Well, well, well.
What do we have here?
A damning review into the fatal Auckland Anniversary weekend floods has found a “system failure” of leadership in the first 12 hours of the response in which “much of the damage was done” before Auckland Council or Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown had taken any action.
The review, commissioned by the mayor three days after the record-breaking downpour on January 27, was undertaken by former police commissioner Mike Bush and delivered yesterday in a press conference at Auckland Council’s city centre headquarters.
However, despite a central finding of the report being “senior leaders underestimated the importance of their visible leadership roles”, Brown did not appear to answer questions.
EXACTLY what TDB alleged on day 1 of the extraordinary flooding, gross incompetence!
The person left in charge to make the decision was imported to the job after building playgrounds for the council FFS!
The Boomer King says he followed the process that needs be followed in this and waited until the emergency management centre made the call, which is absolutely true, but the nature of that relationship is supposed to be the Mayor on the line demanding that response, not just waiting around for someone from the emergency management centre to call him or read it on Twitter!
The timeline is clear.
I spoke with sources who were on the Friday morning phone call assessing the rain warning and they told me no sense of emergency was being sensed in the Metservice reports, and that some Civil Defence staff were already out the door by midday for the long weekend. As the rain built, many of those staff were unhappy and grumpy about being called back to the office.
By 4pm on Friday it was becoming increasingly obvious an emergency event was occuring, however the Auckland City Civil Defence Bureaucracy alongside the Mayor were spending more energy behind the scenes defending their inaction than preparing for what was to come.
By 6pm the enormity of what was happening was attracting the attention of national emergency authorities while the Police, Fire and Ambulance services were already becoming stretched.
As the fight behind the scenes between the Mayors Office, the Civil Defence Auckland Staff and the national emergency authorities continued there was no communication whatsoever from the Authorities telling Aucklanders in their time of need what to do.
By 9pm we had the extraordinary situation where Auckland MPs were taking to Twitter begging the Mayor to declare a state of emergency.
Between 6.14pm and 10.18pm when the Emergency Declaration was finally made public, there was no one leading Auckland during the worst weather disaster on record. I’m not asking Wayne Brown to stop the rain, I’m demanding that he be held accountable for the total lack of communication during those 4 hours when Aucklanders had no idea what to do!
Because NZ is a cheap country, our civil defence funding has been reduced to a messaging system to tell people what to do, that messaging system was utterly missing when Auckland needed it most.
The following press conferences where Wayne’s only concern was to defend his own incompetence and inaction were a slap in the face to every Aucklander.
I think NZ became so used to Jacinda reacting effortlessly in a crisis that we forgot how difficult leadership is and why when we vote it matters
The Mayors incompetence in the face of the worst weather event in Aucklands history demands reflection from us the voters.
It was clear Wayne Brown was very very very old during the debates and lacked the real qualities of leadership Auckland required.
Our rigged Mayoral Election System is designed to be as cheap as possible and is subcontracted out to a private company who only has a dozen polling booths for a city of 1.7million in what is the must successful voter suppression scam of all time.
Wayne Brown won with a pittance of the voting population actually voting and he was elected by reactionary right wing self interest boomers who are now very quiet.
Efeso Collins sure as hell wouldn’t have waited until 10.30pm to declare an emergency but unfortunately Auckland will vote for a candidate called Brown, they won’t vote for a candidate who is Brown.
If you want to be angry, be angry at yourselves, be angry we elected a fool, be angry that we haven’t taken climate change seriously, be angry that your 7pm Current Affairs shows are shallow circus’s that don’t focus on the real issues.
This unprecedented weather event must be an inflection point to our political apathy and refusal to take climate change seriously.
- The Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2022 stipulates the Local Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups (CDEMG) bear responsibility for coordinating Auckland‘s emergency response, but it is not clear who was appointed the ‘Group Controller’ of this event and the Civil Defence Staff who did front had only been appointed last year and was previously responsible for building children’s playgrounds!
- Metservice receives 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, and if so does that need investigating?
- Should small businesses have to rely on user-pays insurance to fund their recovery from natural disasters. We have #EQC for collectively-funded earthquake insurance, why not replicate or extend that to cover other kinds of natural disasters? This would go a long way towards both universal coverage, and avoiding unpredictable spikes in user-pays insurance premiums?
- Have the decades of avoiding the reality of climate change and allowing developers to build on floodplains destroyed any faith Auckland City can get its shit together when the current Council is looking at cutting 1000 bus rides a day and eroding climate change mitigation programs.
Our infrastructure can’t cope with what its coming, our economy can’t cope with what is coming and our communities can’t cope with what is coming.
We must urgently understand the need for climate change adaptation and what that must mean for us all.
Welcome to your future, stop being angry and get involved.
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I would bet that Leo Malloy would have been a better mayor. Cause he at least likes Auckland and it’s inhabitants, unlike Wayne Brown.
Martyn – Wayne Brown was the Mayor for a whole 6 months during the floods, with most of the blame, according to the report, being placed on the previous mayor – Phil Goff!
shhh, Phil Goff is a good Mayor, he is of the left, and thus we don’t talk about the failings of the previous years.
Reactionary Bratwurst – That put a smile on my face…
Small minds, actually extremely small.
National are Squeaky Clean – Go read the report – Big mind!
Goff and company definitely small mind’s,leaving Auckland in such a poor state.
Bob has such a small mind it’s in the political gutter. His right wing mayor an absolute moron, very similar to Bob.
Here we go. Left versus right this issue all you like. Wayne Brown is an absolute dick full stop. He’s out telling people on the day/next day it’s not his job to pick up a bucket and they should not have built there in the first place! Absolutely he was only just in the job so not all over emergency response plans suitability etc, but who the f*ck would think that’s the right verbal response? Knob.
His name is reactionary for a reason, never had an original thought in his life. He’s the first one to say you can’t blame the previous government for today’s issues yet here is the absolute hypocrite at his best. Such a silly Bratwurst. Either that or he has a Phil Goff fetish.
You guys lost but like all poor losers you can’t get over it.
Mr.Brown is Mayor.
Who is “you guys”? Bob you are everything that is wrong with debate now. So one eyed that you defend Brown no matter what. Do you think the statements he was making about buckets and building in the wrong place ( with consent) as people are standing knee deep in water were ok?
It was more Phil Goff so blaming Brown is blatant politics.
Every one knows this.
You didn’t answer the question Bob.
The “you guys” know who they are.
(People incapable of individual thought.)
Wheel Bob never does, poor Bob he is all questions but no answers.
Wheel – True…but the media blaming him, despite the report saying it was Phil Goff, is a bit rich
@ RB
You’ll just have to keep trying harder. Goff, as most of us know, was a neoliberal rogerphile. He, and his motley clan of Machiavellian pirates has you and many others still fooled it would seem
As for being a ‘good mayor’. He simply rode the salary then got secreted away in a pointless post where he can keep sucking on the public tit he’s well used to sucking on until the useless prick drops dead.
Your preferred candidate Collins would have done pretty much the same that night. The failures were by Auckland council staff and the CD system.
Correct.
Martin it must have been difficult typing; while sitting side by side holding hands with Simon Wilson. Or did you type with one finger each?
Well he didn’t type it with Browns campaign manager Hooten because like Brown he’s nowhere to be seen.
Wayne Boomer Brown fucked up Ada, stop defusing. Efsco wasn’t elected, so how can you possibly know what he would have done!
You right wing minded people are truly pathetic but typical of always trying to shift the blame.
You are embittered as always, NaSC.
Really and you Ada are not, in fact I’d call you a constant.
I know that posting makes sense in your own mind, but you should expand on it until it makes sense to other people.
At least it makes sense in your own mind Ada but please don’t expand I’m still trying to decipher your embittered post, as bizarre as it is.
You are still confused.
Is there an adult to walk you through your posts?
You are still confused.
Is there an adult to walk you through your posts?
Ada both you and Bob are fucking clueless. You didn’t answer the question, how can you possibly know what Collins would have done?
Ask your mum at least she’s an adult. And steady on posting twice as you end up looking very silly.
Well said Ada.
Well said Squeaky.
Ada you are probably right about the overall response, but you can’t tell me Collins would have said anything remotely close to the dumb arse responses from Brown in the immediate aftermath. I didn’t vote for Collins by the way.
When did any Auckland council ever declare an emergency? It is plain to see no one knew what to do or what they were dealing with!
The only thing I’m angry about is repeated councils failures to do the basics and maintain the storm water system, you know, clean drains out, ensure streams were/are clear. I saw first hand just how effective this is, if they do it.
And if it’s all Wayne Browns fault, which it isn’t, then why is the predominant left of the last 4 Auckland Councils councillors not sacked? Where were they in ensuring infrastructure was up to speed? Where? Simple showers had roads flooding around my way purely down to a lack of maintenance prior to that Anniversary Day downpour, so how anything was ever going to cope with worse is a mystery, known only to them. And don’t get started on pip squeak mayoral aspirant’s tweeting messages not to go out in the rain in your socks, type bullshit. God, we needed that like a cup of cold sick, Richard!
Mike Bush, to me, is coming across as a leader of police, what an emergency response reaction should have been, not a city council. I do not expect any council to be that emergency response, but I do expect them to minimise the chance of floods hapoening, something they failed to do!
Want someone to blame then it’s councils prior to Brown.
Goff springs to mind.
Bahahahahaha blaming the previous council, that is silly.
Bert
Sorry I forgot,it’s that dastardly John Key aided and abetted by Bill English.
You finally come to your senses Bob but it’s Sir Ponytail puller to you.
Did your daddy tell you to put your crayons down and say that?
Bob anyone with a functioning brain cell could see something wasn’t right that night.It speaks volumes that the whole Auckland council didn’t have a clue. It also speaks volumes that Brown is the Mayor however he is not doing the job he is paid for. It seems that his deputy is doing his job that he is paid for.
Unfortunately Queeny your selection criteria excludes Bob
That’s a bit mean Wheel old boy.
Possibly a bit unnecessary. Enjoy your Friday Bob
I shall thank you,I’m off to golf and then the Pub.
Yes agree Wheel, Bob no where near meets the criteria but it is the school holidays Wheel so he’s allowed out of his bedroom.
Comms is CDs job. People might like a political face on it, mayors might take the opportunity to look important and throw their weight around, but they’re glorified paper pushes and disaster response AND comms is CDs job.
CD is fucking useless and does nothing, I /love/ how somehow this is only a problem when Auckland is hit. EQC is fucking useless too, worse than that even actually downright nasty – cancelling private insurance response and bullying and threatening home owners.
Hmmm Martyn, I see your still pissed off that your mate Collins didn’t get to be Mayor!
Maybe, cos …Stewart & Leonie, the Councillors, chair, and deputy chair of the AEM-CD committee were MIA, well one of them was on FB crowdsourcing advice about what she should be doing and the other said the CD building was too unsafe so headed out west for photo ops with the Dep. PM!
At the very least they should be removed from those roles and then held accountable for the deaths that occurred on their watch.
And don’t forget the lack of maintenance on all the stormwater systems, grills over stormwater pipes for safety and councils having to put their maintenance services on a business like system, thanks to the wisdom of Sir Roger Owen Douglas…..The old , I get a knighthood…you get a nightmare trick…
And that is all Wayne Brown? Oh noes, it is not, the man has not even been in his job for a full 12 month.
NACT government 2023: “Hold my beer.”
You won’t afford to buy any.
That assumes he can now.
Cheaper than milk now Beasty, but you know that.
“won’t afford.”
Good gracious.
The emergency plan was set by previous mayors. Maybe tell them off, oh, you won’t, they are of the left.
Why would you tell someone off because some prep school yuppy couldn’t read the rule book or follow it?
2016 – have a look what happened then, and ask yourself why it was allowed to happen again. And yeah, bruh, read the rule book and understand that there was no rule book.
Of course RB the blame sits with those who came before Brown.
To deny that is simply stupid.
This situation has been building for years as Auckland’s population increased. A deadly storm indeed…pun intended…
–infill housing, housing in gullies and low levels, more multi level dwellings okayed–stack ’em & rack ’em, too many impervious surfaces, rain water collection tanks not promoted or permitted, storm water system maintenance patchy
The political factors;
–declining public participation in local govt and community affairs generally
–low voter turnout, postal voting, transience, rise in renters
–a right wing idiot, surrounded by Natzo functionaries and suck ups, elected as Mayor by a tiny minority of Aucklanders, Browny is incompetent and a literal danger to Aucklanders as this event proved
And the biggie–CLIMATE fucking CHANGE is real
It is pathetic to see the usual tory suspects above diverting and wanking on–nasssty critics of our beloved Mayor, we hates you!!–as Daily Blog Editor Martyn says, “Welcome to your future, stop being angry and get involved.”
And yet it would seem that most of the funding cuts were done by Goff. How can that be, he was awesome ….
He was awesome wasn’t he? Wasn’t he ……..
The report clearly lays the failure at the feet of the ill trained staff and also concluded that at no stage had there been any briefing on the subject afforded to Brown but hey, get the boot in whenever you can, even if you have to manufacture a target.
Also, unlike ardern, Brown managed to make an apology.
An apology of sorts, I suppose..
But if no one was there to hear the apology, did it even happen?
He has apologised publicly and reiterated that he stood by that apology.
When has ardern ever apologised when she was patently wrong.
Well said Tiger and 100%
And 100%?
I know your hopeless with math Bob, actually hopeless with all academic subjects. Now, back to your crayons.
Bert still waiting for the new set of crayons you were going to buy me?
I spent them on your nappies, did your parents not recieve them?
Oh that’s right you don’t know who your father is.
I’m surprised to see you regard Brown as some sort of super hero can fix all and in super quick time sort of a dude. I would have thought with so many ‘managers’ and a CD team you would have expected some of those to do their job rather than sit waiting for your Superman to step in.
“We hates you.”
TM?
Bob the ” usual tory suspect diverting and wanking on” .
An expert example TM.
Well said TM, well said.
Dreadful post Bert.
You are a dreadful person Bob, absolutely dreadful. As Mosa said T.M. nailed it.
You need to grow up Bob and leave the adult discussions for us adults.
T.M nail hit directly on the head.
Hole in one.
Phil Goff council executive was equally to blame for not having proper civil defense emergency proactive process.
Of course.
Of course?
And once again Boomer Brown refuses to front up publicly or step up and acknowledge his failure this report has highlighted.
Instead he gives the excuse that it was previous budget cuts that caused the failure.
This all coming from a Mayor that has manufactured a “fiscal crisis” in order to justify massive budget cut across the board!
Brown is an incompetent ego driven bafoon, who has realised he doesn’t have the skill to front up to the media or his constituents.
Instead he hides in his office, pisses ratepayer money away on team of highly paid consultants to assist him in avoiding his Civic responsibilities.
Angry Grandpa won’t go down in history as the man that fixed Auckland, he’ll only be remembered as the sad old man that left a big Brown stain on the City.
He should be removed from office due to his incompetence
Brown does not need to speak up his PR man Bob says it in three words…” fuck off media”
Pity he also says “ fuck of Aucklanders”
Awesome analyse Bomber the picture of PM CH looking at Mayors Brown says it all!!
Yes the Chipster looks like a startled Chipmunk.
The Boomer king looks like a Bombed king now.
And he cost lives.
” Awesome analysis Bomber the picture of PM CH looking at Mayors Brown says it all!! ”
People died and many lost their homes in this disaster. It shows the utter selfishness , arrogance of all involved with the buck sitting squarely at Brown.
And yet no one will be held accountable for this disaster and it joins Cave Creek and other calamities where once again innocent people are expendable.
I do feel for Brown missing his tennis match and his staff having to rush back to the office on a Friday afternoon when they were starting their holiday , anyone who is entitled would be pissed.
At least the Mayor and the aggrieved put out individuals are still alive !
Yes, images of residents chest high in water in their suburban streets were telling. The inundation would have happened anyway, but timely warnings would have enabled people to get their essential items, ‘go bags’ and vehicles to higher ground.
Nailed it. Any sort of warning but the Boomer King Bombed. He is appalling in front of camera to say the least.
Goff can’t be responsible for that, he wasn’t the mayor at the time, idiots.
Personally, I think the wrong people are being blamed. It’s the rate payers that are at fault here. You all wanted lower rates, so here you go, now you have what you wanted, fucked infrastructure, underinvestment in council workers and skillsets, and private industry rorting the the rotted system. Congrats.
This from today’s Herald
“Brown took and made a number of phone calls and forwarded emails to his chief of staff.
The documents show he was having problems with his work iPad and wanted it fixed, but the on-duty IT person was dealing with their own flooded home.
Eventually, someone else was called in but it appeared the mayor’s iPad was out of action for at least an hour.”
So while the city was flooding and the masses were in desperate need of information about where to seek shelter….”Mr Fixit” was having a classic Boomer moment of not being able to turn his iPad on!
Sums up Angry Grandpa’s capabilities to a tee!
Out of his depth and totally incompetent.
Wonder if his Grandchildren are now on the Mayoral Office payroll as IT consultants now!
Don’t think Mayor Brown will employ family unlike some Labour MP’s.
Examples please Bob?
” Morning Report asked the key players onto the programme, but Mayor Wayne Brown, Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson, Auckland Council chief executive Jim Stabback, Minister for Auckland Michael Wood, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty and Auckland Emergency Management all declined to front. ”
No one ever appears at all or front’s up when the shit hits the fan , they run in the opposite direction ! that’s accountability in New Zealand !
” Bush said on Wednesday he was not “here to shed blame in any direction”, and the report was not going “to hold people to account for their performance”. ”
Well that is piss poor !!!
Just another fucking report to be seen to be do something but were not going to blame or hold anyone to account.
Pure neo liberal woke approach at work.
That’s another example of how far standards have plunged right across the board. Anyone asked to provide evidence of wrongdoing , unpleasant information or systematic failure cite ” commercial sensitivity ”
There are a lot people in central and local government making huge salaries and packages but no one is responsible and as far as Bush and his whitewash is concerned should be held accountable.
The people of West Auckland and other areas affected have been treated like shit with regards to this whole process.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/487849/auckland-council-emergency-management-chair-found-out-about-flooding-from-her-daughter