The man who said no to Obama: Mayors accept offers to spend time with him, except one

Tuesday, 20 March 2018

Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownleess had to turn down an offer to hear Barack Obama speak in Auckland.

Most mayors couldn't believe their eyes when they saw an invitation for dinner with Barack Obama.

Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless turned his down.

The viaduct events centre is expected to have at least six layers of security.

'Unfortunately I'm unable to attend the event due to prior commitments,' Brownless said.

'The invitation wasn't transferable sadly.'

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A council spokeswoman said Brownlees had a long-standing commitment to attend a citizenship ceremony, where 60 people would receive their citizenship from him. 'He regretfully declined the invitation to honour his commitment to his own people.'

One person who definitely did get an invitation and said yes was celebrated New Zealand actor Sam Neill, who said on Tuesday he was 'honoured to be In Conversation with President Barack Obama for an hour on stage this week in Auckland', adding that he was a 'tad overexcited'.

Mayors of Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Christchurch, Nelson and Napier received and accepted invitations to attend Thursday's 1000-person banquet dinner with the former US president at Auckland's Viaduct Event Centre.

Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith said he almost missed his invitation - a nondescript email from Local Government New Zealand that was almost lost amongst the 150 other emails he receives every day.

'It came out of the blue,' Smith said. 'I was sort of going 'wow, do I go to this or not?', yes!'

Not all mayors in New Zealand have received an invitation, Mayor of Whangarei Sheryl Mai said she hadn't received one or been asked to keep her Thursday free for an event.

She joked: 'I'm feeling really left out now!'

A spokeswoman for Local Government New Zealand said they had not been involved in the selection of mayors chosen to attend the event.

Auckland’s waterfront will go into lockdown on Thursday night as Obama pops in for the banquet alongside some of New Zealand's highest-profile civic and business leaders.

Security will be tight - and comprised of at least six layers including police, and Obama’s personal protection squad.

On Tuesday morning trucks were moving containers out of the centre, which has just finished hosting the Volvo Ocean Race.

A staff member said preparations for the dinner would begin in earnest on Wednesday.

They revealed security measures began at least a week ago, with an advance guard scoping out the venue to identify what steps would be needed to lock it down.

Invited participants have been told it will be a dinner followed by a facilitated question and answer session.

Technology and agri-tech companies from around New Zealand are also in the list of attendees including Levno, a company which creates farm monitoring technology, and Biolumic, a company that increases crop resistance to disease through the use of ultra-violet light.

The banquet will happen in the cavernous Waiheke Room, capable of seating more than 1000 people.

Urban Gourmet is often contracted for dinners at the events centre but a spokeswoman said they would not comment on whether they had been retained for the NZ-US Council dinner.

'We don't disclose our clients.'

The company's summer menu posted on its website includes grain fed beef eye fillet in a parsnip and roast hazelnut puree and chipotle charred kumara.

However, it doesn't include some of Obama's publicly proclaimed favourite foods.

At a White House Kids state event in 2013 Obama sparked a mini-controversy when he told a young journalist that his favourite food was broccoli.

Right-wing site Breitbart accusing him of giving the 'politically correct' answer, others on social media mocked the concept that anybody could truly like the vegetable.

Our first broccoli president. pic.twitter.com/0xJkC2J6Bp

— andrew kaczynski🤔 (@KFILE) July 9, 2013

Molasses has also long been thought one of Obama's favourite foods from its appearance on the former president's inauguration lunch menu.

Smith said invitees hadn't been given any details about the food either.

'Maybe we'll get broccoli with molasses.'