A Wellington City councilor wants the council to sponsor Wellington rugby's 10 representative teams to the tune of NZ$250,000 ($162,270), "in a proposal that has sparked controversy," according to ONE NEWS. The Wellington Lions "have a solid fan base as the most watched ITM Rugby Cup team," and councilor Paul Eagle "wants to take advantage of that exposure." He said, "They have a marketing reach that the council would never and could never get. So we want to tap into that." He said that the partnership would see rugby players "help promote council initiatives to stomp out alcohol or graffiti." Eagle: "If I tell people to stop smoking, they won't. But if a representative rugby player in Wellington who is from a local community, or Maori, Pacific or ethnic, and they say 'Put out the smoke,' I reckon it'll work." The Taxpayers' Union "is sceptical." Taxpayers' Union Chair John Bishop said, "Show us the evidence that rugby players are effective message carriers to the community. There's not a lot of evidence that they are" (ONE NEWS, 2/2).
