Airport Shares

The two issues that have come to the fore in all of the community meetings that we've held in recent weeks on the Royal Commission's proposal and the government's response on Auckland governance, has been airport shares and free entry to the pools.

The first question usually asked once the floor is opened up for discussion is what will happen to the airport shares we have owned since 1989.

Manukau City Council became an original shareholder of AIAL in 1988 on corporatisation of the airport. At that time the airport was owned jointly with the Crown holding 50 per cent of the shareholding and the Auckland local authorities each having individual shareholdings totalling 50 per cent. Later the Crown increased its shareholding to 51.6% after acquiring the small shareholding of Papakura District Council.

In 1998 AIAL was listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. All local authorities, with the exception of Manukau, have either partially or fully sold their shares in the airport. Manukau was the only local authority to increase its shareholding.

Since 1989 we as a council have had a number of debates as to whether we hold or sell our shareholding in the Auckland Airport. There were one or two close votes but increasingly over recent years, the council has been stronger in its position, and this comes primarily off the back of our community being strongly committed to holding our public assets long-term for the city's benefit.

We have also held the shares long-term partly because the airport was in our backyard, and it was thought that we had a greater interest than anyone else in its appropriate management and future direction.

With the impending establishment of the new Auckland Council, our shares will be folded, along with our other assets, into the new council. The outcome of those shares' future, along with Auckland City Council's shares, will be solely in the hands of the politicians elected to lead the new council.

The arguments therefore will be the same around that council chamber as there have been around ours. Ultimately future of the shares will come down to how determined all the communities in the Auckland region are to hold the 23 per cent stake in the Auckland Airport Company.

Long-term, as a strategic holding of public interest, I could not see myself changing my position in the event that I had any involvement with that council going forward.

Free pools

The second question that is asked at these meetings is "Will we have to pay for entry to our pools?"

The free entry to pools policy has been in place for decades. The council, in fact, formalised its policy for free entry to council pools when it opened the Manurewa and Otara pools in 1974.

Prior to that, I suspect it had no policy, but an unwritten policy that there would be no charge because the only pool the council actually had was the promised family pool inherited when Totara Park was set up. That pool is still open and is being used by many in the community and still free.

The policy has been subject to a lot of debate over the years and I can recall on a number of occasions during my years as a councillor, emotional and strongly argued debates with the public gallery full, and the policy being retained on the casting vote of former Mayor Sir Barry Curtis.

This is a policy that I've always felt strongly about and see as a touchstone policy of the "Manukau way."

It was never about the fact that the policy cost the ratepayers, but that we made a deliberate decision as a council to make sure the pools were there for our young people.

We also looked at what happened to Auckland when it instituted a user charge for entry. For example, charging at the Glen Innes pool resulted in a drop to patronage.

We did not want price to be a bar to our children using pools.

This policy has been one which our communities have felt a huge pride in and at times taken for granted. They now realise its importance. It's a policy that is unique, as it is not in place in any other parts of Auckland.

In the months ahead it will be interesting to see, in the event the new council is established, whether there is an appetite for extending this policy right across the region. It's a policy that is good for kids and good for families.

Enjoy the week!

Len Brown

Mayor of Manukau

ENDS

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