Auckland's mayoralty race: Let the games begin

Monday, 4 March 2019

OPINION: It was no surprise that Phil Goff would seek a second term as Auckland's mayor, but with his race confirmed the focus now shifts to who will nail the winning issue in October.

Goff and his leading challenger John Tamihere are presently like a couple of prizefighters at a weigh-in: plenty of talk but no punches landed - with seven months to go.

Both have websites, and slogans, Goff's 'Building Auckland's Future'  versus 'Shake it up and sort it out', signalling classic defender versus challenger campaigns.

Before anyone complains, yes there are three other declared contenders and I'll come to them soon.

**READ MORE: 

* Auckland mayoral contest goes live as Phil Goff confirms candidacy

* John Tamihere and Christine Fletcher team up to challenge Auckland Mayor Phil Goff

* Labour endorses Phil Goff for 2019 Auckland mayoralty

* The summer of Auckland mayoral wannabees​**

In a pre-launch interview with Stuff Goff pointed to one of the advantages of being the encumbent: 'Occasionally I get praise for what I'm not responsible for.'

In his opening pitch to the faithful in Mt Albert on Sunday, Goff may be open to accusations of praising himself for things that might not be his own doing.

Pointing to the current near-record level of consents being issued for new homes, Goff doesn't point out that the rising trend began in the post-GFC turnaround a decade ago.

The trendline has blips but is fairly constant and its biggest boost may be due to the higher density allowed in the city's Unitary Plan, signed off before Goff took office.

Goff rightly hails an achievement from the past three years - the two targeted rates to accelerate work that will improve water quality at beaches and waterways, and attack pests and environmental threats such as kauri die-back.

But Aucklanders were denied the chance to express their views on the most expensive of three levels of environmental rates that would have done even more, perhaps because it would have exceeded the savings made by taking the transport levy off rates bills.

Tamihere's been digging into the usual grab bag of  challengers' slogans. 

Calls to 'open the books and clean the house' and 'crack down on waste and incompetence' are cries with potential to resonate but will eventually need solid evidence to avoid being hollow slogans.

In his response to Goff's confirmation, Tamihere has curiously attacked the plan to lower speed limits on many Auckland roads - the first major initiative to tackle Auckland's rising rates of serious injury and death.

'Why hasn't Phil pushed back against the plan to slow the entire city down ?' Tamihere asked in his statement.

The challenger's apparent annoyance at having his attempt last December to rejoin the Labour Party rebuffed, seems to have turned into a major election theme that he has unveiled in his statement.

'He's trying to fool us by saying he's independent, even though Labour has endorsed his Mayoral campaign' Tamihere said.

The prelude to the line :'He looks like a puppet for central government.'

Whereas Tamihere, rejected as a Labour Party member for undisclosed grounds, can claim: 'I'm putting Auckland first. I'm independent and I won't be a puppet.'

John Palino has not staged a launch but in a Goff-day media release, called for an improvement in productivity at council, and for strategy work to be shifted into the Mayor's Office to reduce the reporting to committees.

The other declared candidates, 28 year old cafe owner Joshua Love, and 'media operator' Craig Lord have yet to join the fray.