Wayne Brown is funny. Perhaps entertaining is a better description and Aucklanders have embraced their straight-talking mayor, his quirky explainer videos and irreverent style.
It isn’t clear he’d remember how to tie a half-windsor if the need arose and maintains a grey half-beard in the Yassir Arafat style. He’s coarse in public and vulgar in private. He’s been mayor for three years and is running effectively unopposed for re-election.
Yet. He hasn’t had everything go his way. The mayor is one man around a table of twenty-one and has expressed his irritation at some unwilling to bend to his will. The two councillors from Albany, “The Albanians”, have so frustrated His Worship that he’s running candidates against them on his Fix Auckland ticket.
I expect they will prevail.
Critics complain that he hasn’t torn up the cycleways, banished road cones nor shuttered Eke Panuku.
Is he using his inability to control the boards of Council Controlled Organisations, such as Watercare and Auckland Transport, as an excuse for a lack of progress. Or, as some contemplate, is he a sheep in tiger’s clothing? And why are we selling the Downtown Carpark, Wayne?
I expect they will prevail.
Critics complain that he hasn’t torn up the cycleways, banished road cones nor shuttered Eke Panuku.
Is he using his inability to control the boards of Council Controlled Organisations, such as Watercare and Auckland Transport, as an excuse for a lack of progress. Or, as some contemplate, is he a sheep in tiger’s clothing? And why are we selling the Downtown Carpark, Wayne?
Wayne Brown has been Auckland Mayor for three years and is running effectively unopposed for re-election.David White / Stuff
Trying to unpick the financials is difficult because the base-levels have evolved. Reflecting a wider mood Auckland Ratepayers Alliance spokesman, Sam Warren, is worried Brown is at risk of being captured by the council machine but remains optimistic; “Let’s hope the old Wayne is still in there, because it’s what Aucklanders voted for.”
And we will vote for him again. As we should. Brown is an exceptional, and non-political, custodian of the city. He doesn’t think the City Rail Link was a good idea, but at a recent event exclaimed; “since we paid for the damn thing, we need to make sure we get passengers using it!”
He likes being mayor but wasn’t elected to be liked. He has an agenda and has enjoyed some wins and if he gets the councillors he needs will get more.
I could go on, but readers in Wellington, Wanaka and Waitoa may be wondering why they are still reading. So. Let’s get to the point.
Authenticity does not guarantee electoral success, but inauthenticity assures defeat. And this is why the Premiership of Chris Luxon is floundering while Brown is sailing back into office.
I could reference the stagnant economic numbers, failure to control spending, inability to address low labour productivity or the ongoing struggles of the All Blacks to explain our collective ambivalence for Luxon but that isn’t the answer.
John Key won two elections while the GFC battered our economy but he seemed to know what he was doing. We now know he didn’t but that time has passed. Helen Clark never pretended to care about plebian pursuits, or the plebians themselves, but she got things done so we voted for her. Jim Bolger did not seek our adoration but we knew he was competent and elected him three times.
Trying to unpick the financials is difficult because the base-levels have evolved. Reflecting a wider mood Auckland Ratepayers Alliance spokesman, Sam Warren, is worried Brown is at risk of being captured by the council machine but remains optimistic; “Let’s hope the old Wayne is still in there, because it’s what Aucklanders voted for.”
And we will vote for him again. As we should. Brown is an exceptional, and non-political, custodian of the city. He doesn’t think the City Rail Link was a good idea, but at a recent event exclaimed; “since we paid for the damn thing, we need to make sure we get passengers using it!”
He likes being mayor but wasn’t elected to be liked. He has an agenda and has enjoyed some wins and if he gets the councillors he needs will get more.
I could go on, but readers in Wellington, Wanaka and Waitoa may be wondering why they are still reading. So. Let’s get to the point.
Authenticity does not guarantee electoral success, but inauthenticity assures defeat. And this is why the Premiership of Chris Luxon is floundering while Brown is sailing back into office.
I could reference the stagnant economic numbers, failure to control spending, inability to address low labour productivity or the ongoing struggles of the All Blacks to explain our collective ambivalence for Luxon but that isn’t the answer.
John Key won two elections while the GFC battered our economy but he seemed to know what he was doing. We now know he didn’t but that time has passed. Helen Clark never pretended to care about plebian pursuits, or the plebians themselves, but she got things done so we voted for her. Jim Bolger did not seek our adoration but we knew he was competent and elected him three times.
“There is an insecurity at the heart of this premiership that is corrosive.”Lawrence Smith/Stuff
The problem with Christopher Mark Luxon isn’t his lack of charisma but his relentless attempts to convince us, and himself, that he is charismatic.
There is an insecurity at the heart of this premiership that is corrosive. Is this need for approval and respect undermining focus on the responsibility of his office?
The latest mis-step is giving reckons to the acting governor of the Reserve Bank. “I can give my views, but I respect the independence of the Reserve Bank” Luxon explained to Mike Hosking. Except… the second part of that sentence is contradicted by the first.
There was a moment in late 2022 when we lost faith in Jacinda Ardern. Once the mood shifted there was no recovery and she took her leave. Luxon has not reached that point but it’s close.
If National is to win a second term he needs to stop preening for social media attention and focus on the seriousness of his responsibilities.
No one wants to see our Prime Minister simping for Taylor Swift’s attention. No one. Especially Taylor Swift.
He likes to talk of managing a turnaround; but has he turned the helm? Little has improved on a macro level. We can see changes in education and promises of big improvements in transport and construction but government spending continues to rise, funded by debt and inward migration.
If he has a plan, we need to know what it is.
New Zealand still wants to believe in Luxon. This author included. But we need him to demonstrate competence and seriousness. Stop trying to win the electorate’s affection. At this point we’d tolerate Chloe Swarbrick as Finance Minister so we never have to see another of his Tik Toks......The full article is published HERE
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner, a member of the Taxpayers’ Union and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective
The problem with Christopher Mark Luxon isn’t his lack of charisma but his relentless attempts to convince us, and himself, that he is charismatic.
There is an insecurity at the heart of this premiership that is corrosive. Is this need for approval and respect undermining focus on the responsibility of his office?
The latest mis-step is giving reckons to the acting governor of the Reserve Bank. “I can give my views, but I respect the independence of the Reserve Bank” Luxon explained to Mike Hosking. Except… the second part of that sentence is contradicted by the first.
There was a moment in late 2022 when we lost faith in Jacinda Ardern. Once the mood shifted there was no recovery and she took her leave. Luxon has not reached that point but it’s close.
If National is to win a second term he needs to stop preening for social media attention and focus on the seriousness of his responsibilities.
No one wants to see our Prime Minister simping for Taylor Swift’s attention. No one. Especially Taylor Swift.
He likes to talk of managing a turnaround; but has he turned the helm? Little has improved on a macro level. We can see changes in education and promises of big improvements in transport and construction but government spending continues to rise, funded by debt and inward migration.
If he has a plan, we need to know what it is.
New Zealand still wants to believe in Luxon. This author included. But we need him to demonstrate competence and seriousness. Stop trying to win the electorate’s affection. At this point we’d tolerate Chloe Swarbrick as Finance Minister so we never have to see another of his Tik Toks......The full article is published HERE
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner, a member of the Taxpayers’ Union and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective
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