Tim Dower: Selling Auckland Council's best asset won't fix their deep-rooted problem; themselves

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge · May 30, 2023 · 2m

Battle is brewing over those Auckland Airport shares currently owned by Auckland Council.

The Council actually inherited 22 percent of the airport when it was formed and since then there's been a capital raising by the airport which has diluted that holding down to 18 percent.

But it's worth well over $2 billion; enough to plug that Budget gap six or seven times over.

So, the Council's in a bit of a spot. Their choices are either a great big rates increase, or some pretty serious cuts or sell part or all of the family silver.

Mayor Wayne Brown wants to flick the shares - and you can see the…