The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance can reveal through a request made under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act that Auckland Council spent $430,000 to build a ‘Rainbow Machine’, used as an interactive arts installation.

The same request can reveal that since the Rainbow Machine’s 2018 commissioning, Auckland Council has spent $104,405 cleaning, moving and erecting the installation in various locations. Council has spent a further $6,898 on maintenance for the machine, and approximately $3,400 each year on storage.

The total amount spent by Auckland Council on the Rainbow Machine is approximately $561,703.

“Has no one told Auckland Council that rainbows are free?” said Sam Warren, a spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance.

“In all seriousness, while Auckland Council is currently pleading its case to increase rates by 5.8 percent on top of last year's 6.8 percent increase—it comes out that they’ve spent more than half a million dollars on rainbows. You couldn’t make it up.”

“When I was recently asked by a councillor what a ‘nice-to-have’ is, I can say in full confidence that this is one of them. Yes, art is subjective—especially when superannuants are forced to choose between paying rates and groceries.”

"Unless Auckland Council somehow finds a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, which I’m sure would be wasted—they need demonstrate to ratepayers that every dollar spent is truly valued.”

“Announcements last year by Government included a crackdown on this kind of spending. While councils up and down the country continue to make noise about being hard done by, can we remember that one person’s entire lifetime of paying rates has been spent on a spectrum of colours. Do better, Auckland Council.”

NOTES:

Auckland Council's response to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request can be found here.

The Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance is a not-for-profit community group dedicated to championing prudent fiscal management of our Super City. Membership is free and open to all Aucklanders who sign up at www.ratepayers.nz.

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