Mayor has plan to lord it over capital

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey says the Auckland region should appoint a lord mayor based in Wellington because of a lack of any leadership with punch in high places.

Mr Harvey said the lord mayor could be appointed from among the region's seven mayors and set up in "Auckland's embassy in Wellington".

The appointment, he said, could be made before any move towards rolling all of Auckland councils into one - a concept he did not necessarily agree with.

The lord mayor's lobbying and schmoozing on the capital's cocktail party circuit would be supported by an office of skilled diplomats - "the brightest to reflect the most stylish and exciting city".

Mr Harvey said the embassy's aim would be ensuring Auckland's voice was continually heard in the corridors of power and generating influence that would overcome a slick pro-Wellington lobby and the anti-Auckland thinking of the rest of the country.

"Auckland is viewed badly by the rest. We are seen as a city of bludgers, snobs, self-centred, latte-drinking, chardonnay-swilling geeks."

Auckland needed skilled people and a strong united voice to put a winning case to the Government for what it needed to hold a Commonwealth Games in 2011 and a Rugby World Cup in 2012, as well as completion of the city's transport network and getting a second airport and new harbour crossing.

The cost of the embassy would be paid for by the region's councils.

Mr Harvey said he also felt a lack of dialogue with issues such as the economic success of Auckland.

He admired the growth and achievement of Brisbane, a city of a similar size in Australia, and the work of its Lord Mayor, Jim Soorely.

Great cities were served by a united voice yet Auckland trailed behind, sluggish, imbued by jealousy and a lack of leadership.

"We need a common voice and focus," said Mr Harvey, who said he would take the lord mayor idea to the next Mayoral Forum for debate.

"I'm not advocating I would assume the title - anyone of us could do the job, maybe on a rotating basis."

Mr Harvey, a former Labour Party president, also said that Minister for Auckland Judith Tizard had been poorly supported since her appointment in 1999.

Her office was her own electorate office and she had no staff for Auckland-only issues.

"I think when she leaves Parliament to deal with Auckland issues half her colleagues think she's wasting her time and when she leaves Auckland and goes to Wellington many would think she is unable to capture her Cabinet colleagues with issues of relevance."

Mr Harvey said he was criticising not Ms Tizard but the lack of infrastructure that should support her.

"She can't do the job as a one-woman band."

The Mayoral Forum had failed to provide the strong united voice he wanted.

He also said the newly beefed up Auckland Regional Council was not up to the task of an ambassador.

Mr Harvey denied his comments were borne out of the frustration of trying to make progress with the Government over Whenuapai Air Force Base being used by commercial aircraft and by its scorning of calls for more police.

The Mayors of Auckland, North Shore and Manukau last night were against the idea of having a lord mayor and came to the support of Ms Tizard in her role as the first Minister for Auckland, albeit outside the Cabinet.

Ms Tizard said she was happy with her office and did not want it cluttered with officials. "I have tremendous support from my colleagues," she said.

An official group representing the Treasury, economic development, environment, transport, local government and the Deputy Prime Minister and Cabinet met fortnightly in her office.

"What would a lord mayor do that the Minister for Auckland is already doing, because I work with the co-operation of the Government," said Ms Tizard.

Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee said: "The last thing Auckland ratepayers want is a bunch of people calling themselves lords and swanning round Wellington."

Mr Lee said Mr Harvey was well-meaning but showed an "inwardlookingness" in thinking Wellington was a foreign country needing an ambassador to deal with it.

Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis said a lord mayor was an anachronism in modern society and local government was operating well with the ARC.

North Shore Mayor George Wood said Auckland had done "reasonably well" in its dealings with the Government and councils had extensive contact with leaders.
Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard said: "I don't think Lord Mayor Harvey has an appropriate ring."

New Zealand was a small place and Wellington not too far away for Aucklanders to meet the Government.

Points of view

* I'm not advocating I would assume the title - anyone of us could do the job, maybe on a rotating basis.
- Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey

* The last thing Auckland ratepayers want is a bunch of people calling themselves lords and swanning round Wellington.
- ARC chairman Mike Lee