Submission to the QLDC Audit, Finance, and Risk Committee
Date: 11 December, 2023
QLDC endorsed the 10-year, $350 million Queenstown Airport Master Plan at its 16 November meeting. We are concerned that the QAC Board (and Council) could interpret this endorsement as carte blanche approval of the plan’s total 10-year, debt-funded expenditure without any further Council scrutiny.
With Council already nudging against its debt limits, QAC’s debt-funded expenditure could put the Council’s ownership and revenue at risk. The Council won’t be able to provide QAC with additional equity capital if needed. Also, the Council’s long-term plan has significant reliance on annual dividend revenues from QAC, which could be at risk from the company’s high debt burden.
It’s a massive expenditure and debt commitment given QAC could soon face competition from the proposed Central Otago Airport, with the prospect of Queenstown Airport being at “end of life”, as suggested by Cath O’Brien, CEO of BARNZ (the voice of New Zealand’s airline industry).
We are pleased a majority of councillors voted to have QAC’s $350 million Master Plan assessed by its Audit, Finance, and Risk Committee, thanks to an amendment from Crs Niki Gladding and Cody Tucker.
We support We Love Wakatipu Inc.’s submission outlining their concerns to the independent members of that committee and publish it here with permission.