Publicity bill at $533,000

The Government has spent $533,000 in the past month on informing people about its Super City plans.

This includes producing a pamphlet, Making Auckland Greater, at a cost of $59,000. More than 500,000 copies of the pamphlet were distributed by the Auckland Regional Council.

The Government has also spent $153,000 on advertisements, $27,000 establishing a website and $12,000 on a document outlining its decisions.

Labour's Auckland issues spokesman Phil Twyford said it was outrageous that the Government was prepared to spend $133,000 a week on a publicity blitz, which did not include revealing how much the restructuring exercise would cost.

Local Government Minister Rodney Hide has said the taxpayer is paying for the information campaign but Auckland ratepayers will have to pay the much bigger restructuring bill.

A spokeswoman for Mr Hide last night said the cost of creating the Auckland Council and 20 to 30 local boards under it was unknown.

The Royal Commission on Auckland Governance said creating the super council with six local councils under it would cost between $120 million and $240 million and produce annual savings of between $76 million and $113 million by 2015.

Waitakere City Council used the commission's higher figure of $240 million to calculate that each ratepayer will pay at least $550 in restructuring costs for the Super City.

Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse said the figure was on the low side because the Government's plan would be more complicated and expensive to set up than the commission's Super City/six local councils proposal.

Mr Twyford said ratepayers were entitled to know the price before being pressured into accepting the Government's latest plan.