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Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says although you can mitigate against disruption, you cannot “do” construction without it being in some sense disruptive.
“Of course it is going to be disruptive if you’re ripping out the intersection between Wellesley St to Albert St. Of course it’s going to be disruptive if you’re ripping up Quay St,” he says. “But disruption is also progress.”
Goff admits there is a part of the community that will complain, saying the only way to get around is by car and any construction is too disruptive. But he says that attitude is not going to work as Auckland’s population rises by 40,000 a year and roads can’t get any wider.
He says the city does have to upgrade roads for cars — and disagrees with people who complain about the upgrade programme the Government recently announced as part of its infrastructure package.
“But actually, the big changes are things like the third main trunk rail line so we can increase the capacity further on heavy rail, and SkyPath and SeaPath. They will produce massive transformational change for Auckland — and for the better.”
Goff reckons the average person understands you can’t rip up a road to put a tunnel underneath it, or create a cycleway or widen the pedestrian footpath without having an impact.
“It is a signature of a city that is going places and we should be pleased about that,” he says.
And it is clear he is pleased. He talks animatedly about cycleways, the developments to pedestrianise areas, and public transport that will make the central city more environmentally friendly and accessible.
“It’s a way of giving people the choice and alternative ways of getting around the city in a way that doesn’t add to congestion, is low on carbon emissions, and is a fun way of getting around.”
Goff says there has been a long period where “bugger all infrastructure was being created” and we are paying the price for that now.
“The trouble with the City Rail Link (CRL) is that we shouldn’t be doing the sod-turning at Mount Eden now — we should be opening it.”
Goff says the CRL will double rail capacity and bring more people into the CBD by public transport.
“That was needed five years ago, and the reluctance of the government of the day to participate in that and then putting half the cost on Auckland … almost everybody can now see it was a bad mistake.”
The number of pedestrians on Queen St has roughly doubled in the past five years, the imminent opening of Commercial Bay is going to bring around 10,000 workers into one block, and we are seeing increasing numbers of cruise ships arriving into the city.
Goff asks: “How do you have all of that and have access by people to actually enjoy the city if it is still going to be a place that you drive through, rather than come into?”
A city under the spotlight
Adding to Auckland’s disruption is the preparation for 2021. It is shaping up to be one of Auckland’s busiest and most visible years ever — with the America’s Cup and Apec headlining the year, and other large major events including kapa haka festival Te Matatini, the women’s cricket world cup and the men’s world softball championship.
There is a lot of preening to be done in our largest city before the spotlight comes on.
The America’s Cup will be first up, and Goff says projects are on time and within budget for all of the infrastructure for the event.
“The development around Quay St and the new harbour park will be completed,” he says. “Commercial Bay and the Park Hyatt hotel will be up and running — but construction across the city doesn’t stop because we have international guests here.”
He says as well as the excitement and vibrancy the America’s Cup brings to the city, it also leaves some valuable legacy products — including the strengthening of the wharf, the removal of the hazardous substance tanks, installation of breakwaters, and replacement of the Daldy St stormwater outfall.
New Zealand’s hosting of Apec will involve a full year, with clusters of meetings held over 12 months from December 2020, culminating in the Leaders’ Week and CEO Summit in November 2021. For that, around 10,000 attendees will descend on Auckland, with leaders from most of the 21 economies expected to attend.
The CEO Summit was intended to be held in the brand-new New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) — until the fire last October put that in doubt.
From his office, Goff has an unparalleled view of the NZICC construction site. He was one of the first to break the news of last year’s fire and gave regular updates of what he could see live through his Twitter account.
He is disappointed Auckland now won’t be able to show off its glitzy new hosting venue to the world.
“When we watched the fire start and then just run on for day after day, it was pretty clear that this meant the centre wasn’t going to be ready for Apec, notwithstanding the fact it’s still 21 months away.
“But we did have a contingency plan between government and council, and we have alternative options including the Aotea Centre and others. We won’t have the brand new built-for-purpose convention centre, but Apec will be a success and it’s not the end of the world.”
Goff says preparations have delivered a lot of new hotel beds, including the 300-room Horizon Hotel being built alongside the convention centre.
“We’ve been building 1000 hotel rooms a year. That means we’re much better set up to cater for an event the size of Leaders’ Week.”
Beyond 2021
Asked about the future of the city, Goff shares Sir Paul Callaghan’s vision for New Zealand — of Auckland being “the city where talent wants to live”.
He says our natural environment is an important part of what makes the city an attractive place to be.
“The Central Interceptor will be huge progress in stopping the high level of wastewater overflows into the harbour every time it rains,” he says. The $1.2b wastewater tunnel will run 14.7km long and 4.5m wide from Grey Lynn to the Māngere Wastewater Treatment Plant.
It is due to be operating by 2025 and will help make Auckland’s waterways cleaner by cutting overflows by up to 80 per cent.
Goff frequently talks about his desire to increase Auckland’s resilience to climate change in order to “ensure a better world for our children and grandchildren”. It was one of the major platforms he campaigned on during last year’s election, along with clean transport and protecting the environment.
He says climate change is the biggest environmental threat the world faces, though he admits there is a stark difference between Auckland’s contribution to water quality and climate change.
“The difference is that while the steps we take on water quality immediately act to remedy the problems, the steps we take on climate change are simply our contribution to what needs to be an international effort in order to stop global warming and sea-level rise.”
Auckland Council is developing a Climate Action Framework to outline a path to reduce emissions and prepare the region for the impacts of climate change. But Goff says while Auckland wants to be at the cutting edge of making the changes needed, it is important that other countries take it seriously as well.
One example of the changes being made is the recent announcement that all the red CityLink buses will become electric this year.
Goff says the move will help improve air quality by reducing pollution from black carbon and nitrogen oxide emitted by the current diesel vehicles.
“Black carbon is associated with health problems and has been found in Queen St at levels higher than in some major European and US cities, so it’s a priority for us to address this issue.”
In November 2017, Auckland joined 11 other cities in signing the C40 Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration, committing Auckland to buy only zero-emission buses from 2025.
But Goff says he’d like to bring that commitment forward.
“The capital cost of an electric bus is much higher. But the advantage is that over the lifetime of the bus, the running costs are half and it pays for itself over that time.”
He says the capital constraints of council means he is talking to the Government about the possibility of extending the feebate scheme to buses.
“Feebate is great for electric cars. I drive an electric car. But these buses are on the road for 18 hours a day — why wouldn’t you want to bring forward that conversion?”
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Business leaders are less optimistic than they were a year ago. A total of 62 per cent of business leaders responding to the Mood of the Boardroom survey say they are less optimistic about the general business situation in their industry.
Just 15 per cent feel more optimistic, 23 per cent say they feel the same level of optimism as last year.
The figures were worse when respondents were asked their perspective on the New Zealand economy.
A full 83 per cent say they are less optimistic than they were one year ago. Only 4 per cent say they are more optimistic, 13 per cent say they feel the same as last year.
This poor outlook aligns with other surveys of business confidence, which have shown consistent pessimism about the economy since the change in government to the Labour-led Coalition in 2017. The most recent ANZ Business Outlook found 52 per cent of businesses surveyed expected economic conditions to deteriorate.
Respondents were also asked how concerned they are about the impact of various domestic factors for business confidence, rated on a scale where 1 = no concern and 10 = extremely concerned.
The top domestic factors influencing business confidence in the NZ economy are congestion in Auckland (7.60/10) and infrastructure constraints (7.39/10).
The announcement last week that the Auckland light rail project will be delayed until at least 2021 exemplifies the lack of action that CEOs expressed frustration on. The infrastructure issue is considered in more detail on D21.
Other major domestic factors impacting business confidence according to CEOs include the availability of skills and labour (6.99/10) and general uncertainty around the impact and direction of current or proposed Government policies (6.87/10).
Foodstuffs North Island chief Chris Quin says: “Talent and Skills shortage and lack of clarity and progress on vocational training, along with an unclear future of vocational training and immigration settings are really harming the possibility of a successful transition to the future of work for NZ. Aligned Government spending that is much more effective in growing productivity is critical.”
Despite the pessimism from business, the International Monetary Fund released its annual review of NZ’s economy in the last week.
It suggests New Zealand’s economic growth is “still solid”. It says despite the loss of momentum in economic activity and a cooling in housing markets, output has remained close to potential. It also praised the falling unemployment rate and the government’s Wellbeing Budget — saying it struck the right balance between fiscal prudence and tackling priorities like mental health, child poverty and Māori and Pasifika aspirations.
Some economists say that business confidence surveys tend to be biased against Labour-led Governments, and have little correlation to actual economic growth. In line with this, Skycity chair Rob Campbell suggested one factor impacting business confidence is “business organisations talking down confidence”.
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Climate Change Minister James Shaw was rated at 3.05/5 by chief executives in the Herald survey — the highest score among Green ministers outside of Cabinet and marginally ahead of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on her own ministerial performance.
Asked if Shaw had been an effective leader of carbon emissions reduction policies, 50 per cent of survey respondents said Yes; 30 per cent said No, and 20 per cent were unsure.
“James Shaw has certainly got the subject of carbon emission reduction firmly on the table and has gained business and community backing,” says Beca’s Greg Lowe.
“This will encourage faster action but we need to be mindful of tackling the immediate issues first. Rural emission reductions will need more science but the science to reduce transport and energy emissions is on our doorstep now and we should be acting faster to remove obvious pollution.”
“He has the intellectual ability to understand how to tackle some big problems and the pragmatism to get things done. Not everybody around him has that pragmatism which risks ideology only and no momentum or improvement.”
Many believe Shaw has been particularly effective in getting business on board with Green policies. “The Green Ministers — particularly James Shaw — have surprised many in the business community for their ability to listen,” says a leading banking boss.
Z Energy chief executive Mike Bennetts says “James has been very effective in managing conflicting views to an overall consensus that is acceptable to all stakeholders”. Adds an automotive firm chief executive, “Thank goodness James Shaw is there, otherwise nothing would be happening”.
But others say it isn’t clear what Shaw has achieved, suggesting more evidence of tangible action and change is needed. “The visibility of change is poor but he has the capability!” says one respondent.
The head of an investment firm reckons “Shaw has been a highly effective co-leader for a small party outside of government, and on key issues.”
Adrienne Young-Cooper, chair of Panuku Development Auckland, offers him some advice: “he needs to lose the suit and be really innovative in addressing a lighter more loving footprint on our beautiful so damaged planet”.
Shaw’s colleague Julie Anne Genter who holds the women’s portfolio and is Associate Health and Transport Minister was scored at 2.09/5.
“Having starting to deal with Julie Anne Genter on some issues she seems to have some similar attributes to James Shaw of being intelligent and open to sensible engagement,” says Deloitte’s Thomas Pippos.
Others are more critical — Simplicity’s Sam Stubbs says she seems “hard wired to hate cars and love trains”:
“Her passion, and the Governments need for the Greens, could commit the nation to extremely expensive spending on a transport technology better suited to more population dense countries, and last century, not this one.”
Adds another: “Genter represents the greatest risk to this Government. She has let power go to her head, and her anti-car campaigns and opposition to roads being built will upset most New Zealanders. Twyford lets her do what she likes but she drives officials crazy with her loony policies.”
Eugenie Sage received a fairly middling grade of 2.29/5 for her work as Conservation Minister and Land Information.
She received just a single comment — the partner of a major legal firm says her role in the OIO approval process has been underwhelming. “There is a lot of uncertainty in the business community as now ministerial decisions seem to be going against the Overseas Investment Office’s technical recommendations for political or party reasons rather than following a considerate investment assessment”.
Influencing power
When it comes to their ability to influence policy outcomes, Greens co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson rate well behind that political pro, NZ First leader Winston Peters. Asked to rate the party’s co-leaders on this issue — on a scale where 1 = not impressive and 5 = very impressive, chief executives scored Shaw at 2.87/5, Davidson received just 1.63/5. It’s perhaps not surprising that Peters, whose party is in a formal coalition with Labour, received 3.59/5 from NZ’s business elite for the same question.
Cooper and Company chief executive Matthew Cockram reckons: “I don’t necessarily like it, but there is no doubt that Winston and James have had a significant impact in getting their positions implemented.”
A telecommunications CEO feels that “James Shaw has worked tirelessly and often thanklessly to try to achieve cross-party consensus on difficult and complex issues,” whereas a Māori business leader says: “James Shaw is doing as well as he can with a disparate party. Marama Davidson — no comment.”
There is a perception among some business leaders that the Greens have not been as effective as expected.
“The offshore gas exploration ban is the only policy I think James Shaw and his party has driven, yet that risks making it harder to remove coal and so will result in more emissions,” says an energy sector CEO. “The Zero Carbon bill hasn’t gone anywhere yet and policies to make it real seem a long way off.”
In contrast, a real estate boss says the Greens have made an impact: “if you look carefully, the Greens have had wins on almost every one of their major policy platforms”.
At the recent Green party AGM, Shaw highlighted a string of achievements — including the ban on new fossil fuel exploration, public transport initiatives and the $100m Green Investment Fund.
“This year’s budget alone contained $6 billion in new funding for Green Party initiatives,” he said
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Focus on substance — that is the clear message to National from respondents to this year’s Mood of the Boardroom survey.
National leader Simon Bridges announced a June shadow Cabinet reshuffle following the news that MPs Amy Adams and Alastair Scott would retire from politics at the 2020 election.
The biggest winner in the reshuffle was Paul Goldsmith. He picked up the heavyweight finance spokesperson and infrastructure spokesperson roles and jumped from seventh to third in the party’s parliamentary rankings.
Chris Bishop was also a winner, picking up Goldsmith’s former roles in transport and regional development. He moved from being ranked 35th to 16th, overtaking several of his colleagues and clinching a spot in National’s shadow cabinet.
New Zealand’s top CEOs and directors seem to agree with the reshuffle, with a banking boss commenting: “Paul Goldsmith and Chris Bishop have great potential”.
But when asked what more Bridges needs to do to present a vigorous alternative to the Government at the 2020 election, it was substance — rather than individuals — that received attention from respondents.
Many suggested National needs to identify and focus on key policy areas, rather than trying to do everything.
“Be smarter and more strategic in what it criticises the Government on,” says a public sector boss. “Focus on things that matter to Kiwis — not on personal politics that only capture the attention of the press gallery.”
Respondents also suggested that National spend more time focusing on how they would perform better than the Government, rather than negativity and time spent explaining what the Government is doing wrong.
“Cut out the negative comments, lead from the front,” said Ovato managing director Simon Ellis.
Mainfreight boss Don Braid was direct: “The negative nit-picking in opposition has been pathetic; shut up and develop credible policy.”
But other respondents say National should continue to highlight the strength and credibility of its team, compared to those on the Government benches.
“All that National has to do is point out Labour’s incompetence at running the Government and the country,” said a policy boss.
“It makes the contrast to National’s experienced and qualified front bench even stronger.”
Cooper and Company chief executive Matthew Cockram said: “National should reach out to those who have been so cruelly misled by Labour’s rhetoric and execution ineptitude. Show that just throwing money at issues does not solve them.”
But CEOs also want National to adopt new policies that can demonstrate how the party has moved on from the Key government.
“The world has moved on and going back to that is insufficient to become Government and the wrong thing for New Zealand.”
Adds an independent director: “It still feels like a return to more traditional National policies. I think they need to better read the mood of society and set out some new ideas that demonstrate a real change from the past on issues like climate, infrastructure and taxation policies.”
Mark Franklin, managing director of Stevenson Group said: “They must stop acting like they are entitled to be there and start rolling their sleeves up.”
The need for National to consider the long-term — including creating a prosperous New Zealand for all New Zealanders, being realistic about sustainability and equality challenges and addressing New Zealand’s under-performance in productivity — was also a message from respondents:
“National needs to provide a long-term vision for New Zealand as a country, in order to work its way up the OECD rankings rather than declining,” says MinterEllisonRuddWatts partner Lloyd Kavanagh.
Said the chief executive of an investment firm: “In order to win, National has to own middle New Zealand — and right now they don’t. They are not progressive enough to capture hearts and minds of the real big-picture long-run issues for the future.”
“Stay centrist and loud on how to address system changes for long term change,” advised a tourism boss.
National also needed to find a coalition partner. “They will be hard-pressed to get an outright win,” advises an executive in the education sector.
Reiterated Barfoot & Thompson’s Peter Thompson:
“They aren’t going to win it alone so need to work closely with an alternative party to go into partnership with them before the election — so the public know before they vote.”
Though most respondents say National’s strength is that it has a credible cohort of talented performers, a few recommended National look to bring in new talent from the outside.
“…but definitely not Luxon!” pleaded an investment bank head.
A ‘credible alternative’
Two-thirds of business leaders — 66 per cent — say that National’s proposed policies are providing a credible alternative to the policies from the coalition government. Just 8 per cent say they do not; 26 per cent are unsure.
“National is insignificantly different to make a great difference to New Zealand,” says Mercury CEO Fraser Whineray. “Can we have a long-term vision and discussion about our place in the world?”
“Better than the Coalition? Certainly. But not good enough to lift our lousy productivity growth rate,” cautions ICBC chair Don Brash.
Last month, National launched its economic policy discussion document. Among commitments, Leader Simon Bridges said National would not introduce any new taxes in its first term, would reinstate the social investment approach, and would reintroduce targets in health, education and law and order.
The top three rated policies were:
- Allowing Kiwisaver contributions to continue beyond the age of 65 for seniors who remain in the workforce (8.12/10)
- Requiring all government agencies to pay their contractors on time and within 30 days (7.99/10)
- Requiring Treasury to have greater focus on identifying wasteful spending (7.96/10)
The two lowest-rated proposed policies were:
- Returning the brightline test to two years and remove ring fencing of losses (5.29/10)
- Repealing the regional fuel tax in Auckland (5.12/10)
Deloitte CEO Thomas Pippos says Government policy is about deliberate choices that balance financial and non-financial outcomes.
Pippos says a challenge with the proposed economic policies that National released is that they look to appeal to the conservative wing of those that support National — which they “already have in the bag”.
“Key social issues around housing, poverty and inequality are not being overtly addressed,” he says.
“Similarly, there is no positive response to environmental issues. Putting to the side the challenges of MMP and the lack of coalition partners, National would be more successful if it transformed to being more progressive and appealing to the majority of voters who occupy the centre of NZ politics.”
Several of the respondents say the release of the economic policy discussion paper was a step in the right direction, but suggested National is not doing enough to move the needle.
“Some of their ideas are incredibly sensible but I don’t see a strategic plan in place yet,” adds a government relations firm head.
“There are some good ideas, but it’s all tinkering,” says Whineray. “The centralised dynamics are different to the rest of the world and effective oversight of expenditure absolutely beats the perception of scale economies.”
Don Brash added: “Some of what National proposes is a pale shadow of what it should be. For example, starting to raise the age of eligibility to 67 from 2037. Australia will get to 67 by 2023!”
Others suggest that National is struggling to resonate with the electorate, and put this down to a lack of ability to clearly communicate their policies. “They are still pretty unimpressive when it comes to developing and communicating their policies… maybe it’s still a secret?” questions Mark Franklin, managing director of Stevenson Group.
The proposed “regulations bonfire” – which has been compared to the Donald Trump playbook – promises to “repeal 100 regulations in our first six months in government and eliminate two old regulations for every new one we introduce.” It scored 6.25/10 and received the most commentary from respondents.
“A ‘regulations bonfire’ sounds good, but National’s own record in this area over nine years was very poor,” says a banker.
Michael Lorimer, Auckland managing director for Grant Samuel said: “This policy illustrates Bridges’ naivety.”
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Finance spokesman advised to get a coherent set of policies writes Tim McCready
Business leaders gave National rising star Paul Goldsmith their third highest ranking among the party’s top 10, but when it comes to the right qualities to deliver as finance spokesman many think it is too early to tell.
In the 2019 Mood of the Boardroom survey, respondents were asked to rate Goldsmith.
He scored 3.14/5, the third-highest score for National’s top 10 ranked MPs — behind housing spokesperson Judith Collins (3.51/5) and education spokesperson Nikki Kaye (3.31/5).
When asked whether he had the right qualities to deliver as finance spokesperson, 43 per cent responded yes, 12 per cent said no.
“Paul has a detailed knowledge of tax issues — he has literally written the book on the history of tax in New Zealand. He has a reasonable knowledge of economics, is extremely bright and is a fast learner,” responded former National Leader and Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash. “He also understands the seriousness of the economic problem facing the country: the extremely poor rate of productivity growth.”
“He’s bright enough, but quirky,” said a government relations director.
SkyCity Entertainment Group chair Rob Campbell suggested Goldsmith needs to “get away from just saying what he thinks business wants to hear”.
Another suggested Goldsmith needed to “get some charisma”.
With just three months as finance spokesman it is not surprising 45 per cent of survey respondents are still unsure if Goldsmith has what it takes to deliver as finance spokesperson.
Goldsmith was appointed in a June reshuffle after former National Cabinet Minister Amy Adams announced she would retire from Parliament in 2020.
“We haven’t seen enough either way,” says an investment firm’s chief executive.
“It is still early days, but I believe he has the right qualities from his early changes and comments,” says Barfoot & Thompson director Peter Thompson. “Today’s Mood of the Boardroom debate will be his first real test.”
While he has still to raise his profile as a shadow finance minister, Goldsmith is a prolific author. He wrote a book on the definitive history of taxation in New Zealand (We Won, You lost, Eat That) and the history of Fletcher Building. He is also a biographer, covering the pantheon of New Zealand business leaders including John Banks, Don Brash, Sir William Gallagher, Alan Gibbs and the Myers family.
In Gibbs’ biography, Goldsmith wrote that at one-point Gibbs asked him: “Paul, when are you going to stop living vicariously, writing about other people’s lives and get up and do something yourself?” After his maiden speech in Parliament, Goldsmith said Gibbs laughed down the phone at him: “I meant get up and do something genuinely useful; not go into politics!”
Goldsmith got his first taste for politics when he moved from a role with the Waitangi Tribunal to join John Banks’ office as a press secretary. When Banks was thrown out of Cabinet he was taken on by National Environment Minister Simon Upton. After National’s 1999 defeat he worked in Helen Clark’s Labour Government as a staffer for former Cabinet Minister Phil Goff.
He entered Parliament as a National list MP in 2011 and went on to hold the Commerce, Science and Innovation and Tertiary Education portfolios in the last National Government.
After the 2017 election, Goldsmith aligned himself closely with National leader Simon Bridges.
As economic and regional development spokesperson, he raised his profile through blistering attacks on Shane Jones’ administration of the Provincial Growth Fund.
In an open-ended question on what Goldsmith’s key priority should be, many CEOs highlighted productivity and infrastructure.
“He needs to devise a coherent set of policies which would plausibly deliver a meaningful improvement in New Zealand’s rate of productivity growth,” says one respondent.
Said an energy boss: “Joining the narrative together on economic, environment, trade, social, infrastructure into a compelling, long-term and understandable (street-level) vision.”
“Creating a framework for stability and investment that does not constrain growth,” responded an automotive boss.
Other advice for Goldsmith included the need for him to “get really clear on how all parts of society can win under a National government”, and to “have clarity regarding National party policies and being able to articulate them clearly.”
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Phil Goff
Incumbent Auckland mayor Phil Goff has failed to fire with New Zealand business leaders who want him to focus and step up the pace if he gets another term in next month’s local government elections.
CEOs and directors responding to the Mood of the Boardroom survey were asked to rate incumbent Goff on a scale where 1 = not very well at all and 10 = exceptionally well. He received a fairly average grade of 4.88/10.
But despite this low score, when asked who has the best attributes to be Auckland’s mayor between Goff and mayoral hopeful John Tamihere, 73 per cent picked Goff.
Throughout the campaign, Tamihere has made a name for himself — suggesting a two-level harbour bridge crossing, an 0800 JACINDA phone number to report homelessness, and selling off the council-owned Watercare in order to fund infrastructure projects.
Goff, meanwhile, has argued he is a steady pair of hands with the experience needed in order to bring better public transport and cleaner water to Auckland.
Survey respondents tend to agree with this, commenting that Goff is more “practical and experienced”, and has the best knowledge of the issues that are important to Auckland.
Beca CEO Greg Lowe says Goff is more capable than John Tamihere, and understands the challenges of running Auckland better.
But he advises that: “Phil could be more aspirational though on where Auckland is heading, to develop a compelling vision we can all buy into.”
Lowe says a vision would help clarify city priorities and provide a clearer platform for discussion with central government.
One of the country’s leading bankers says: “Phil Goff may be a bit of a geek, but you know he’ll be diligent and across the detail”.
Barfoot & Thompson’s chief executive Peter Thompson says though Goff has the best attributes for mayor, it’s a close call.
“He knows the issues the city is facing and if elected he needs to act and fix,” he says.
“We need to see where our petrol tax is going to and we need to see timelines for the infrastructure — not just saying these are issues and then form committees to look into.”
A government relations boss reckons “Goff is dangerously autocratic, but he’s bright — whereas JT is fun but mad”.
But there were also a sizeable number who commented “neither” when asked to choose between the two leading mayoral candidates.
“Not sure I feel great about either — where is the focus on running a great city as a business and its effectiveness?”, questioned Foodstuff’s Chris Quin.
“Disappointed neither candidate is a woman,” said an internet retail boss.
“The test is of commercial acumen and governance ability,” said independent director Dame Alison Paterson.
John Tamihere
Just 11 per cent of respondents chose former Labour Cabinet Minister John Tamihere as the mayoral candidate with the best attributes to become mayor of New Zealand’s biggest city.
“It has come down for me to anyone but Goff,” says one prominent chairperson who preferred the challenger over the incumbent.
But despite not necessarily choosing Tamihere as their preferred candidate, some CEOs say he is raising important issues and offering visionary thought.
A leading banker says he will vote Tamihere because he is “looking for a mayor who will shake the hell out of the huge bureaucracy which Auckland Council and its CCOs (council-controlled organisations) have become”.
Another respondent says Tamihere has made some “valuable contributions on CCO transparency, the port move, stopping light rail to the airport and utilising existing heavy rail connections”.
Says Barfoot and Thompson’s Peter Thompson: “If Tamihere gets the facts and shows strong reasoning, he will go close in the election. At least he is addressing the issues.”
Mark Franklin, managing director of Stevenson Group says he likes some of the things Tamihere talks about, but “he loses me when he makes stuff up and makes promises that he can’t afford”. Franklin suggests though Tamihere is getting some cut-through, he would be more credible with costed policy.
“I think that JT thinks the Trumpian method might carry him through,” he says.
Auckland Business Chamber’s chief executive Michael Barnett says Tamihere began with a focus on the basics, but has since chosen to try to be a visionary. “The problems Auckland faces are here and now, and his change will cost him any chance of winning,” he says.
This was the sentiment from many when asked whether Tamihere’s campaign promises — such as a rates freeze and replacing the harbour bridge with a double decker megastructure — offer a credible alternative to Goff.
Only 9 per cent of respondents say they do, 77 per cent say no, and 14 per cent are unsure. Many worry that some of his ideas are “all talk, incompatible objectives” and lack the detail needed to be realistic.
“I don’t think anyone anybody takes Tamihere’s Auckland bridge proposal seriously,” says one professional director.
A leader in NZ wine exports opines: “A rates freeze will mean Auckland will spend another decade not improving infrastructure. Choosing Christine Fletcher to ‘shake things up’ with him is a joke.”
A professional director pleads to the electorate: “John Tamihere would be like voting for Donald Trump — please don’t!”
Says another: It’s dreamland and God help Auckland if he becomes mayor.”