Auckland mayoral race: Ted 'Rocky' Johnston throws hat in the ring with shoestring budget

Wednesday, 28 August 2019

Ban the bikes in CBD - mayoral candidate Ted Johnston has plans to reduce congestion in his bid for the mayoralty. (First published August 2019)

Ted 'Stone' Johnston has entered Auckland's mayoral race with a plan to ban bikes from the CBD, overhaul the council and end homelessness.

A criminal lawyer by day, the 58-year-old south Aucklander has spent his nights crafting his mayoral campaign on the 'shadow of a shoestring'.

He made the signs himself, painting over some leftover posters from when he ran for The Opportunities Party in the 2017 local elections. A couple of $9 cans of paint, some $4 lengths of wood and a $2.50 box of tacks later, he had his hoardings.

'I put what was necessary: mayor, Ted Johnston.'

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They might not look like the other billboards, he said, but 'they're there just to show like Rocky, you know, you're putting up a fight'.

'Think of me, Ted 'Stone' Johnston, as the Rocky of the election.'

Mayoral candidates shouldn't need money or celebrity, he said: 'You just have to be brave and say 'This is what we need, this is what I stand for, and this is what I want to do'.'

So what exactly does Johnston stand for? Talking to him outside his workplace at Manukau District Court, Stuff asked him to outline his main policies.

TRANSPORT

Transport and congestion was 'the single matter that is choking Auckland,' Johnston said.

Johnston said his shoestring campaign has cost less than $100 so far.

He wanted to ban bikes downtown, do away with parking charges in the city and reduce the number of bus lanes.

Get rid of the bike paths and bus lanes, he said, and there was more space for cars, cutting down drivers' commutes.

He said while it was 'nice and healthy' for people to have bikes, 'you cannot increase the quality of your lifestyle to lessen everyone else's'.

Johnston would also fast-track a ring-rail system that was fast, frequent, inexpensive, and 'take[s] you where you want to go'.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Johnston made his election signs from mostly recycled materials - even the spacers he used under the tacks were made of cut-up plastic Coke bottles.

While he said he was '100 per cent' behind recycling and 'against' pollution, he cautioned against taking environmentalism too far.

'If people's only and main focus is on the environment, that's great if you're a plant or an animal - but we're people.

Lawyer Ted Johnston wants to put an end to homelessness in South Auckland with giant warehouses where people can sleep.

'We must protect the environment but look after the people of Auckland first.'

HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS

Johnston said he would set up giant warehouses for homeless people in South Auckland so they could have somewhere to eat, shower and sleep.

'In our modern New Zealand we want to make sure we give everyone respect and human dignity,' he said.

He said this would also reduce crime on the streets, saying 'I want to help everyone but also make it safe'.

OVERHAULING COUNCIL

First up on Johnston's agenda as mayor would be a 'census' of who worked in council and what they did.

'I can't just walk in and say 'Change this, change that'. The first thing I'm going to do is find out who's there, I want to find out who the like-minded people are.'

From there, he said he would look at a complete restructure of council.

'It can't function well unless we turn it into what it's supposed to be: a lean, efficient machine,' he said.

He wasn't waging odds on whether he would see the day when he could put his policies into practice. But, he said, 'if we only fight the battles we think we can win, we'll never get anywhere'.

'The reality is, this is a fight that has to be fought, and I'm here to fight that good fight.'