Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says drunken man ‘took a swing’ at him at National Party fundraiser

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says a drunken man “took a swing” at him while attending a fundraising dinner for National’s Auckland Central candidate last month.

A spokesman for Brown said the mayor was now exploring additional security measures - and blamed bad feeling stirred up by political lobbyists as inflaming behaviour.

Brown’s account conflicts with other descriptions of a “spat” which describe sharp words and a broken glass but no attempted violence.

The alleged incident took place at Graham Wall’s Ponsonby office during a fundraising gathering of Auckland’s powerbrokers and supporters of candidate Candace Kinser who aims to unseat Green Party co-leader and Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick.

Brown was in attendance with his wife Toni at what was described to the Herald as a positive and uplifting gathering.

A spokesman for Brown - who turns 80 next month - said: “In this particular incident, a man he didn’t know tried to take a swing at him. The mayor didn’t engage and left the room.

“The mayor refutes any allegation that he initiated a physical altercation. This was someone being physically threatening and aggressive, who took a swing at him.”

The brief and apparently acerbic meeting of the pair happened in the kitchen of Wall’s company offices and has led to weeks of gossip and speculation as to the extent of the clash.

The Herald was told and has confirmed that a glass was broken during what was described as a “spat”.

The statement from Brown’s office linked the incident to wider political activity, saying “the threatening sentiment that has been stirred up by lobbying groups like the Auckland Ratepayers Alliance is problematic and needs to stop”.

Auckland Ratepayers Alliance spokesman Josh van Veen said in response: “The idea that ratepayer groups calling out the mayor for his record high rates hike, and behaviour at council meetings, is somehow problematic or provoking violence is bizarre.”

When Brown was initially contacted on Thursday evening, he said: “Nothing happened, mate - nothing to talk about.”

The subsequent statement from Brown’s office, following further inquiries, claimed the incident occurred during an increasing level of aggressive behaviour directed towards the mayor.

“In most of the mayor’s everyday interactions with the public, people are really happy just to have a chat with him.

“However, occasionally and increasingly some members of the public are behaving aggressively and in a threatening way towards him.”

The statement from Brown’s office said as a result of the “swing”, “the mayor and his family are looking into additional security measures, both at work and at home”.

“The mayor would like to make it clear that while this is incredibly disappointing, it will not stop him attending public events.”

One person who had attended the event (but did not witness the incident) gave a different account to Brown’s office of what they believed had occurred.

“It was a bit of a spat between old blokes who have known each other for 50 years and had drunk a bit,” one attendee told the Herald on the condition of anonymity.

Kinser’s campaign manager John Hanna said he was at the event and in the kitchen at the time the man and Brown engaged.

“I did not see that,” he said. “I don’t remember anyone taking a swing.”

Hanna said he was among a group of people who were engaged in lively conversation in the kitchen.

“There were two old blokes chatting. There was a glass that broke but nothing to do with any aggression at all.”

Asked if it was knocked by someone gesticulating, Hanna said: “I talk with my hand as well.”

Hanna said he was disappointed that a positive event had become embroiled in scandal when - in his view - there was no story to report because nothing of significance had happened.

He said there was excitement about Kinser as a candidate and optimism at the prospect of National returning an MP to Auckland Central, of whom Nikki Kaye was the most recent.

The Herald was told that the brief interaction between the mayor and the other man - believed to be a Northland property developer - struck a discordant note in an otherwise upbeat gathering.

Brown’s mayoralty is at the centre of heated political contest amid claims of bad behaviour in the council chamber, smaller government lobbyists pushing for lower rates and wealthy developers looking for friendlier policy.

The Herald has sought comment from the man alleged to have been involved in the altercation with the mayor.

David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He first joined the Herald in 2004.

Ethan Griffiths is a political reporter with Newstalk ZB, based in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. He joined NZME as a print journalist in 2020, previously working as an Open Justice reporter in the Bay of Plenty and Wellington, and as a general reporter in Whanganui.

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