You won't believe the latest money-wasting scandal from the Council: $260,000 spent on a 2.4-metre-diameter mirror to hang above a CBD street.

Yes, seriously. While Aucklanders are struggling to make ends meet and pay the Council's new regional fuel tax, the Council is mocking the poor with this sort of grand scale vanity project.
This Council has more of our money than sense.
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The mirror’s designer, Catherine Griffiths, was surprised the cost had escalated from $80,000 to $260,000. It seems that our Council cannot even deliver a mirror on budget.
A reflection of something bigger.
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While public art has a place, blowing a quarter of a million dollars on a single installation is a total waste of money. There are far higher priorities than a giant mirror, especially for a Council that claims it needs new taxes to fund infrastructure. The average Auckland household now pays $1,300 more in Council expenses compared to when the Super City was founded. The wasteful spending and broken promises highlighted in this guide help to explain why.
Key facts in the Council guide:
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Inflated spending – the Council is raking in 46% more than five years ago.
A growing rates burden – the average household pays $1,300 more now than when the Super City was formed.
Costly debt – the average household now pays $850 a year just to pay interest on the Council’s debt.
New examples of waste – the Council now spends $45 million a year on communications staff (i.e. spin doctors).
Broken promises – Pre-election, Phil Goff said he would cut waste and ‘do more with less’ at the Council. Now, he is charging Aucklanders new levies and taxes.
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More messages from your neighbours

6 minutes ago

Amazingly quiet night in Green Bay

Markus from Green Bay

All the Best for the New Year! The last few years they started banging days earlier already, but this year it was amazingly quiet. Now either people suddenly got smart and care about animals and the environment (which I don’t believe for a second) or it’s the clearest sign of the Cost of Living Crisis we are in. I’m just glad I can make a damn fine bread for under a dollar.

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