As the mayoral election dust settles, which Aucklanders should be listened to?

Friday, 21 October 2022

Auckland residents speak about Wayne Brown being elected as Auckland mayor.

Which Aucklanders should be listened to as the council prepares to meet for the first time, after a local body election which signalled a possible course change?

It is a question unwittingly raised by the new mayor Wayne Brown in one of the letters he has issued over the past week, telling council agencies what he personally expects of them.

In each, he says he has been elected with “a mandate for change” and cites feedback from “over 300 campaign events” – although he told Stuff it was 254 with a couple of days to go.

Brown’s letter included one to Auckland Transport calling for a “complete change in approach” a significant call to an agency that will or won’t enable the city’s climate change goals to be reached.

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Auckland mayor Wayne Brown launching his election campaign in March 2022 (

He called on AT to understand “all Aucklanders – not just those who participate in formal consultation processes”. So who are “all Aucklanders”?

The mayor was elected by 16% of eligible voters, a similar though slightly smaller percentage than his predecessors. He openly targeted property owners aged over 50, as he ran a big-budget advertising campaign. Almost two-thirds of eligible Aucklanders – 64.5% – didn’t vote at all.

Is it those who gave him “a mandate” that should be heard - that is, should we listen to the mayor through whom their views are channelled? Even though they might have just seen a TV advertisement, and liked him.

Wayne Brown, centre, with councillor Greg Sayers, at a public meeting in Kumeū after his election. (File photo)

Most major council decisions in the past have been backed not just by “formal consultation” but also by broader opinion surveys.

All are open to being contested, but so is the meaning of a mandate from 181,810 voters out of a population of 1.7 million.

Wayne Brown's full campaign video, a version of which became a TV advertisement

In 2021, when Auckland Council proposed creating a climate change fund in its 10-year budget, a Colmar Brunton survey of 4056 eligible voters found 60% support and 26% opposition.

On climate change, it is worth remembering that those most affected by what is done, or not done now, will be the youngest Aucklanders. Those who today are too young to vote for anyone, or be surveyed.

A year later when the council proposed a $57m a year Climate Action Targeted Rate (CATR), 68% of those who submitted budget feedback supported the idea.

In an opinion survey, the gap was narrower – with 48% backing and 36% opposed.

That does underline Brown’s point that the views of those who take part in formal consultation, may be different to those of a wider community view.

However, it gets more complicated. In that survey on attitudes to CATR, support was highest among 18 to 29-year-olds at 56%, and declined steadily through older age groups.

Once you hit the 50-year-olds – the start of Brown’s election campaign target demographic – support was down to 45%, falling to 38% in 60 to 64-year-olds.

The point of this is not to argue a definitive level of support on climate change action, or to question Wayne Brown’s mandate to pursue his change agenda, having been clearly elected.

But the different views shown in those surveys and consultations call into question whether Brown has a mandate to push on without hearing from his 20 councillors – each of whom represent different communities in different parts of the city. And all of whom need to be heard as the council moves ahead.