Wellington City Council absolved of wrongdoing for funding Singapore Airlines route

New Zealand's Office of the Auditor-General announced (27-Jun-2017) it absolved Wellington City Council from any wrongdoing after it paid Singapore Airlines to launch Singapore-Canberra-Wellington service. The route commenced in Sep-2016, with reports questioning the basis of the decision to provide Council funding to support the route. Members of the public and media raised concerns including: an alleged lack of paperwork and analysis to support or document the funding decision, the ability of the Council's Chief Executive to approve the funding without consideration by the Council and a lack of transparency about the cost to the Council and its ratepayers. The Auditor-General stated: "Based on the information we have seen to date, we do not intend to investigate this matter further." [more - original PR]