Auckland councillor Dick Quax gets tweeters all a-twitter

Some of Auckland councillor Dick Quax's tweets have drawn outraged responses.

Auckland councillor Dick Quax has been causing a stir online with flippant comments about public transport and the regular presence of police in an Auckland suburb.

The Howick councillor and former Olympian, who describes himself as "pragmatic and moderate" on his Twitter page, sparked a lengthy debate on the social media site after several tweets to his 339 followers.

In one tweet on Friday, he appeared to suggest a nearby suburb was crime-ridden: "Police helicopter 'Eagle' now declared official bird of Glen Innes," he said.

Some people responded with surprise, saying it was "unbelievable" and a "disgraceful" comment by an elected official.

Mr Quax defended his tweet yesterday, saying it was a personal observation which was accurate.

"In fact, the police helicopter was up there last night for another half-hour. It's more common than anywhere else it appears.

"I don't know if it's got a high crime rate or not but it does seem the police helicopter does spend a lot of time there. You might want to check with police if it's one of the areas they spend more time."

Police do not keep records of Eagle call-outs by suburb, but regional statistics show the helicopter's activities were evenly split between Auckland City, Counties Manukau and Waitemata. National police statistics show the burglary resolution rate in Glen Innes is 8 per cent, compared with 9 per cent in Mr Quax's Howick ward.

Mr Quax also fired up some Twitter users with his comments about public transport on Saturday.

Responding to a tweet which said the shopping mall Sylvia Park needed better transport options, Mr Quax said "no one in the entire Western world uses the train for their shopping trips".

He later added: "[T]he very idea that people lug home their supermarket shopping on the train is fanciful".

The tweets prompted more than 100 responses.

When some users pointed out that "smart, elegant Europeans" shopped without cars, he said these same people were responsible for starting two world wars.

Mr Quax said he could be "a bit flippant" at times, but added people could get "carried away" on Twitter.