Oscar Kightley: Brown is the new blue and white in Auckland

Len Brown had the backing of the Pacific community. Photo / The Aucklander

Opinion

After 170 years this is the closest Auckland has come to having a brown mayor.

Sure he's a Palagi. But his name is Brown, he's run Manukau for a long time and there's heaps of brown people there so he's gladly owned by many in the Pacific Community.

Now the Pacific influence in Auckland has flexed its voice, and in fields other than sports, arts and health statistics.

I can remember my first 16 years in this city that shines so blue and so white. I loved it. It's always been one city to me. One of the main reasons I felt so comfortable was because there were so many other Samoans here.

Many worked in back-breaking jobs involving menial tasks that other sectors of the population weren't too keen on, but Auckland to us was the gateway to the land of milk and honey.

We didn't mind struggle, it was a necessary part of getting ahead.

But there were times when I was occasionally blue at how white everything seemed. That despite loving this place so much, because I was a minority that I wouldn't really see my face and voice and stories reflected back at me. That the only time we got mentioned in the newspaper was in the sports section or the court pages.

And then in the 1990s something quite significant happened to New Zealand. From 1990 to 2000, the Pacific population grew 40 per cent. That growth has slowed but is still comparatively faster than other ethnicities.

Now the first wave of migrants from north in the Pacific have not only children born here, but grandchildren as well.

The result is a weird sort of reverse colonisation and a city that is very different to the rest of the country.

I've been reminded a few times of that.

At age 21 I went to the South Island for the first time. I walked into a bank and a teller kindly making conversation by saying, "You're not from around here are you dear?"

But I grew to love Christchurch. I also loved Wellington and Taranaki when I had stints there. Still, I knew I would always come back to Auckland. You can wear a lavalava to the petrol station late at night here and you don't get looked at funny.

I predict that the next Auckland mayoralty elections will be much more aggressively fought with leaders wanting to appeal to every possible vote. Not just the ones who live near town.

The Asian population is growing quickly. Maybe Auckland will one day do what they've done in Gisborne and Dunedin, and have an Asian mayor.

Despite what some people think about how New Zealanders should look like, the fact is there are a whole different bunch of New Zealanders here now.

Not all of them look and think the same - and thanks to that whole democracy thing we have going on here - they can all vote.

So Len Brown. Represent to the fullest for this city. Forget about which colour people voted for which candidate. There are more important things to worry about, like lobbying Wellington for a fair share of resources.

Lead us not into temptation but in a way whereby Auckland can stop apologising for being Auckland.

And you have some new colours you need to remember: Blue and white.