Focus Live: Wayne Brown announces Desley Simpson as Deputy Mayor
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has appointed Ōrākei councillor Desley Simpson as his deputy.
"Desley is both my choice for deputy mayor and is overwhelmingly supported by members of the new governing body who I have been working with and consulting with over the last three weeks," said Brown.
"She is universally admired for her integrity, professionalism and loyalty, and her ability to get things done through the council bureaucracy and committee processes."
In a press conference this afternoon Brown reiterated Simpson was his preferred candidate for the role.
"We will lead a team of 21 and more broadly, with the local boards and the Independent Māori Statutory Board we'll work together as a team of 179 for the benefit of Auckland."
"It's a great honour and privilege to accept the position as deputy mayor," said Simpson.
"We're very different people," she admitted, saying she was "naturally more conciliatory" than Brown.
"We're not short of knowing where the mayor comes from.
"Look, the way this is going to work is His Worship is the mayor, he has very obvious ideas and he's been quite articulate in those ideas and I think it's my job to help him populate those ideas around the elected members and find a consensus with everybody really."
Simpson said she and Brown hadn't yet worked out what policies they agreed on.
"I'm very aware of some of the key points that he stood on, Auckland's voted for that and I think we need to respect that.
"I will always have my own views and the mayor will be very clear about what they are. But that's what a team does doesn't it, it works together and nuts [issues] out, challenges each other's thinking on subjects and comes to a conclusion."
Desley Simpson and Wayne Brown address the media this afternoon. Photo / Dean Purcell
Brown said his first three weeks as mayor had been "interesting".
"I've enjoyed meeting my councillors, meeting my staff."
He said he didn't have time to fly to the capital to meet with central government politicians.
"I am the leader of the largest city in New Zealand. And so I don't have time to fly to Wellington. That's working well. It seems that Prime Ministers and Ministers have time to fly here. So that's working well as well."
On meeting with Ardern, he said they discussed many subjects including things they agreed on such as a review of local governance structure.
"We both agreed to take steps forward on the ports and in terms of the Three Waters she explained her position and I await to be further encouraged towards support of that. But we didn't declare war or anything.
"I understood her position on it and she understood some of my practical questions as a former owner of a water supply company."
On the subject of contact with media, Brown said he didn't have time to respond to all requests for interviews.
His priority was to give time to representatives of CCOs and fellow councillors, he said.
On the Ports of Auckland, Brown said the council would be "most unwise" to consider offers from foreign investors to take over operations.
"That's the kind of thing that people who don't understand business might think was sensible. But that's not going to happen. It's off the agenda, don't worry about that."
Brown said he hadn't spoken with executives from DP World and it was not something he was considering.
Simpson said there had been an expression of interest from DP World, but she couldn't recall when that was made.
Brown said cities around the world had entered into agreements over the operation of their ports and they had ended up regretting it.
"I had no idea there was a live chat going on [with DP World]. I can be quite categorical about that. It cropped up this morning or last night is the first we heard of that."
Desley Simpson and Wayne Brown arrive to speak to media at Auckland Council. Photo / Dean Purcell
Earlier, Brown said Simpson was highly regarded as a regional leader with a broad Auckland-wide perspective, while also having the greatest support from her own community of any councillor, with nearly 25,000 personal votes.
Simpson said she was excited by the opportunity to work with Brown to help deliver on his mandate for change from 181,810 Auckland voters and to work with their colleagues to help them deliver on their priorities too.
"I back the mayor's strong stance on issues, including delivering more efficiencies and savings to keep rates as low as possible as Aucklanders face the looming economic and fiscal storm," she said.
As chairwoman of the finance committee under former Mayor Phil Goff, the three-term councillor won high praise for steering councillors through the Covid-impacted Emergency Budget containing a $900 million hole. She has also overseen tens of millions of savings as chair of the Value for Money committee.
The senior councillor and socialite is also the ideal person to undertake a lot of the ceremonial and civic functions that Brown is less keen on than his predecessors Phil Goff and Len Brown.
Before being elected to the council in 2016, Simpson chaired the Hobson Community Board.
Although Simpson is a member of the National Party and married to former National Party president Peter Goodfellow, she has parked her politics and works well with councillors of all political stripes.
Last term, as the councillor for the wealthiest ward in the city she sat alongside Efeso Collins, the councillor for the poorest ward in the city - Manukau - where the pair formed a strong bond and better understanding of the other's communities.
