, however, like Gwen Bull to take a moment and consider the position the ARC has placed some families in who are surviving close to the breadline.

I guess it will be OK if their kids can manage without warm clothing or a heater when it's cold, they could go without school lunches for a few weeks, they never really needed new shoes and school trips always were a luxury. I have no doubt some families will have to make some hard choices. I hope Gwen Bull enjoys every bit of her $26,000 pay rise. - Carol Guise

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Gwen Bull must think we are all silly. It was quoted in the front-page story of the Herald that of 800 calls to the ARC hotline only 27 listed as irate. Maybe the other 773 got into the very irate list. I think she had better make the most of her new $125,000 plus salary. When are the next ARC elections? - Barry Wood

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My ARC (Another Ridiculous Charge) rates are up from $124 to $292. So much for user pays! Trains have not yet been invented round here and buses are as rare as Nessie. Gwen Bull appears to be suffering from Mad Cow Disease. Al Capone Bull and her henchpeople have got to go: we cannot afford to keep them. They are superfluous; no bull. - David Harlock

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I have decided to add my voice to the growing chorus of dissent over the recent ARC rates bills. We have just received ours, which has increased from $130 to $363.

Something doesn't seem quite right here. I am originally from the UK and was there when the Thatcher government attempted to introduce the poll tax which was what finally brought her government down. In my view the changes being implemented by the ARC are of the same misguided ilk.

While I have no issue with the need to increase the overall spending by the ARC on infrastructure - Lord knows we need a decent public transport system - the burden has been moved from business who are by far the predominant users and influencers of infrastructure in the Auckland region. Yet their bills have reduced significantly, giving them a profit windfall. - David Yates

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I am flabbergasted! My ARC rates have increased by $518.29 - from $301.50, to $819.79!

I believe this is an unprecedented single rise in any form of tax. I live 10 houses up the road from Milford beach, in a road where there are many elderly pensioners. I hate to think how much higher the rates even closer to the beach will be. - Julian Fuller

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I am self-employed and if I was to inform my customers that I was to increase my rate by the same amount I would be out of business in no time.

Perhaps all people and companies that supply the ARC should consider increasing their rates by the same amount and see what reaction the ARC would have to that. - Anthony Scammell

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I think Aucklanders should shut up and pay up - the transport issue in Auckland has been a problem for years, and finally we are getting something done about it.

Money spent on public transport would get a bunch of people off the roads, easing congestion. Yes that would benefit you, too - you who complain about not using the public transport system are part of reason for the problem in the first place.

If you can't see the benefit of bettering our public transport system simply "because you don't use it" then you should wake up and smell the burning toast. - Kyla Brookes