Auckland stadium debate needs a ‘tsar’ to drive plans forward - Editorial

It’s easy to lose track of where Auckland – and indeed the whole country – is at with the quest to sort out the shambles of stadiums in the country’s biggest city.

Mayor Wayne Brown – who portrayed himself as no fan of working groups and talkfests during the 2022 local body elections – set up what can reasonably be described as a working group and talkfest by bringing together a panel to assess the merits of different stadium proposals late last year. The panel is tasked with finding the best long-term option for a main stadium in the city and then making a recommendation to council.

It’s heard from eight different proposal consortiums – a number now whittled down to four – and is due to make its recommendations to council by the end of March. We might have a verdict from council by April.

All of which would make this a remarkably efficient working group and talkfest; turns out, getting people together to debate and find solutions can be a good thing.

But it’s what comes next that will be the most important part.

The council and central government need a unified commitment to get one of these proposals across the line. At some point – no matter the big corporate branding and venture capital that comes along for the ride – ratepayers and taxpayers will be reaching into their pockets to get this project complete.

Which is why a publicly appointed body should be given the authority to make big decisions, and push through operational issues to get a stadium built.

It’s common in the United States and United Kingdom to use the term “tsar” to describe a person or authority empowered to drive action on important issues. It serves to underline the authority of the person – and the office – in charge. They have tsars for public health, education, poverty action and foreign wars.

We need a “tsar” to get this job done.

Auckland managed to convince itself to turn down a taxpayer-funded waterfront stadium 20 years ago that would have been a stunning asset for our biggest city. It’s to be hoped the council doesn’t think its way into a muddled tangle this time around.