Christopher Luxon takes swipe at Auckland’s 7.9% rates rise
Friday, 29 May 2026
Auckland’s upcoming rates rise of 7.9% is proof the country needs a rates cap, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says.
Auckland Council this week voted in favour of the hefty increase to rates, with mayor Wayne Brown fending off an amendment for a reduced 5.9%.
But the council is copping flak from the Government.
Minister for Auckland Simeon Brown described the rates rise as “pretty disappointing”, especially when a lower option was on the table.
Read more:
“Wayne Brown and Auckland Council had options available to reduce the rates increase and lessen the impact on Aucklanders, but actively chose to ignore them,” Brown wrote on social media on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Christopher Luxon, a rate-paying Aucklander, said all councils needed to be exercising “massive amounts of restraint”.
“We want councils to be focused … just as this Government is doing, making some tough choices, acknowledging that we’re in hard times, but acknowledging we’ve got some fiscal constraints - but being smart and being clever and being thoughtful about how we manage those funds,” he said.
“We're expecting all councils to manage their budgets well, do the must dos, not the nice to do stuff, and make sure those rate increases are as little as possible.”
Asked whether he had calculated how much his rates bill would be going up as a result of the council’s decision, Luxon instead reiterated the need for a rates cap.
“There was obviously a proposal for 5.9% … We want councils to do the minimum rate increases, that's why we're putting rate caps in for 2 to 4%.”
Wayne Brown told councillors the rates increase was needed to pay for Auckland’s new city rail link, due to open in the coming months.
He argued the rates rise was “a nought increase, plus a railway”.
The mayor has previously criticised the rates cap, which isn’t due to be fully in place until 2029, dubbing it a “rates crap”.
The relationship between Auckland’s mayor and the Government has been frosty in recent months, with Brown describing a city deal as “underwhelming” despite signing it.
He told TVNZ’s Q+A last month he would not agree to a rate cap as part of the deal “because it’s a dumb idea”.
Meanwhile, proposed changes to Auckland’s housing intensification rules were watered down - twice - by central Government.
Despite this, the super city’s residential zoning plan has caught international attention this week, with New York's mayor Zohran Mamdani citing Auckland as a positive example when discussing housing.
“We know from other cities the difference that thoughtful planning, careful zoning and direct municipal financing can make,” Mamdani said.