Auckland Council’s Community Development and Safety Committee has voted 7 – 2 to allow the creation of a rainbow advisory board to proceed.
In an impassioned plea to colleagues before the vote, chairperson Cathy Casey talked of the challenges Auckland’s GLBT community still faced and expressed her view that the advisory board was long overdue saying “this rainbow panel’s time has come.”
The vote followed 5 minute speeches from OUTLineNZ, the Charlotte Museum, Body Positive, the Gay Auckland Business Association, Auckland Pride Festival Inc and the Rainbow Tick who all made the case for the creation of the advisory board.
The proposal was not without it’s critics however. Councillor George Wood and Callum Penrose both voted against the proposal.
Councillor Penrose sighted already rising rates and said that the message from Aucklanders he had spoken to was “tighten the purse strings”
Councillor George Wood talked of similar concerns and said the council had “become the yes council. Anybody who comes along with an idea we say yes. People are concerned about spending”
“We just don’t have the funds” Wood said.
However, both councillor Wood and Penrose were in the minority view, with a 7 – 2 vote in favour taking place after each councillor had the opportunity to speak. The proposal will now go to the governing body for a final vote.
If formally approved, the panel will provide a local government platform from which to effectively address issues of significance to Auckland’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and (GLBT) community.
Article | Levi Joule.
