Group of West Aucklanders dissatisfied with the Portage and Waitakere Licensing Trusts and advocating for change.
Auckland, New Zealand
Joined June 2018
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So, it’s finally official - no Beer Spot for New Lynn.
Another example of the monopoly getting in the way of great local hospo.
thetrusts.co.nz/blog/2026/04…
Toby Hyman, our candidate in the Waitakere ward for WLT on RNZ this morning.
rnz.co.nz/national/programme…
ℹ️Annual Report ℹ️
The Trusts have just released their annual report. A first look shows a mixed picture – some positive signs, but probably not the “outstanding” FY25 the CEO has described.
🏦Assets and Liabilities
Net assets remains steady at $122M.
The most notable feature is the $46M being held in cash deposits.
⚠️ Our policy: Fewer Pokies ⚠️
Pokies might be harmless fun for some, and they provide valuable funding. But on balance, they do far more harm than good - and pokies and the Trusts just shouldn’t mix.
💥 We’ll take out half the pokies immediately
Why?
1️⃣ Pokies wreck the vibe
2️⃣ Pokies wreck lives
3️⃣ Pokies wreck the Trust
And as non-pokie funding from the Trusts grows, we’ll take out the rest - ensuring the total amount of community funding available doesn't drop.
🎯 Check out all our policies trustsaction.org.nz/policies…
✅ VOTING IS NOW OPEN – 2025 Local Elections
West Auckland – this is our chance.
For over 50 years we’ve been stuck with a monopoly. Now your vote decides if we finally get the same freedom as the rest of NZ:
🍻 Better local bars
🍷 Wine & beer with your groceries
Don’t sit this one out – every vote counts
📬 Voting packs arrive in your mailbox: Sept 9 – 22
📮 Post it back: by Oct 7 (free postage)
📦 Drop it in a vote box: by midday Oct 11
If you don't receive a voting pack in the mail, you can cast a special vote
voteauckland.co.nz/en/inform…
💰 Our Policy: More Community Funding 💰
$121 MILLION in community assets. Only $1.5M given back yearly. We can do better.
We want to grow community funding and we'll do it in two steps.
Step 2️⃣: Open the door to competition and grow it to $5M+
Market returns on Trust assets would deliver community distributions of $5+ million a year, perhaps $8 million. That's hard while they're obliged to run bars and bottle stores, but easier without.
We'll ensure Trust assets are invested to deliver maximum community benefit.
🎯 Check out all our policies:
trustsaction.org.nz/policies…
✅ Our Policy: Competition 🤜🤛 Monopoly ✅
The Trusts have held a monopoly on pubs and off-licences since 1971.
In all that time, West Aucklanders have had just one vote - back in 2003.
👉 Almost half of today’s voters were too young to vote then
👉 Only ~7% of today’s voters supported the monopoly in 2003
👉 The Trusts’ own 2023 research shows a majority would choose competition today
It’s time to let the community vote again.
Check out all our policies
👉 trustsaction.org.nz/policies…