Cielda.
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Auckland's Mayor Wayne Brown has never shied away from telling us exactly what he thinks. He waged war on council controlled organizations like Ekepinuku and Tatagi Auckland Unlimited, with proposals to abolish them all together and bring their activities in house.
He's never thought twice in criticizing who.
He calls the weasels in Wellington or central Government, and is also never shied away from voicing his concerns around Auckland Transport, which is currently dealing with a wave of violent attacks on drivers and passengers. Today, on the Front Page, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown joins us to discuss these issues ahead of his trip to China, where he hopes to put the city of Sales on the do list for investors.
First off, how was Brazil?
You're off to China next as well? And how are you going to get more Chinese investment in Auckland.
Well, they're kind of linked. Brazil and China are led miles apart, but we suffer in New Zealand because the member of the world is on a flat like that, and we're always down this bottom corner down here, And in America they save a bit of time by rolling it back and they cut that bit off, and so when they see a MEMP in America, we don't even exist. And when we do exist, we think, well, we're separated from the rest of the world, but in fact it's
the globe, and people forget that. In America, they still have a flat out society. It's called TV. But the shortest route from southern China to Brazil is if you fly and land in Auckland and head off to Salpulo. But as at the moment, no planes go there. And I'm trying to encourage it to happen because the trade between Brazil and China is four hundred and ninety billion.
We want to cut of that.
And if it comes through here, even if we only get one percent of it, which we would do easily enough, probably I'm looking at four or five percent of it. One percent of it doubles the Auckland GDP. That's how big this stuff is. And it's the sort of stuff that I'm kind of in a unique position to probably make it happen more than the government will, because the government sort of a half pay aware of that, but then be handed and a whole bunch of civil servants
in Willington nothing ever happens. And I know Brazil pretty well. I've been going there for a long time, start off with safing, but it gone into other things. And I wrote a book called a five Minute Mba, which was translated into Portuguese and becoming a best seller in Brazil. So and I gave a copy of that to the mirror of sal Paulo and to the vice president of the sal Paula Origin, so it's kind of an interesting thing.
And then in China, I've been going there for a long time with business, my own businesses and other ones, so I know how to behave in both of those ones. I've led business delegations to China, I've led them downe to you, and now I've led one to Brazil, so I know how to put the stuff together. The council, we spend a whole lot of money on business development, which doesn't develop any business at all. We've built a television studio. We can't get rid of that lost money.
My predecessor did that. I wouldn't do stuff like that.
How confident are you that you're going to get that route in place?
Well, I'm quite confident because I've now got an airline. China Southern are quite keen to do this at the moment. If you go from if you want to go to Brazil, you have to fly lat Ham and they land in San Diego. It's a nice flight to San Diego, and then you get on a horrible, really small plane and fly across the Andes to Brazil to South Paulo, and it takes a long time and it's uncomfortable as momenteering, and the flights are full.
You can't even get on the damn things. So there's a demand there already. And China Southern.
We have five Chinese airlines flying into Auckland anyhow, and China thousand is the biggest, is the biggest airline outside America in the world, and they have three thousand flights a day, which is hard to imagine.
In terms of like having conversations with Chinese investors as well. I know the government is keen to get more foreign investment into the country.
Peter says, China is New Zealand's most important and complex by lateral relationship. It's ten years since New Zealand signed a comprehensive strategic partnership with China. Since then, It's exports to China have doubled. China's ambassador said recently he hopes that trade continues to flourish.
China stands ready to work with New Zealand on the basis and mutual respect, mutual benefit, none interference in each others internal affairs, and constructive management of differences.
Maybe they can help pay for transport here, Wayne, Wasn't the government's three year budget for transport in Auckland about five hundred and sixty four million dollars less than you guys hope for.
Yes, it was, and we've kind of adjusted. We've believe they are sharing because I've got control of the fine answers here moderately. Will you know, we're not lifting our rates by as much as anything like as much as other cities. And that's despite the fact that I wanted into a three hundred and seventy five million dollar lost carefully concealed by my predecessor. So we're in quite good order in that part of it there. And also there is nearly two hundred thousand Chinese in Auckland, and.
A lot of them come from Guangzhou.
And we've got a thirty five year sister city arrangement with Guangzhou. So I'm going to visit that that we should respect these relationships. They're very important. And in China, mayors of big stuff and I'm shijan Or mayor of the largest in New Zealand, and that will be treated with a fever to respect in China. And so you can sometimes open doors. Even in Brazil, I was able to meet the Vice President of the region and some other people that did. In fact, the Minister of Foreign Trade.
He's a bloody good miniSTR. I've got to say I'll get on well with Todd McLay. But he went to some other things and I went to some things, different things, and then we come to other and work together and we're kind of and so there's a certain technique in being comfortable in places like China and Brazil. It's a bit like you get used to being on a Maria. People who used to going on the Marai are used to going and arow and people haven't been on Arab who don't know what to do and China and Brazil
have their own behaviors and I'm comfortable with them. And I speak hard in any words of Portuguese, despite the fact that we got a book there. But I do speak about of Chinese, not a lot, but enough. When I open a speech, I always have two or three sentences, not just one word, and that goes down very well.
All of that stuff is relationship building.
Thirty five years of being involved with Ganjo, our city, that is a very important thing. We're going to the Shanghai city. I know quite well the Shanghai Import, export, exhibition and trade, and so partially when I'm doing is getting this flow between here and South America. And it's also just using my contacts and doors that I open to benefit those businesses that come with you. Like in Brazil.
We visited a firm there which is getting into aerospace, and I'm going to put them together with Zeno back here because they can be complementary. Everyone doesn't have to re emit the wheel. It's been invented.
If we look back at Auckland, I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things back here in terms of ten point six million dollars needed for the broken pedestrian footbridge and the viaduct. A is it going to be opened by Christmas? And B is that a mismanagement by ek Pinuku it'd bit.
To be bloody open by Christmas. You'd have to say it hasn't been well managed over a period of time. But on the other hand, we have had it in Auckland of there's nothing so permanent as something called temporary, and that was a temporary one built years ago and it became permanent. They should have been thinking about that earlier in the peace before they suddenly just got us
rusting a bit. Similarly, if you go down to Princess Wharfa, is that weird looking cloud plastic building which is deteriorating fast that was built fifteen years ago for two.
Years and still there.
And so we've got to get in the habit of if somebody is going to be temporary, we should finish it and dump it in the interim period. While they've been mucking around by spending a really an inordinately high amount of money for repairing that bridge, I got to say, though, we've got them to put in a temporary little ferry that goes back because in force and I was down there the other day and the people saying, we love the ferry.
We don't have the bridge now, so what's cheaper?
You saying, well, the fairy's cheaper. But we've got them. They're doing the bridge. We're quite good at moaning as a country, and the people there moaning that's killing our business because we don't have a bridge. They're actually not on an island.
Or talking about CCO is what's the plan there?
When are we getting rid of them?
Last year would have been a good time. I can't have to bring my counsel with me, and I have to bring the government with me.
AT which is a very widely disliked.
Organization and has adopted a very independent culture because it was granted an independent status.
In his own blestering letter to transport bosses, Wayne Ground called disruptions unacceptable and omni shambles and said he could use other words. He says Aucklanders have reached the end of their patients.
What's driving one of my actions here is that I don't mind being criticized for things that I've actually done wrong.
But I'm fed up.
I've being criticized for things that I don't have much control over, and I think what I'm wanting to have is that turned into a delivery mechanism and get them concentrating on delivering and the not concentrating it because they're wondering into policy and things, which is really what the
Council should be doing. And so and I think I'm working pretty well with Minister Simme and Brown over this and I'm looking forward to quite a good result out of this and some of the other things they're doing. The CEO reform was one of the things that was right at the top of the things I campaigned on, and so people liked it. I went to three hundred menis not one person said, oh, I know, I leave them.
As they are.
And so we have a lot of I don't like duplication, but we're not any duplication. We have triplication. We have quadruplication in some places. Everybody does events and in fact the best events aren't even done by any of those parts and pieces of the last Saturday I joined fifteen thousand are the very happy people in the main street of Ada who for the Oda Who Food Festival, which half of the people on the council demon I was on and it's the biggest food festival in the country.
They sold one hundred and twenty different food stalls months before it happened. I just sold that snap overnight. Every food person wanted to be there and it was fantastic.
So with this CCO plan, have you got a timeline or what kind of mechanisms do you have to work through? First?
Who you need to get on board to make that happen.
Well, first of all, I have to get on board the councilors that we need to do something about it, and they are on board. We've got them on board encouragement, but they are with regard to AT I do need the government to work with me because it does have a statutory position.
Well, speaking of Auckland transport, you haven't seen these figures, but OIA figures released to Newstalk zb's Michael Sergel shows that there were ninety three incidents a week on Auckland's public transport in the year to August. That's an average of thirteen a day, and in August alone, on one train network alone, at reported twenty three assaults, nine robberies or thefts.
Is that good enough?
You want the real rus to do more? No?
The question you meant is that bad enough, and it is really bad, but it's a reflection of society is just getting worse behaved everywhere. I mean, we've had people shot and Ponsonby of all places, and badly at is reflecting.
What's going on outside everywhere.
We've got lots and lots of people catch the bus until the driver the stuff off. You know, I'm going to bash it. I'm not paying, you know, and you think not good. So it just reflects society. Reading the paper today, that's an enormous number of children went at school last month. They're not going to grow up to be doctors and engineers.
And it is Auckland a safe city, do you reckon well?
And relatively safe, you know.
I have just been to South Paulo and they took me around in an arm and Range rover with it's the bulletpro windows.
But it's not as safe as I would like it to be.
Probably not that safe when I'm alone.
I'm not too bad when I'm with friends and stuff, but it's probably kind of getting a bit worse over there is.
Differently, when it gets past into dark, I do find it a wee bit kind of looking over my shoulder sometimes and there's always a few characters around, but I generally find it really safe.
Lastly, I wanted just to do some quick fires with you, Mayor, just because I know that you need to get packing your bags first off.
Just yes or nose or really quickly.
When's the open air saltwater swimming pool opening at the viaduct?
Well, if that doesn't open and the same role, be really annoyed.
You'll be annoyed. When's I want to.
Swimm and that by the time the water's warm.
When is Auckland getting a bed tax?
Asked Minister Doocey.
Are you running in next year's local election?
As distinct possibility but not saying this or no?
Just it?
And lastly is Wellington Council of shambles Well?
I haven't been too willing to look at it, but everything and I'm here is that it leaves a lot to be desired from what I understand.
Thanks for joining us, Mayor.
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage at nzet Herald dot co dot nz. The Front Page is produced by Ethan Seles with sound engineer Paddy Fox.
I'm Chelsea Daniels.
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