Media release

Cameron Brewer - Auckland Councillor for Orakei

Monday, 10 January 2011

Let's defer $25,000 fireworks display until Rugby World Cup

A decision by the council-controlled organisation Auckland Tourism, Events, and Economic Development to celebrate Auckland Anniversary with a $25,000 fireworks display on 30 January has been criticised by Auckland Councillor, Cameron Brewer, who chairs the Business Advisory Panel and is deputy chair of the Economic Development Forum.

"Given the economic climate, rising rates, and the very recent $250,000 New Year's Eve fireworks extravaganza, I don't think a majority of Auckland councillors would have signed this off if they were given the chance.

"As much as we all love celebrating civic pride, this all seems a bit ill-conceived. With the new CCO structure, we'll be seeing many more of these unilateral decisions on spending ratepayers without any political debate. For better or worse, that's the new reality.

"I've never heard of a 171st birthday being celebrated with such fanfare and public expense in this country. Maybe Auckland's 175th, but it just sounds like a good excuse for the new CCO to make its mark. Rest assured, $25,000 for a 12-minute inner-city fireworks display won't go down well with the ratepayers of Wellsford or Pukekohe.

"We've got 60,000 extra people in Auckland at Labour Weekend for the Rugby World Cup. We should be saving the big fireworks displays for then, on a barge straight off the bottom of town. In October Auckland would get a really big bang for its buck, with the world's media picking up on the images, and of course global social media coverage.

"Spending tens of thousands out of the blue, at the end of this month, may be nice for the locals who missed out on the New Year's Eve display, but it's not going to leave any lasting images. If we held fire until the Rugby World Cup, it would actually contribute to the global image of Auckland."

"My advice would be keep them in cupboard for another nine months, when we've got an unprecedented international audience to perform to. No doubt there's fireworks displays already scheduled for the tournament's last two weeks, but that's the time to do it if you want to give Auckland ratepayers some bang for their buck," says Cameron Brewer.

ENDS

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