Latest / The Kākā by Bernard Hickey
A nod and a wink that will unnecessarily cost Aucklanders tens of millions per year
TL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown that carving Watercare out of Auckland Council can be done easily and cheaply without clear guarantees on the new Watercare bonds from the Government or Auckland Council.
Industry sources have told me Watercare would get a BBB+ or A- credit rating at best under the proposed structure, even with a ‘nod and a wink’ from the Crown that it would rescue Auckland’s water network if push came to shove. This means the Government and Council are loading up an…
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