Auckland wins $1.8m for hosting forum

By John Andrews and Chris Daniels

Auckland City will get about a third of the money it wanted from the Government to host Apec.

The council sought $5.2 million for road and footpath resealing, street banners and hosting journalists, but the Government has agreed to give an extra $1.793 million to the city for September's summit meeting, a figure close to the $1.8 million originally sought before some apparently hidden costs came to light.

Millennium Minister Murray McCully's announcement of the extra funding came after weeks of "horse-trading" between the council and Government.

Manukau City is to get $113,000.

Auckland mayor Christine Fletcher had told Parliament in April that she wanted the Government to pick up $1.8 million in Apec-associated costs.

A month later, this figure had ballooned to $5.2 million because, she said, "up until now it had been difficult bringing all the costs together as some issues had not been made explicit by Apec organisers."

Mrs Fletcher said yesterday the final figure was not as much as she would have liked, but "on balance it is a fair contribution."

She said the money, which had been "aggressively sought," was not intended for works to be done irrespective of Apec.

Council officials believe it will cost $75,000 more to reroute rubbish collections during Apec.

The New Zealand Herald has been told that Mrs Fletcher turned down an earlier offer from the Prime Minister's office.

The mayor said yesterday it was not appropriate to discuss that situation but conceded the talks were "lengthy and at times tense."

Apec organisers are also paying about $1 million to the council for hiring venues and staff.