Mayors to pay own way to Cup

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Mayors and city officials have been left off the guestlist for next year's Rugby World Cup tournament.

Rugby New Zealand 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden said no free tickets would be provided for councils in match-hosting regions, but each region had an option to buy up to 150 seats at full price.

Hamilton and Nelson will pay for tickets for their mayors, councillors or guests, but Wellington and New Plymouth are not planning any freebies. And one of the leading contenders for the Auckland Supercity mayoralty has vowed he will buy his own ticket before making ratepayers pick up the tab.

John Banks acknowledged he might accept a freebie from someone else, like rugby administrators. "In a perfect world, I'd like to think that maybe I would be invited by the New Zealand Rugby Union," he said. "If not, I'll be buying tickets for myself and my boys."

Rival Supercity candidate Len Brown hadn't thought about whether tickets should be bought. It would be up to the new council to look at further spending on hosting and promotions, he said.

Martin Snedden said a VIP programme would be run on behalf of Rugby World Cup Limited, but local dignitaries weren't likely to make the guestlist. "The invite list will be focused on international guests, not domestic," he said.

In Nelson, the city council has revoked an earlier decision to not buy tickets, deciding to buy nine seats for each of the two local matches.

At $80 each, ratepayers would spend $1440 to host representatives from Italy, the US and Russia. Two regional mayors and their partners would also attend. If the dignitaries didn't take up the seats, they would go to ratepayers.

Hamilton City Council was planning to buy 16 seats for the mayor and councillors for games at Waikato Stadium.

Napier City Council chief executive Neil Taylor said 20 tickets would be bought for McLean Park games, but they would be offered to members of a local organising committee at their own cost. The office of the auditor-general said no specific advice had been given on buying tickets.

General advice was to follow guidelines for sensitive expenditure, which included ensuring purchases were "moderate and conservative", and had a justifiable business purpose.