Media release from UnitedFuture Party
Ohariu MP Peter Dunne today slammed Wellington City Council for “knowing how to kill a good party” with its short-sighted closing of the Rugby World Cup waterfront fanzone after next weekend’s quarter-finals.

“Lame. Lame. Lame. Seriously, why on earth would you close the fanzone – a really successful community and visitor focal point – two weeks before the tournament ends?

“That is like closing at 10pm on New Year’s eve. It is wrong and short-sighted on every level.

“The last minute Town Hall alternative is just that – last minute thinking when you realise you have stuffed up,” he said.

“Who wants to sit inside in rows of chairs in a Town Hall, when they could be having fun, better weather and longer sunny evenings on the waterfront?

“It is a no-brainer that the fanzone should have run for the length of the Rugby World Cup.”

Mr. Dunne said that in saying that most of the visitors would have left the city for Auckland for the later stages of the tournament, the council seems to be forgetting its ratepayers and what would make the World Cup better for them.