Team NZ gets green light to use $5 million govt investment to recruit new staff

Team NZ negotiated with the Government for the changes to be made to the original agreement. Photo / Photosport

Govt investment in Cup defence allows Kiwi syndicate to hire new staff.

America's Cup winners Team New Zealand have been given the thumbs up from the former Government to spend their $5 million pay-out to recruit and retain key staff.

When the Government investment was announced in July, after Team NZ's success in Bermuda, it was stated the funds were solely to be used to retain key talent, before they were snapped up by rival syndicates.

But an Official Information Act (OIA) response from then Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges office has revealed the original agreement has been changed to allow the $5m investment to also be spent on hiring new staff.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment's general manager of tourism, sectors, regions and cities, Iain Cossar said the Government agreed to the change after a request from the syndicate.

"The Government agreed as it felt [Team NZ] was best placed to make decisions about the appropriate make-up of the team going forward, and it recognised that the challenges involved in winning the Cup are quite different to those involved in defending the Cup," he said.

Cossar said the change was made before the $5m agreement had been signed and any funding was provided. The money will be paid to Team NZ in instalments once agreed reporting requirements are met.

These included the syndicate providing the number of key personnel, forecast monthly remuneration budgets and confirmation that the $5m would be used only for the purposes of retaining and recruiting key personnel.

The former Government gave the same amount of money to Team NZ after it was defeated in San Francisco in 2013.

Team NZ did not respond to an interview request.

Text messages, emails and letters released to the Herald on Sunday under the OIA this year, showed Team NZ boss Grant Dalton requested the funding "as soon as possible to secure our core team".

"It would be great to tell the team I can pay their salary after next week," Dalton wrote to Bridges - just two days after Team NZ lifted the Cup from Oracle Team USA.

"We are extremely conscious that we need to lock in our key team members before they fall prey to tantalising offers from other syndicates," the letter said.

Dalton explained that until details for the 36th America's Cup had been agreed, the team could not secure sponsorship commitments.

Details of the Protocol for the next event were announced late last month, and contained a contingency plan to hold the regatta in Italy in 2021 if Auckland was unable to meet the infrastructure needs for the event.

Last weekend, the Herald on Sunday reported that special legislation is likely to be pushed through to ensure Auckland can host the Cup.

Documents obtained under the Official Information Act revealed the Auckland Council had raised concerns with the previous Government over the condensed timeline to deliver infrastructure for the event.

The first syndicates are expected to set up camp in Auckland in mid-2019, and construction on the team bases needs to start by the middle of next year. Council officials say that to meet event timeframes the planning process will have to be accelerated.