Hubbard explains why rates must rise

Dick Hubbard

Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard has spent thousands of dollars of his own money to make an impassioned plea in favour of hefty rate rises in the city.

In a full-page advertisement in today's Herald, Mr Hubbard invokes images of Auckland's past and recalls the exploits of former mayors to justify this year's residential rate increase of 13.4 per cent - a rise which has prompted vociferous and widespread protests.

Mr Hubbard said last night he decided to take the advertisement because of his frustration with what he believed was ratepayers' shortsightedness.

"I have been listening to debate over the past two weeks and I haven't heard the word 'vision' used once," he said.

"I wanted to lift people's sights, and paint a picture of the Auckland city we are trying to create for the future."

The advertisement cites "a brave mayor by the name of [Sir James] Gunson", who pooled Government and ratepayer money to build the Auckland Museum in the 1920s.

And it recalls how former mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson flew in the face of public opinion to establish a "sophisticated" sewage treatment plant at Mangere in the 1960s.

"By looking back at the past, it is easier to plan the correct course for the future," Mr Hubbard said last night.

The advertisement also says plenty about today's developments in the city, and the council's supply of "unprecedented resources" to improve transport systems.

And it promises ratepayers: "You will get the waterfront you told us you wanted and the one that you deserve."

Mr Hubbard said the 2011 Rugby World Cup was a "once-in-a-lifetime chance to reap huge economic benefits, to create thousands of jobs, to showcase Auckland to the world, to create pride".

The council has proposed putting millions into a $320 million upgrade of Eden Park for the cup - a project which is running into ratepayer resistance.

Mr Hubbard said his decision to place the advertisement was "totally unilateral".

"That's about leadership. There are times when you have to step up to the plate. Instinct and gut feeling told me this was the right thing to do."

But Mr Hubbard has not won over the Citizens and Ratepayers Now group.

Team leader Scott Milne - an Auckland city councillor - said the mayor's advertisement "takes me back to the Football World Cup final, when Zidane had his brain explosion".

It was a case of too little, too late. "The mayor has had ample opportunity over the last 18 months to formulate and fund a vision." Instead, he had been seduced by factions of the council wishing to "feather their own nest".

"He cannot now ask for clemency when he has led the team that got us in this situation - this situation being a rates revolt. There's just so many who will think this is peculiar."

Mr Hubbard would not say how much he paid for the advertisement, but agreed it was many thousands of dollars.

He denied "absolutely and categorically" that it was placed by a desperate mayor facing angry ratepayers, saying, "it is just to use the words vision and foresight".

He also ruled out any prospect of a change in the council's rating policy, which was "all set and locked in".

THE VISIONARIES

* Sir James Henry Gunson, 1915-1925

Storeman who became a grain merchant who became mayor. He presided over infrastructure expansion and was behind building of the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

* Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, 1959-1965, 1968-1980

Son of a pawnbroker, and Auckland's longest serving mayor. He pushed for regional authorities and the construction of sewage-treatment works at Mangere.