Mayor Wayne Brown unhappy with Auckland councillors’ repeated ‘personal trips’ to Taiwan, funded by Taiwanese Government

Mayor Wayne Brown has expressed anxiety about a group of Auckland councillors visiting Taiwan twice in the past six months for “personal trips” funded by the Taiwanese Government - saying both New Zealand’s One China policy and his sense there was an underlying political agenda led him to reject the same offer.

Auckland councillors Wayne Walker, John Watson and Greg Sayers visited Taiwan in December 2023 and in March 2024. The later trip was for a city infrastructure conference in Taipei.

Brown was also invited to the “Smart City” conference in March.

“I refused as I was busy and it was not council approved and NZ has a One China policy and my appearance would have been exploited for political reasons,” Brown said.

The mayor indicated he had concerns the Taiwanese Government had an underlying political agenda in forging ties with New Zealand politicians.

Auckland Council acting director governance Anna Bray confirmed the three councillors did not actually need approval to go on the trips because they were not attending in an official capacity.

Overseas expense trips that councillors take in an official capacity must be applied for with a business case that then needs to be approved by either Bray or the Auckland Council general manager democracy and engagement, Ali’imalemanu Kenneth Aiolupotea.

The mayor nevertheless was unhappy that the councillors did not need this approval, arguing that the only reason they were invited was because they were elected members.

“In all cases, these invitations are because of being elected officials, not from their own activities. Mayoral trips require approval of council. [These] councillors went without that. Councillors should at least report these offers before accepting them,” Brown said.

However, Walker did inform the mayor of their intention to attend the March conference in an email on January 19, which also detailed their “successful visit” in December.

“It was an interesting time because of the upcoming national elections and the prospect of escalating tensions with China. We deliberately kept a low profile and are mindful of this going forward,” Walker wrote to the mayor.

“We experienced how transport in the Taiwanese cities runs efficiently and economically; for example through the efficient use of sensors at intersections, intelligently integrated transport, digital signage ... Since coming back we have followed up the contacts made across a number of areas.”

From left: Councillors John Watson, Greg Sayers and Wayne Walker.

Walker and Watson said both trips were funded by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office and the Taipei Computer Association as well as money out of their own pockets.

The December trips were declared to council as a “study trip” at a cost of $6000 for each councillor and recorded in their official Register of Interests documents. Auckland councillors have to declare any gifts of complementary events they attend.

The $6000 is the amount of the trip which was funded by the above departments of the Taiwanese Government for each councillor.

The March trips have not been declared to council yet but the councillors have until February 2025 to do this.

Another letter on April 18 from Watson and Walker to the mayor details what they did on the four-day conference from March 19-23 which the councillors say had more than 2500 overseas participants, including 400 representatives of municipal governments and 100 mayors or elected representatives.

Watson said he is surprised at the mayor’s recent comments about the trips to Taiwan.

“He certainly didn’t articulate any reservations. He was supportive. So that’s a bit of a change,” he claimed.

Watson suggested he believed the mayor was angry with Watson and Walker over their opposition to a controversial proposal to redevelop North Harbour Stadium - which is in the councillors’ Albany ward.

Watson highlighted the media attention that a staffer in the mayor’s office received after an online attack against the Albany councillors over the stadium issue.

The Albany councillor also defended the merits of the trip, for which he said they produced a report.

“It didn’t cost the Auckland ratepayer a single cent,” Watson said.

“It involved quite extensive site trips to various transport-related infrastructure around Taipei and elsewhere that I certainly saw some merit in looking at as the chair of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee [for Auckland Council].

“And it is actually part of a programme that a number of other councillors have been on over the years.”

Auckland Councillor Chris Darby vouched he went on a similar trip to Taiwan in 2018, but this was on official council business with a funded staffer to present at an urban planning conference.

Darby said due diligence is undertaken for such council trips and “due to the sensitivity of trips to both Taiwan and China, there is quite a thorough process”.

However, Walker, Watson and Sayers were not visiting Taiwan in a similar official capacity.

An Auckland council spokesperson also cited the Remuneration Authority to clarify that: “Local government members, unlike paid employees, do not have entitlements to prescribed holiday or sick leave. Most local government members will take leave from time to time”.

The spokesperson said: “You can’t therefore imply that these elected members did not take annual leave for these trips, because there is no requirement for them to do so”.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown being interviewed about the budget by the Herald. Photo / Michael Craig

The first December 15 to 21 trip was after all committee meetings and workshops had concluded for the year; and the second trip was March 19 to 23 when there was only one committee meeting for Walker, who attended it via electronic link.

He added that their attendance at the Smart City conference was useful for gaining perspectives on a sophisticated transport city with a bullet train and underground metros, as well as insight into modern approaches to health, housing and renewables.

“I was talking with [council] officers just yesterday about how much we could benefit from the sort of technology transfer that could occur from our counterpart Taiwanese cities, especially Taichung, which is one of our sister cities,” Walker said.

But the Albany ward councillor did not deny there was a political tension even within Auckland Council around participation in Taiwanese events - whether held in New Zealand or internationally.

He claimed the National Taiwanese Day of celebration held in Crown Plaza opposite the council building has had a low attendance across different mayors and councillors.

“The political attendance from the parties is low,” Walker said.

“I don’t take a great deal of interest in what other councillors do. Though I do know that some of these things tend to be for some reason weaponised, which is disappointing because I evaluate very closely whether anything is worth it or not.

“My time is incredibly valuable and I go when I think that, you know, the benefits are significant.”

Walker also described himself as a supporter of Taiwan.

“It’s a vibrant democracy. It was very interesting to be there in the lead-up to their elections in December. Obviously, we didn’t participate in anything but we certainly observed how robust the process was. It’s an incredibly safe advanced democratic society.”

The Chinese Embassy in New Zealand told the Herald, when asked about the councillors’ trips, that “commitment to the One-China principle should be honoured in letter and spirit” and that they “firmly oppose official exchanges with Taiwan in any form at any time by any country that has diplomatic relations with China”.

Councillor Greg Sayers was approached for comment for this article.

Tom Dillane is an Auckland-based journalist covering local government and crime as well as sports investigations. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is deputy head of news.