What the hell did we all just see last night?
I do not believe any Aucklander impacted by the worst natural disaster we have ever experienced would see that trainwreck interview by Mayor Brown and not feel incandescent with rage.
All he wanted to do was defend his incompetence and blame others.
How dare he.
His audacity is as shallow and self interested as the Civil Defence Bureaucrat who claimed they did their job while attempting to absolve himself from any responsibility.
Both he and Brown should be sacked.
My understanding is that Wayne Brown’s inexperience and lack of advisors (Hooton left 2 weeks ago) meant Brown dithered like a confused Boomer trying to update their iPhone without knowing what to do.
Most of the Auckland Bureaucracy had already left for the long weekend (Waka Kotahi’s jaw dropping decision to sign off in the middle of the disaster because they were off for the long weekend highlights the unbelievable audacity of these pricks), and no one seemed to be clear on what was happening because no one was around.
By 4pm houses were being flooded.
By 6pm a clearly unprecedented calamity was under way and was being reported on all major media. Emergency Management Centre were still sitting on their hands already trying to downplay their lack of action and seemed to simply be hoping the rain would just stop.
By 7pm the scale of rainfall was now known and still there is no clear leadership.
By 8pm the enormity of what was happening was apparent. There are mass emergency events all over the city at this stage and first responders struggle with the scale of the emergency.
By 9pm Auckland MPs including Chris Luxon and Michael Wood were calling on the Mayor to declare an emergency.
Wayne Brown finally declares the emergency at 10.30pm.
Between 6.14pm and 10.30pm the civic leadership of Auckland had total radio silence and did not tell the people of Auckland what to do or where to go.
Wayne Brown is right that the Emergency Management team were the ones to make the State of Emergency call, but that’s a technicality, Brown should have been on the phone to the Emergency Management Centre every 20minutes challenging their inaction.
But he didn’t because the Mayor’s inexperienced team didn’t know what the fuck to do.
Wayne’s incompetence alongside the Emergency Management Centre’s attempt to defend being asleep at the wheel alongside a Metservice giving poor information all conspired to rob Auckland of real leadership during the worst natural disaster we’ve ever encountered.
The quality of weather reporting from Metservice should also be investigated.
They receive over $20million each year from the Ministry of Transport for public safety forecasting services, but they also have a side hustle called ‘MetOcean Solutions’, where they provide detailed marine weather forecasting for their corporate clients.
Is there a difference between the open source forecasting they provide the public and the far more detailed one they provide corporate clients?
Politicians should ask to compare the MetOcean Solutions forecast with the public one.
In comparison to the bumbling Mr Magoo performance Brown was pulling, Chippy and Michael Wood looked like true leaders.
In the end of this train wreck interview, the deputy Mayor had to drag Wayne Brown off the stage because he was making such a dick of himself.
The Boomer King promised to ‘fix’ Auckland, and in Auckland’s most desperate hour, all he could do was act like a befuddled old clown.
The Auckland Mayor fiddled while Auckland drowned.
Where are all those boomer property speculators who elected Wayne Brown now?
This was a clusterfuck of epic proportions and they should be righteously ripped to pieces in any review of this calamity.
It is obvious to everyone who watched that interview that the Mayor is totally out of his depth and he should consider resigning.
All of us as Aucklanders were betrayed by his lack of leadership in our most dangerous moment as a city.
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The guy isnt a leader, he was waiting on someone else to push the button for him.
Wasnt until the govt pleaded with him to do something did he do something.
And he seemed to forget the council he represents were the ones who issued those permits to build where they did.
Auckland flooding: Several Kāinga Ora houses lifted off their foundations
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/01/auckland-flooding-several-k-inga-ora-houses-lifted-off-their-foundations.html
At least all the boomers got to see Elton John play in Auckland for the last time and there will be more pot holes to fix.
EXCEPT THEY DIDN’T MARCO DO TRY TO KEEP UP SON.
Think AT first told them to drive into Elton John as they haven’t any trains running there – then after all that, it was cancelled it at last minute causing many to find out too late it was cancelled and then more traffic, congestion and confusion.
Well that is Auckland these days with so many in council, government, MET, NZTA, Auckland transport managers on the job telling Auckland how they should be run (into the ground for profit and ideology)!
wrong .
Being a Boomer means you saw Elton John 45 to 50 years ago when he was hot!!!!! and so cute .
Not now when one is too arthritic to boogie.
From RNZ, 9th Oct 2022.
The 76-year-old former Far North mayor takes the chains from Phil Goff……
Sitting on the centre right, Brown ran a campaign based on financial responsibility and accountability……….”
Tamaki MP Simon O’Connor said the result was a harbinger of things to come.
“Aucklanders are clearly tired of a left wing forever telling them how to live and what to believe. An excellent sign for further change in 2023.”
Well, the Nats got their man. So far, he’s avoided ‘accountability’ and ‘telling them how to live’!!!!!
At least it will take a bit of the heat off Karen and put it back on Wayne (‘Geez, Wayne!!) – and deservedly so!
Well, Labour have appointed Commissioners before when elected idiots did not get their act together…
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/commissioners-appointed-tauranga-city-council
We have an old saying in the Far North regarding not flushing toilets excessively as many of us are on rain water tanks and need to conserve it at some times of the year–“If it’s Yellow let it mellow, but Brown goes down!”
Councils Emergency Management and Services Committee were MIA so other people had to step up to do their job. Poor leadership from the chair and deputy chair, Stewart & Leonie.
It is their job to report to the mayor. They delayed the declaration sign off.
FFs sonny…!! Will you stop making both excuses for the incompetence, and dishonesty of the tory con artists, and making a fool of yourself in the process, and start making the effort to THINK!! Your juvenile and utterly facile attempt at excusing what was rank incompetence, and the total lack of leadership qualities displayed by the “boy” that was the best the tories could find among what is a shrinking gene pool, is quite sad, as it does no more than show us what you are lacking…
.. This Brown cretin shows all the hallmarks of too many generations of inbreeding, with the accompanying symptoms of the cognitive dissonance that has underpinned tory power politics since they were the “colonial” government…. So, as leader, isn’t it his job to foster a work environment that encourages people to be responsible in their positions? Are we seeing that? No, nothing like it.. What we are seeing is the usual triumphalism that tories thrive on, and the obvious reality that winning the election was the only plan they had, and there was never any intention to do anything that would interfere with the profiteering that is the basic modus operandi of the modern day colonial… And you think that blaming the mice is preferable, and reasonable when it is king rat who sets the standards? Grow up sonny…
Need a better perspective Stephanie.
There are a few thousand workers out there risking there safety for other peoples safety doing the hard yards, clearing drains,roads,debris and stuck vehicles and everything else that is in places that it shouldn’t be. The ‘noise’ is unnecessary.
So fuck off with your useless thoughts steph. Find a Bush some where.
Ted Heath probably thought it was a masterclass performance.
It was?
A bit like your ‘spot on’ comments, Bob.
People died, masterclass?, no.
I think building 1 million dollar Kainga Ora houses that fall off their foundations after being built in the last 3 years is a bigger scandal. We all knew this was all about profiteering money, government learnt nothing from the leaky building crisis and now we have huge flooding of these grandiose housing that look shiny and new for 5 minutes, but don’t last.
Many of the newer subdivisions with McMansion type housing that have not been designed well are the bigger flooders, Auckland has been building poor quality houses, in areas that should not be built on, costing a fortune and is not sustainable in any way.
Developers and advisors making a quick buck and government spin doctors marketing housing figures rather than delivering real results such as homes that will last longer than 5 – 10 years without needing remedial work.
Looks like these Kainga Ora tenants preferred the older style housing that didn’t fall off their foundations.
Auckland flooding: Several Kāinga Ora houses lifted off their foundations
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/01/auckland-flooding-several-k-inga-ora-houses-lifted-off-their-foundations.html
Can we start deducting the number of Kainga Ora and social housing homes that are now not liveable and require extensive repairs?
It was always pathetic that they were allowed to spin building consents as built housing rather than those that had got a code of compliance and actually were lived in. They never deducted the amount of housing they privatised or demolished from the original figures in a transparent way, so fake facts seem to be ok now.
How long before New Zealand gets a Minister for Auckland?
About a day……
The mayor is blameless in this he declared an emergency at 9.23, the bureaucracy makes it at a later time.
Does declaring an emergency make the rain stop?
Effective and efficient communication from our leaders to the people aids in mitigating the distress the rain was/is causing and Wayne Brown failed to do that. NZTA and AT had/were clocking off for the weekend. 11,000 people had gathered at Mt Smart stadium. There was no leadership from the mayor. Shambolic. It’s only fortunate there weren’t more lives lost.
Wayne Wayne Go Away
https://www.change.org/p/remove-wayne-brown-as-mayor-of-auckland?recruiter=17011788&recruited_by_id=89b4acd0-3e07-11e4-962a-b7c95331ab0c
No Ted H, you are absolutely right it does not make the rain stop. To me that’s completely separate from the bucket comment and telling people they shouldn’t have built their house somewhere when those that got hammered are still dealing with it.
‘Heckuva job, Brownie!’
Of course Buckets Brown is behaving like an monkey, he already made it clear in the past that his mayoral salary is peanuts compared to that he’s accustomed to receive.
absolutely agree thank you martyn
Don’t worry, it’s New Zealand. A land where no one in a senior administrative position is responsible for anything.
Who was responsible for Pike River? No one.
CTV building? No one.
Tarrant getting a firearms licence? No one.
I’m sure SaveNZ could add considerably to the list, but you probably get the picture
Wayne Brown said during his election campaign that he would not be taking orders from Central Government about how to run Auckland and it is HE who will be telling the Government how things will be done in these here parts.
Pacing and waiting…pacing and waiting………………
When the Auckland Transport Director resigned last year, after pressure from Wayne Brown, he said he did the right thing. So why doesn’t Wayne Brown now do the right thing. https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2022/11/mayor-comments-on-auckland-transport-director-resignation/
Of the 108 requests for an interview only two one-on-one interviews were granted. One to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking, and another to 1News’ Katie Bradford.
He’s turning out to be one of Auckland worst mayors right up there with Hubbard and Banks.
Mayor Brown comments “those houses shouldn’t have been there”, wow, I bet those council employees who approved the siting of those dwellings, are shaking in their boots. Surely their bosses will be hauling them out to “Please explain how this anomaly happened”.
Yeah right, just like the Leaky Homes saga, they will pass the buck and keep their lucrative jobs. Nothing to see here eh?
But some of the houses dropping into the ocean below look like the owners have a buck or two to spend on sessions in court – we shall just have to wait and see.
Good summary Martyn. The Auckland Mayor fiddled and piddled while Auckland drowned.
Meanwhile the immigration floodgates are reopening. Auckland is green lit for further housing intensification, more concrete, even smaller sections, on 50 year old infrastructure unable to deal with todays numbers.
I see the Collins supporters out in force.
You mean Judith Collins? Yes, they are, and you are one of them, desperately trying to protect your treasured right-wing gem.
Face it, Bob, he showed himself incompetent.
Bob excels at incompetence.
What a complete shocker, patsy mayor, who in his arrogant disregard of, media, and other!s, who dare to question his leadership and competence as Mayor, fluffed his first real challenge, as a competent Mayor,fit for the challenge as Mayor..
Its not really surprising. Brown is a technocrat and has his work cut out for him in a city the size of Auckland. He doesnt have people skills and isnt overtly influential and despite having been in mayoralty in Auckland is now facing stuff way beyond his ken.
Bad luck on timing as in he may have upped his experience in a year or two, but he will need to do a hell of a lot better. Makes you wonder if any of those lives would have been saved if the communication had been better?
Whilst Brown is culpable, it comes down mostly to Emergency Management agencies and they are showing the same degree of effort, commitment and knowledge as commonly displayed down here in Wellington by the PNC.
The sad truth is, you let everyone work from home and they dont really connect with those they serve or those they work with. Some work hard, some work harder but most work less or less effectively and they become on some level more selfish I suspect.
If you then promote on the basis of identity, ToW knowledge and commitment; and dont run a meritocracy, you end up paying huge salaries to absolute monkeys. This is unfortunately Jacinda’s legacy, the public service is in utter shambles. Many, many 50 + year olds, mainly men have been encouraged out because they are not seen as part of the brave new woke world and they are replaced with identarians who dont even begin to know what they dont know.
It’s a G’dawful mess.
One of the guys who died went for a paddle in his kayak and got sucked down a culvert. Another was out and about videoing himself in the storm helping people out before drowning himself and the third poor bugger was killed when a slip smashed his house. I don’t think any of these deaths can be blamed on anyone.
well articulated @Fantail. I try not to think about the blithering twats calling the shots in NZ these days.
Let it go folks. Efeso lost, Brown won. Move on.
Nein, Kraut.
Big-mouthed Wayne Brown needs to be brought to account for his ridiculous performance in this case. No declaration until 10.30pm??
Somebody claimed that he tried at 9.30… Can they explain why he failed for an hour after that?
Booooooohooooo whoooop-deeedoooo…ONE WHOLE HOUR!!! Fuck you lefties are but desperate for a gotcha moment. I guess after watching Labour deliver fuck up after fuck up for t years now you need some runs on the board. Pathetic bunch of outragers you are.
Kraut even you must see what an absolute shocker this was. We were watching the 6pm news and couldn’t believe our eyes what was happening. Today even he had said that there were some poor decisions. Off the cuff statements are not helpful in these situations especially where there have been fatalities.
Total shocker agree Queenie!. But would have made no difference to the situation other than words. So it’s not like he opened a dam by mistake. Or told the fire service to back up. Or closed all the hospitals for fun. Queenie, you and I know that the left, and the ‘bribed by govt’ left media are out for a big story…gotcha journalism…outrage. None of those reporters would have dropped a camera to help a drowning dog. They would have filmed it drowning! “it’s my job to film things!” So yes, Brown is a turkey alright, but boy…are you folks and TDB making mincemeat of…nothing much really! Where is the outrage at how the council pisses away our money and delivers us worse and worse service?
Oh Kraut i can hear the desperation in your argument. History will show what a f***k up this was. History will show the mayor is not up to the job. Kraut its all about support and guidance in an emergency, its all about communication. Why do you blame others for mediocrity from Aucklands governing force. Fess up the mayor failed Auckland big time .
*insists left wing blog shouldn’t criticise the right when it fails*
You dish it out on TDB every day Kraut, but then as soon as one of the right wing cabal fuck up……..Mr Kraut goes sour again.
Of course if your property had been impacted at all you’d be singing a very different tune.
And it wasn’t just “an hour” – I would actually argue he did nothing for the entire day, when the rain was quite clearly falling, not stopping, getting worse, and even when he could see it was going to be an issue he did next to nothing until it was far too late.
Ahhh, there’s the sour Kraut we know. How many people died in that one hour?
Booooooohooooo whoooop-deeedoooo, indeed. You are beyond pathetic.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/131096210/auckland-mayor-wayne-browns-own-staff-were-doing-a-terrible-job
Must be the “lefties” in the council. Bloody outragers!
Wayne Brown is the lefts secret weapon.
I feel for you kraut, your boy had just one job!
Irrespective of when he finally signed off on the State of Emergency, it is his woeful attitude when faced with questions which renders him a ‘trainwreck’. It was all about him and THAT is the problem. He is just like Trump. A reassuring, confident response to the questions would have redeemed him, a little.
The left should have come out and voted for Efeso. The left stayed at home. The End.
I voted for Efeso, thank you very much.
Ah well, all you Brown fans voted for your man, you got what you deserved. I heard he wasn’t exactly a fantastic mayor in Northland either.
Heh, Nein, Nein, Nein, Krautenstein.
One way or another “Brown will go down” after this little mini Katrina effort. Remember Mr Bush’s late appearance in New Orleans? Now it is of course far from mini for anyone dead, injured or with destroyed property and so on in Auckland of course.
This event regardless of the hapless arsehole of a Mayor, has just put 3 Waters back on track.
Tell that to the loved ones of those who lost their lives, the people who have lost their homes Kraut.
This isn’t about politics you knob.
It’s about competency and Leadership.
Auckland Council literally has a Department that is there to coordinate the response to a civil emergency. A significant part of that coordination role is communicating advice to the public.
Having nothing to communicate for hours over the height of the storm demonstrates the response was overwhelmed. When they are overwhelmed a State of Emergency is to be declared.
That didn’t happen for 3-4 hours after they had first considered it.
This is an absolute failure in Auckland Councils processes, response and leadership and the buck stops with the Mayor.
Brown didn’t front up whilst it was happening and when he did front up to the media, he simply goes on the attack, passing the buck to other agencies and rants a load of nonsense until someone has the sense to lead him away.
Would Efeso have done better. Very likely. Do I care. No!
I just want this incompetent fool removed from office because he clearly does not know what his job is or possess the temperament nor capability to deliver it!
Would Efeso could have done better? Efeso could not get himself elected. The end.
Well put. My partner encountered Wayne Brown on the bar at the Mill Bay/Mangonui Cruising club a few months before the election–and he was getting people’s change wrong and appearing not that focused at all.
He is an inadequate front person for the Auckland establishment, who were desperate to finally obtain the Supercity Mayoralty–and yes, he does need to go.
You will have to wait till next election we couldnt get rid of pants down Brown.
You mean your hero?
Wayne Brown needs to resign, where is the petition I can sign for that!
Folks get a grip! Here’s a more controversial angle. I’d rather have a mayor who’s razor focused on and challenges the chronic culture of wasteful spending and hopeless inefficiencies of our council, than be exactly on time to the minute with an announcement – that would not have made much difference on the day – just to keep the rabid media and you bunch of online outragers happy. We need more managers and shitkickers rather than another lot of announcers. 6 years of announcements is enough for now.
Oh Kraut you must be living in fairyland if you believe your own words. Who will have confidence now in Wayne Brown. We can all now see he was an experiment for Matthew Hooton and Ben Thomas and big auckland money backers. I bet they have all run for cover( if they even live in the country). He was so clearly out of his depth . Its rammed down New Zealand’s throat is auckland coughs we all get the flu . Why is it that if right wing politicians can do no wrong however a left wing politician has criticism from all sides. That’s dangerous for New Zealand. By the way is Epsom in Auckland???
On the one hand, Aucklanders had Efeso Collins, an intelligent, devoted, experienced Councillor with a history of responsible public facing work, who wanted to make public transport free, ensure the city meets its climate obligations, and worth noting, invest in the city’s climate resilience.
Instead Auckland got Wayne Brown, a “Trump”-style candidate, who had a history of getting into fights with councillors, had been investigated by the Auditor General for corruption, and during the campaign was on camera stating that he wanted to put photos of a journalist above urinals so that people could “pee on him”.
If that’s all there was to it, it would be appalling. People and animals lost their lives, and severe widespread damage to property took place – while overrun emergency service workers and the public were left to fend for themselves. Those effects could have been reduced or in some cases avoided if Auckland had had a competent Mayor. Even the Elton John concert-goers might have had the show cancelled at an appropriate time instead of showing up being drowned in rain only to be told to go home because it’s “too dangerous”.
Had he been in charge of all his faculties, Wayne Brown could have brought himself back from the brink with some humility aforethought. His immature petulance proved the naysayers to be absolutely correct. He could have reassured Aucklanders that any mistakes would be rectified immediately. He is a failure. Let him go and play tennis and sip champagne. Auckland will be much better off without him.
That’s because you supported Collins.
A stinging rebuke, to be sure.
Regional election Low voter turnout matters, this is what you get, an out of touch grumpy old grandpa. Aucklanders make an effort and vote wisely next time.
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