Wayne Brown

Todd Niall is the senior Auckland affairs reporter for Stuff. OPINION: If there's one thing Auckland mayor Wayne Brown needs to work on, it's his knack of ...

Later on Thursday evening Brown put out a self-congratulatory media release declaring himself “comfortable” with progress in his first two months. It wasn't the first own goal. [having steered his first budget proposal through rough fiscal seas](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/130769596/wayne-brown-gets-budget-signoff-after-gaffe-causes-airport-trading-halt), to sail off for public consultation in March. When approached by a television news crew to discuss the upcoming budget, Brown opted to push his open hand in the direction of the camera, creating his own new media moment. [He said he had nothing to apologise for](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/130769596/wayne-brown-gets-budget-signoff-after-gaffe-causes-airport-trading-halt) and “was not quite sure” about whether with hindsight it was an unwise statement. It was, of course, the first question on everyone's lips, with Brown having become the first Auckland mayor to trigger a stock exchange trading halt. [getting his first council budget proposal out of the starting blocks](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/130769596/wayne-brown-gets-budget-signoff-after-gaffe-causes-airport-trading-halt), in the most challenging fiscal environment facing the council in its 12 years. [the stock exchange NZX suspended trading](https://www.nzx.com/announcements/404148) of the airport shares, until the company [formally stated it had no such intention](https://www.nzx.com/announcements/404153). [Stay of execution for council childcare centres ahead of Auckland mayor's budget](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300763564/stay-of-execution-for-council-childcare-centres-ahead-of-auckland-mayors-budget?rm=a) [Why Auckland mayor Wayne Brown was in hot water for airport comments](https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/130780078/why-auckland-mayor-wayne-brown-was-in-hot-water-for-airport-comments?rm=a) [Wayne Brown gets budget sign-off after gaffe causes airport trading halt](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/130769596/wayne-brown-gets-budget-signoff-after-gaffe-causes-airport-trading-halt?rm=a) [an astonishingly ill-chosen comment about Auckland Airport Limited](https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/130780078/why-auckland-mayor-wayne-brown-was-in-hot-water-for-airport-comments), a blue-chip publicly listed company in which Auckland Council is the largest single shareholder with an 18% slice.

Aucklanders will get a say on whether their council should sell its $2b airport asset, but no expert analysis has been done on the merits of flicking or ...

Brown used that to push again on the airport share sale. Mike Lee, a two-term Auckland councillor returned to the role at the election, argued that the airport shares had been gifted to the council in its past life, and no debt had been incurred in accumulating the shareholding. Late in the budget meeting, as councillors considered the mayor's proposed letters of expectation to its council-controlled businesses, they were shown a future debt chart for Auckland Council. Only councillor Josephine Bartley, who believed the measures inequitably targeted savings from community groups and that councillors were already mandated by their voters to make decisions, opposed this budget being put to the public. Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson gave wholehearted backing to Brown's proposal, saying even if the airport company started paying dividends of up to the $60m range mentioned by Mike Lee, the shareholding would still not be a net benefit. He meant the $88m a year that could be saved if the whole shareholding was sold and $2 billion was cut from the debt total. Officers at the meeting told councillor Chris Darby the sale proposal in the mayor's budget had not been subjected to independent investment analysis, but the council finance team had relied on open source analysis from market analysts. Councillor John Watson, another promoted by Brown to a committee chair after the election, wanted an expert view on the airport share sale. We don't participate in capital raising and to me that doesn't indicate we are an active strategic partner. It feels to me like we are akin to a Canadian pension fund. The mayor wants to sell the shares, valued somewhere around $2 billion, and use that money to pay off part of the council's $12 billion debt, which would save around $88m a year in interest costs. He questioned the attempt to paint the share asset as actually costing the council money each year.