Auckland's mayoral candidates go head to head in the first of a series of debates from the Cordis Auckland. Video / NZ Herald
Efeso Collins has called rival Wayne Brown pulling out of the Herald's mayoral debate an "insult to Aucklanders".
The debate, scheduled to be livestreamed at 5pm, was cancelled after Viv Beck's sudden withdrawal from the race this morning.
Beck was scheduled to go head-to-head with rival Efeso Collins after Brown pulled out of the debate on Thursday because of the journalist who was hosting it.
Brown's campaign chair Chris Matthews said he believed moderator, Herald senior journalist Simon Wilson, could not be seen as "neutral or independent".
"[Wilson] has a clear set of opinions on the future direction of the city and measures others against that vision," Matthews said in a statement.
New Zealand Herald editor Murray Kirkness said he was disappointed by Brown's decision.
"We back Simon 100 per cent as a fair and objective moderator. We find it hard to believe that anyone wishing to be Auckland's mayor wouldn't front for this debate," he said.
Collins said Aucklanders "deserve better than a candidate trying to run a campaign via a few flashy billboards in just a handful of suburbs while avoiding engaging with voters across our city by missing a key event run by one of Auckland's main media outlets".
"This is an insult to Aucklanders and an insult to the democratic process.
"Wayne needs to front up about his erroneous claims that Auckland's CCOs can be self-funded, he needs to front up about his wacky numbers on the Ports of Auckland and he needs to front up what he's selling or who he's going to fire to pay for the cuts that he's promising.
"Not only does Auckland have over 30,000 ghost houses, we now have ghost mayoral candidates. But it's not good enough and Aucklanders deserve better - which is a contest of ideas," Collins said.
Viv Beck withdrew from the Auckland mayoral race today, while Efeso Collins has called rival Wayne Brown's refusal to take part in the Herald's debate an 'insult to Aucklanders'. Photo / Dean Purcell
Brown hit back, saying that the pair will be able to debate at the Auckland Ratepayers Alliance meeting next week and live-to-air debates during the election race.
"A real insult to Aucklanders is Mr Collins' refusal to disclose or apparently even inquire into the size of the billion-dollar bill he's signing ratepayers up to for CRL cost overruns," Brown said.
In the Ratepayers' Alliance-Curia poll of decided voters released last month, Collins was in first place with 22 per cent of votes, but support for him had fallen from the previous month.
Brown was second with 19 per cent (up from 15 per cent in July) and Beck third with 13 per cent (down from 18 in July).
The poll showed mayoral candidate Craig Lord getting 7 per cent of votes and fellow candidate Ted Johnston behind him on 6 per cent.
