What is the issue?
Auckland Council Investments Ltd (ACIL) is a council-controlled organisation (CCO).
It was established on amalgamation of Auckland Council with the objective of bringing a strong commercial focus to the ownership and governance of our major investment assets. ACIL's annual costs are just over $1 million.
It owns two significant assets on our behalf:
- Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIAL) - 22.3 per cent shareholding valued at $1.9 billion
- Ports of Auckland Ltd (POAL) – 100 per cent shareholding valued at $1.1 billion.
We have been considering options to enhance the benefits from our investments in these two assets, to increase the strategic alignment between the council and POAL and to also reduce our costs
In addition to the status quo, we considered expanding the portfolio of council assets under ACIL's management but concluded that there weren't enough commercial assets with enough in common to make this approach worthwhile.
We also considered transferring AIAL shares to the council and POAL to an alternative CCO, but we concluded that there wasn't sufficient strategic alignment between POAL and the activities of our other CCOs.
Additionally, this option wouldn't assist with the objective of improved strategic collaboration between the council and POAL.
CCO Accountability Policy
We are proposing to amend our CCO Accountability Policy to better align the objectives of CCOs with the council. The proposed draft policy can be found in section 5.2 of the supporting information for this consultation document.
Co-governance of Tūpuna Maunga
The Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act 2014 (the Act) came into effect on 1 August 2014. The Act vested the Crown-owned land on 14 Tūpuna Maunga (ancestral mountains/volcanic cones) in 13 iwi/hapū groups with interests in Auckland (Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau). The Act also established the Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority (a co-governance body between the council and Ngā Mana Whenua) to administer the Tūpuna Maunga.
The Act requires that the Tūpuna Maunga Authority prepare an Annual Operational Plan to provide a framework in which the council will carry out the routine management of the 14 Tūpuna Maunga, under the direction of the Maunga Authority. This must be prepared and adopted concurrently with the council's annual budget and included in summary form. A summary of the Tūpuna Maunga Authority's draft Operational Plan 2018/2019 can be found in section 4.4 of the supporting information for this consultation document.
What we are proposing
We are proposing to disestablish ACIL and directly hold the shares in Auckland International Airport and Ports of Auckland.
Read more about
disestablishing Auckland Council Investments Ltd
You can also read the full consultation document.