A planned project by the Office of the Auditor-general (OAG) to "seek learnings" from the controversial strategic alliance between Queenstown Airport Corporation and Auckland International Airport Ltd in 2010 has been deferred.
The OAG announced the "ground up" case study last October and had hoped to share the project lessons by June.
However, local government assistant auditor-general Bruce Robertson told the Otago Daily Times yesterday the office had been "delayed considerably" by other work.
The office hoped to learn from existing council-controlled organisation (CCO) models, and the governance and accountability arrangements between councils and CCOs were of ongoing interest.
It had chosen the Queenstown Airport share sale because of the level of public interest and the lessons that could be drawn from the example.
In July 2010, Queenstown Airport announced it had created and sold a 24.99% shareholding to Auckland International Airport Ltd for $27.7 million in the strategic alliance, which became one of the most contentious issues in the district.
The matter was taken to the High Court at Invercargill, the Queenstown Community Strategic Asset Group and Air New Zealand originally seeking a judicial review and an injunction to stop any further shareholding.
At the time, the office told the Otago Daily Times it had planned to investigate the transaction, but this was postponed once the High Court proceedings were filed.
The matter was to be heard in Queenstown last May, but just days before it was due to begin, the strategic asset group and Air New Zealand withdrew their cases.
Air New Zealand deputy chief executive Norm Thompson said it had become clear it would be a "long and expensive battle" which could costs "millions of dollars for all involved, including the Queenstown community".
In the 11 months to June last year, it cost the Queenstown Lakes District Council more than $560,000 in legal fees and litigation costs, along with a PricewaterhouseCoopers report costing $85,000 which investigated the fairness of the transaction.
Last year, representatives from the OAG met the council, QAC and other stakeholders to reflect on the share sale, and it was considering its options around other case studies.
Mr Robertson said the office was still looking to proceed with the project but it had "a couple of significant inquiries" and had to "basically stop the project".
One was regarding the Kaipara District Council's management of the Mangawhai wastewater scheme, announced in March.
That inquiry had delayed the office's ability to conclude the Queenstown project and continue the project with other councils.
However, Mr Robertson said he hoped the project would be able to continue during the next financial year.
