Did Kiwis pay $3m to bring Robbie Williams here? Auckland mayor Wayne Brown says they did

Thursday, 14 May 2026

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown claims the Government spent $3 million bringing British pop star Robbie Williams to New Zealand, as Labour leader Chris Hipkins accuses ministers of using the major events fund as a “slush fund” to subsidise their “favourite band or sports team”.

The figure has previously been withheld, but Brown said the Government’s decision-making showed the $70m major events fund was being used for the wrong priorities.

Williams’ concerts - one at Eden Park and one in Christchurch’s new stadium - were not selling well, Brown said.

“They’ve put $3 million ahead to have a tattooed pom come here and sing. We’ve got lots of tattooed singers here,” Brown said.

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Government event funds have backed international acts including Williams, US rock band Linkin Park and Australian rugby league’s State of Origin, while funding for the SailGP regatta was pulled, causing the event to drop its Auckland leg last year.

Brown said that decision was a mistake because SailGP was not just a sporting event, but a showcase for Auckland’s marine technology sector.

“I just think they missed the boat and listened to people down there [in Wellington],” Brown said.

Hipkins made a similar criticism at a State of Auckland breakfast hosted by the Committee for Auckland which Brown also spoke at.

Hipkins said major events funding should be used strategically to attract events that delivered national economic benefit.

“Major events funding shouldn’t be a slush fund for subsidising your favourite band or sports team, many of whom would come here anyway.”

Instead, he said the fund should focus on major events with significant economic spinoffs and the ability to showcase New Zealand to the world - referring to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Tourism Minister Louise Upston was by The Post approached for comment about the $3m spent on Williams.

Her office said it was not for them to comment on the mayor’s remarks and referred to an earlier press release from the minister which said Events Attraction Package investments “are commercially sensitive and individual amounts will not be released”.

Williams will christen Christchurch’s new One New Zealand Stadium on November 28, becoming the first international music act to headline the venue. It has not sold out.

It comes amid growing tension between Auckland and Wellington over whether the recently signed Auckland regional deal gives the city real power, funding and certainty.

Brown alleged Transport Minister Chris Bishop’s June goal of announcing his preferred option of a bridge or tunnel for the next harbour crossing is a breach of the city deal because it was failing to consult Auckland Council.

Brown said he had messaged Bishop directly.

“I said, ‘You can’t do that’. And he said, ‘Oh yes’ - so he also agrees,” Brown said.

Brown said while there were no formal consequences for breaching the city deal written into the agreement, he had public pressure as a “weapon” at his disposal.

“I’ll be pissed off and I’ll make a lot of noise about it. Then they’ll think, ‘Oh dear, that might upset some voters’.”

Brown has been a critic of a new bridge or tunnel next to the current Auckland Harbour Bridge, arguing it is an expensive answer to a problem that does not exist.

He instead favours a new crossing over Meola Reef and said any decision needed to be considered alongside Auckland’s 30-year plan.

“With infrastructure, what is the problem that you’re solving? Not how do we get re-elected? That’s what goes wrong.”

The Committee for Auckland has also warned the regional deal needs “more flesh on the bones” to be credible, including clearer funding, governance and accountability.

Hipkins agreed, saying the flagship deal risked becoming little more than “a plan to get a plan”.

“As it stands, it’s not enough,” he said.

In his speech, Hipkins set out a vision of Auckland as integral to a more ambitious, high-value New Zealand economy but said that would require Wellington relinquishing more control to give the city funding certainty, infrastructure stability and a real say in its own future.

He said the city deal contained some promising elements, including clearer governance and innovation priorities, but said too much of it repackaged existing programmes or restated intent in housing, planning and transport.

“The Government cannot come up short for Auckland,” Hipkins said.

Labour was also critical of how the Government was progressing the harbour crossing.

Its Auckland spokesperson, Carmel Sepuloni, said Labour had been offered a couple of briefings, but the process had not been genuinely collaborative and the party had not been able to get answers to key questions, including what other transport projects would have to be traded off to pay for the crossing.

Hipkins also promised to end Auckland’s infrastructure wars, saying Labour would not cancel projects simply because it had not come up with them.

But he said Labour would not take a list of named Auckland infrastructure projects to the election.

Asked by The Post whether he would set out a pipeline of specific projects, Hipkins said: “Let me be very clear about this. The answer to that is emphatically no, because that’s not how we fix Auckland’s infrastructure.”

He said political parties taking “laundry lists” of projects to elections was not the way to get major infrastructure built.

“We’ve got to get people in a room together - central government, local government, business. It’s got to be bipartisan.”

Hipkins also agreed local government needed more ways to raise revenue, saying the current reliance on rates was unsustainable if councils were expected to deliver major infrastructure and services.

He was sympathetic to Brown’s campaign for a bed tax, but said the politics made it difficult.

“As soon as I utter support for anything that looks like tax relief, even if it’s not central government imposing it, the National Party will spend a lot of money saturating the airwaves with advertisements basically accusing Labour of wanting to raise lots more taxes.

“But local government does need more funding choices. We can’t just rely on rates as the primary, near only, source of revenue for local government if we want local government to do the things that we’re expecting.”

Hipkins opened the speech by accusing some political parties of trying to carve out votes by “blaming migrants, blaming Māori, blaming the rainbow community” rather than offering solutions.