Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown at the West Harbour Fire Station on Saturday fronting the media in relation to the worst flooding the Auckland region has ever experienced. Photogr / Dean Purcell
NZH 31Jan23 - Wayne Brown
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown at the West Harbour Fire Station on Saturday fronting the media in relation to the worst flooding the Auckland region has ever experienced. Photogr / Dean Purcell
NZH 31Jan23 - Wayne Brown
Auckland could be counting the cost of the devastating floods for years to come, but the storm is set to have a lasting impact on Mayor Wayne Brown.
Brown has faced criticism for a week now, after initially not publicly commenting on the severe weather or issuing a state of emergency until late last Friday when many Aucklanders were already having to evacuate their homes.
As Brown tried to regain control of the situation after a weekend of defensive press conferences and interviews, the Herald published a WhatsApp message Brown sent to his tennis group on Saturday night, where he said he had to cancel to deal with “media drongos” over the flooding.
The messages were shared with Herald senior writer David Fisher, who later had a contentious 30-minute phone call with Brown who said, among other things, “Don’t f*** me over”.
The message from Auckland mayor Wayne Brown to his tennis group, cancelling the next day's game. Photo / Supplied
Talking to Georgina Campbell on On the Tiles - Local Edition, the Herald’s politics podcast, Fisher said that Brown reiterated the messages were a private conversation, and there was a balancing exercise that went on around publishing them as a result.
“I thought about that a lot because as media, we don’t want to be trespassing into the private lives of the people that we write about more than we need to satisfy our obligations to meet public interest.
“But I had thought we have a mayor here who has not really communicated with the public since the storms hit. We have got here what appears to be a snapshot of priorities and perspective, which is valuable to share with people, particularly given how that engages with that flood response.”
Fisher said that the “media drongos” comment is not wildly constructive for Brown to have a good relationship with the media, which had already been in the spotlight last week due to revelations Brown had only granted two media interviews out of over 100 requests, as well as three press conferences or media standups.
“Five interactions over the course of the month with the public through a range of different media channels is pretty low contact. This is a job where you may have been voted in by 180,000 Aucklanders, but you’re there to represent all Aucklanders, and you need to build a relationship.”
He said that Brown needs a good relationship with the media, not because they deserve special treatment, but the media helps connect with a voting public that doesn’t interact with local politics often.
“Auckland is particularly extraordinary in its disinterest when it comes to local body issues, which is a really difficult thing because it’s a city of 1.6, 1.7 million people now, and it’s the engine room of the country, and the people that live there, I’d love them to be more engaged.
“So the media does have this role in communicating things to the public and also communicating public concerns or approval back to the council. Having this combative relationship where you divide people into the people I like and people I don’t like ... this just doesn’t work.”
• On the Tiles is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are available on Fridays.
