The New Zealand Initiative reckons Auckland needs a night mayor. In the interests of civic duty the Weekend Herald nominates some potential candidates.
John Tamihere
The advantage of being a big city? Plenty of room for big egos. So two high-profile men want to be mayor of Auckland? Let them both be. Phil Goff can run the City of Sails by day, and his old Labour Party colleague Tamihere can nurse his dreamer plans of an 18-lane harbour bridge by night.
Ricardo Simich
The New Zealand Initiative wants a night mayor so we can reinvigorate our nightlife and the social and economic opportunities that go with it. Who better to champion that than Spy's man about town after sundown?
Lorde
She's Kiwi pop Royals-ty who knows life in a city is all about being part of each other's Team, never more important when the stars come out and things can get hairy out there.
Beauden Barrett
Sometimes what the best team on the footy field needs is fresh legs. Same goes for a city. Our Beaudy certainly knows how to light up a footy field, so how about Auckland's newest resident and Blues recruit injecting that same spark after dark in our biggest city?
The researchers aim to create early detection tests, improving survival rates.