Brown’s town: Mayor’s plan for Auckland after historic win

Sunday, 12 October 2025

Mayor-elect Wayne Brown and Albany's Victoria Short.

The West End Tennis club was where Mayor Wayne Brown famously said he would rather be during the 2023 Anniversary Weekend Floods, but instead had to be dealing with media “drongos”.

While that incident dampened his popularity with the public in the early days of his mayoralty, the sun was shining when the Westmere venue played host to celebrations for Brown’s historic win - a huge 54% majority, according to preliminary results.

Brown was there to thank his donors, telling this reporter that taking photos was off limits, because “everyone has coughed up thousands to be here”.

Graham Wall, Michael Chow and Simon Bridges at Wayne Brown's re-election party.

The invite list included the likes of Ali Williams (who lives across the road), the Chow brothers, Graham Wall, developer Mark Todd, liquidator Damien Grant and Simon Bridges.

The one guest of honour that Brown was prepared to be snapped with was the woman he dubbed ‘The Albanian Killer’ - his running mate Victoria Short who appears to have unseated one of Brown’s least favoured councillors, Albany’s Wayne Walker.

But while Brown beat his closest rival by more than 90,000 votes, turnout in the country’s biggest city was low. Final numbers for Auckland were not available last night but across all metro areas just 28.8 per cent of voters bothered to turn up.

Will it be enough to change the calculus around the councillor’s table and enable Brown to lob his core policies across the court? John Watson, Mike Lee, Alf Filipaina and Lotu Fuli, whom he also ran candidates against, have stubbornly returned.

In any case, Brown continues to frame his biggest opponent as being Wellington, or specifically the coalition Government, and believes his comprehensive win gives him a mandate to dictate the terms.

Auckland Mayor-elect Wayne Brown celebrates with family at the West End Tennis Club.

That’s lucky because while Brown campaigned on needing a second term to finish the job of “fixing Auckland”, much of it will involve lobbying ministers.

“It’s not easy for the Government to listen - they all go to Wellington and they are surrounded by people driving flash cars and eating lunches … then they have to listen to a grumpy old guy up here who actually knows about this stuff,” says Brown.

Among his big priorities has been bringing the majority of Auckland Transport’s functions back “in house” to council, but in reality the move has invited Wellington further in, with a new regional transport committee to be made up of half council and half ministerial appointees.

A re-elected Wayne Brown says Aucklanders have endorsed his direction and given him a mandate to “finish the job” he began three years ago. The mayor promises to push ahead with transport and infrastructure improvements.

Also in the background is a “city deal” with the Government that will set out funding for the region’s infrastructure priorities for the next 30 years, to be inked in either November or December.

“No more secret nonsense like harbour tunnels which will never be built in the next 10,000 years,” says Brown.

“We are going to produce a rational facts based sensible transport plan, meaning no more motorways just for re-election purposes.”

He argues a narrow, slower speed bridge across the harbour would make the most financial sense, with his favoured spot being across Meola Reef - but how his Westmere donors react to a state highway through their backyards remains to be seen.

This term will also see the opening of the City Rail Link, and while Brown has continually pointed out he had nothing to do with it’s inception or cost blow-out, it will be up to him to ensure it pays the dividends it is supposed to.

“We suddenly have 400 [train] drivers. I don't think people realize quite how big it is and that will chew out $200 million of cost for us that we didn't have this year,” he says.

“That’s basically the entire sole reason for [5.8% rates] increases. Everything else is being held within [existing budgets] and I’m pretty proud of that.”

Mayor Wayne Brown raises a glass after being re-elected as Auckland Mayor with a 54% majority.

We’ve already seen Brown support Plan Change 120, which will see intensification in the central suburbs around trains stations over coming years - despite concerns from established homeowners, who are traditionally the constituents that make the effort to get out and vote. Yet it didn’t dent his popularity.

Brown has also made a bed he will have to lie in by campaigning on a levy on hotel nights, despite the Government being cold on the idea. Tourism Minister Louise Upston has said it definitely won’t happen this term.

Mayor Wayne Brown's re-election party at the West End Tennis Club.

Says Brown: “If [the Government] say it won’t be this term, they might not get another term.”

Another big question is the proposal that Auckland Council purchase Captain Cook and Marsden wharves from Ports of Auckland - which is expected to cost around $70 million, plus whatever it might take to develop it into a usable asset. It hasn’t been budgeted for.

Brown has given himself a firm deadline to achieve his programme, ruling out a third term.

“If you don't put a horizon of things, you never get them done,” he says.