By Tim Murphy

Copyright newsroom

Auckland is eyeing up to 40 percent of the $50 million in Government funding it is eligible for under a big major events spend-up.

The events package, which has a further $20m for regional support and infrastructure, will cover two years of the country’s bids and hosting charges for big ticket and quick turnaround sports events, concerts and shows.

While Auckland’s Mayor Wayne Brown welcomes the injection of funding, he says it is still taxpayer money and as Aucklanders contribute 40 percent of tax funds, the city should get the equivalent – about $20m, of the $50m up for grabs.

And Brown says the limited two-year commitment from central government does not remove the need for an enduring solution for funding the city’s bids for big events to stimulate economic activity.

“It’s no long-term solution, and for Auckland, it won’t go far. We need a sustainable solution that relies less on taxpayers and ratepayers. And we just happen to have one: a user-pays bed levy. Note it is a levy and not a tax, there’s a difference.”

While the big central government short-term commitment was welcome and showed the Government recognised underfunding in the events area, Brown emphasised Auckland would expect its share.

“This fund is not free money; this is taxpayer money. Forty percent of tax is from Auckland. At least the same should be returned and invested here.”

On one level, the Government taking over events funding for the next two years works against the mayor’s desire for Wellington to get out of Auckland’s business but city officials have always worked closely with government agencies on big events.

The Government funding provides $10m for events nationally in 2026 – with regional tourism organisations and councils including Auckland are rushing now to meet a September 30 deadline for applications for that money – and $40m for big events for 2026 and 2027, criteria yet to be finalised.

But as Brown has pointed out, the time-limited nature of the funding makes it an example of a potential ‘fiscal cliff’ in the budgets of any future government. No money is committed beyond 2027, so whichever government is elected in late 2026 needs to determine how to fund future years’ event bids and hosting fees.

The package announced at the weekend appears to have been put together in a rush – the criteria and application details are only available for the immediate $10m fund, with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment promising more information later for the remaining $60m spending.

For Auckland, the bigger than expected two years’ funding helps cover some of the costs its events and destination arm Tatāki Unlimited Auckland had faced after Brown and councillors cut its ratepayer funding steeply this term.

Last month Auckland Council had to establish a $30m underwrite facility allowing Tatāki to make bids for events such as the cricket T20 World Cup in 2028 and Lions women’s and men’s rugby tours in 2027 and 2029.

That facility might not be needed for the next two years, as applications will surely be made to the Government’s funds, but it remains needed as it stretches the backstop underwriting out to 2030 and years that remain so far unfunded.

Tatāki’s destination director Annie Dundas says of the Government announcement: “This is an incredible start and we are very grateful.

“This is fine for two years, but we need to be actively bidding beyond two or three years and when looking at some of these bigger events.”

She notes Auckland’s winning bid for the 2024 World Choir Games took four years from initial bid to event. “They take four or five years to come to fruition.”

But the mix of funds being introduced did change the criteria organisations like Tatāki had previously faced in seeking central government funding support – with concerts now expressly allowed.

Dundas had previously told Newsroom Auckland would ideally like to schedule one substantive event a month, 12 a year. With access to the new funds, she’s hopeful of adding “close to or more than half that”.

She acknowledged a big push for outdoor concerts at Eden Park or Go Media Stadium at Mt Smart would be limited to a degree by the weather through winter, but said attracting artists prepared to perform multi-date concerts at, say, the smaller Spark Arena would also be possible.

Brown’s continuing push for a new bed night levy – a charge on users of hotels, motels and even Airbnbs to fund directly events and destination activity previously covered by ratepayers indirectly – has had no success with this Government.

He told councillors last month the Act Party was resistant and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and others were seeking ways around that.

“We’ve decided we’re going to call it the Big Events Incentive” so that opponents of a bed night levy in the Act Party might find a way to support it.

Meanwhile, the Government is investigating removing restrictions on Eden Park’s ability to host more concerts, following through on Luxon and Resource Management Act Reform minister Chris Bishop’s public comments that the existing rules were damaging economic opportunities.

The investigation under an amendment to the Resource Management Act is supposed to involve consultation with the public but the National politicians’ comments seem to have made Bishop’s statutory listening process a fait accompli.

With more money for concerts through to 2027, and an intent to relax rules for Eden Park, the next hurdle the Government will face will be the park trust’s desire for $110m in funding for new retractable seating for its North Stand, to improve the size of the cricket ground.

Luxon was unaware of any request direct to central government to fund that rebuild of the stand, something Eden Park has made the first stage of its ultimate stadium overhaul.

Auckland Council, in favouring Eden Park over a new waterfront stadium proposal earlier this year, made clear it would not fund the Eden Park redevelopment, with councillors saying the Government would need to pay the $110m and later costs.