Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown criticises councillors for missing meetings
'I'm going to deal with them one by one.
'I want to make sure that people understand you have an obligation to be here unless you've got a good reason.
'Some of the councillor committees haven't had enough people to have the meetings, and it's just not good enough.'
He noted councillor Christine Fletcher was overseas, and councillor Alf Filipaina was unwell.
He said councillor Maurice Williamson was recovering after surgery.
'I've just seen a photo of him and he's definitely incapacitated.'
He said councillor Julie Fairey was also recovering at home after a car hit her while she was biking.
'I feel somewhat sorry for councillor Fairey. She's had the misfortune to be run over by a car.
'We wish her well in her recovery as someone who's particularly worried about bike safety.'
However, he took a jab at one councillor, Wayne Walker.
'Councillor Walker ... he hasn't been run over by a car, I'm sure someone will provide one.'
Councillor Lotu Fuli raised a point of order, calling it unusual to review councillors' reasons for not attending a meeting in person.
She said there had been attendance issues at committees and not the governing body meeting.
Councillor and mayoral hopeful Kerrin Leoni called the mayor's comments inappropriate.
'I think it's really inappropriate to make jokes about people. If we've got a reason why they're not here, we should just be sticking to that and not talking about people getting run over.
'People have been run over,' the mayor responded.
Walker told RNZ he informed council staff he had the flu and would be joining the meeting via video link.
He said the mayor had been 'going after' him and his fellow Albany ward councillor John Watson during previous meetings, dubbing them 'the Albanians'.
Walker said he had disagreed with the mayor on privatising the Port of Auckland and the future of North Harbour Stadium.
'It's disappointing that he made those comments.
'He's after power and control.'
It comes as the mayor has announced two candidates, Victoria Short and Gary Brown, will contest the Albany ward on his Fix Auckland ticket.
- RNZ
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
2 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Govt forges ahead with foreshore and seabed change
By Craig McCulloch of RNZ The government is forging ahead with plans to change the law governing New Zealand's foreshore and seabed, despite a Supreme Court ruling last year that appeared to undercut the rationale for the change. The proposed legislation stems from a clause in National's coalition deal with NZ First, which promised to revisit the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act. That commitment was driven by fears that a 2023 Court of Appeal decision could have made it significantly easier for Māori groups to win recognition of customary rights over parts of the coastline. The government introduced a bill to Parliament last year to prevent that, but it hit pause in December after the Supreme Court effectively overturned the earlier ruling. At the time, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith welcomed the development and said ministers would take time to reassess their plans. Today Goldsmith confirmed to RNZ that Cabinet had agreed to press ahead with the law change regardless, and to pass it before October. "Everybody in New Zealand has an interest in what goes on in the coastline, and we're trying our best to get that balance right." Goldsmith said he was not convinced that the Supreme Court ruling had set a high enough test for judging whether customary rights should be granted. "We've had a couple of cases that have been decided since then - which have shown almost 100 percent of the coastline and those areas being granted customary marine title - which confirmed to us that the Supreme Court test still didn't achieve the balance that we think the legislation set out to achieve." Asked whether he expected an upswell of protest, Goldsmith said that had been an earlier concern but: "time will tell". "There's been a wide variety of views, some in favour, some against, but we think this is the right thing to do." The legislation was one of the key objections raised by Ngāpuhi leaders last year when they walked out on a meeting with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in protest. More than 200 applications for customary marine title are making their way through the courts. Under the amendment bill, any court decisions issued after 25 July 2024 will need to be reconsidered. That would appear to cover seven cases involving various iwi from around the country. "I understand their frustration over that," Goldsmith said. "But we believe it is very important to get this right, because it affects the whole of New Zealand." Goldsmith said the government had set aside about $15 million to cover the additional legal costs. The Marine and Coastal Area Act was originally passed by the National-led government in 2011, replacing the controversial Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004, which had extinguished Māori customary rights in favour of Crown ownership. The 2004 law - introduced by Helen Clark's Labour government - provoked widespread protest and led to the creation of the Māori Party, now known as Te Pāti Māori. National's 2011 replacement declared that no one owned the foreshore and seabed but allowed Māori groups to seek to recognition of their rights - or "Customary Marine Title" - through the courts or in direct negotiations with the Crown. Customary title recognises exclusive Māori rights to parts of the foreshore and seabed, provided certain legal tests are met, including proving continuous and "exclusive" use of the area since 1840 without substantial interruption. The 2023 Court of Appeal ruling, however, declared that groups only needed to show they had enough control over the area that they could keep others from using it, and that situations where the law itself had prevented them from doing so could be ignored. The Supreme Court subsequently overturned that, saying the Court of Appeal had taken an unduly narrow approach in its interpretation.
Otago Daily Times
2 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Govt going ahead with foreshore and seabed change
By Craig McCulloch of RNZ The government is forging ahead with plans to change the law governing New Zealand's foreshore and seabed, despite a Supreme Court ruling last year that appeared to undercut the rationale for the change. The proposed legislation stems from a clause in National's coalition deal with NZ First, which promised to revisit the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act. That commitment was driven by fears that a 2023 Court of Appeal decision could have made it significantly easier for Māori groups to win recognition of customary rights over parts of the coastline. The government introduced a bill to Parliament last year to prevent that, but it hit pause in December after the Supreme Court effectively overturned the earlier ruling. At the time, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith welcomed the development and said ministers would take time to reassess their plans. Today Goldsmith confirmed to RNZ that Cabinet had agreed to press ahead with the law change regardless, and to pass it before October. "Everybody in New Zealand has an interest in what goes on in the coastline, and we're trying our best to get that balance right." Goldsmith said he was not convinced that the Supreme Court ruling had set a high enough test for judging whether customary rights should be granted. "We've had a couple of cases that have been decided since then - which have shown almost 100 percent of the coastline and those areas being granted customary marine title - which confirmed to us that the Supreme Court test still didn't achieve the balance that we think the legislation set out to achieve." Asked whether he expected an upswell of protest, Goldsmith said that had been an earlier concern but: "time will tell". "There's been a wide variety of views, some in favour, some against, but we think this is the right thing to do." The legislation was one of the key objections raised by Ngāpuhi leaders last year when they walked out on a meeting with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in protest. More than 200 applications for customary marine title are making their way through the courts. Under the amendment bill, any court decisions issued after 25 July 2024 will need to be reconsidered. That would appear to cover seven cases involving various iwi from around the country. "I understand their frustration over that," Goldsmith said. "But we believe it is very important to get this right, because it affects the whole of New Zealand." Goldsmith said the government had set aside about $15 million to cover the additional legal costs. The Marine and Coastal Area Act was originally passed by the National-led government in 2011, replacing the controversial Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004, which had extinguished Māori customary rights in favour of Crown ownership. The 2004 law - introduced by Helen Clark's Labour government - provoked widespread protest and led to the creation of the Māori Party, now known as Te Pāti Māori. National's 2011 replacement declared that no one owned the foreshore and seabed but allowed Māori groups to seek to recognition of their rights - or "Customary Marine Title" - through the courts or in direct negotiations with the Crown. Customary title recognises exclusive Māori rights to parts of the foreshore and seabed, provided certain legal tests are met, including proving continuous and "exclusive" use of the area since 1840 without substantial interruption. The 2023 Court of Appeal ruling, however, declared that groups only needed to show they had enough control over the area that they could keep others from using it, and that situations where the law itself had prevented them from doing so could be ignored. The Supreme Court subsequently overturned that, saying the Court of Appeal had taken an unduly narrow approach in its interpretation.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Watch: AI will aid with NCEA replacement, Education Minister says
Education Minister Erica Stanford has fronted media from her old high school after the government proposed to replace all levels of NCEA . Under the proposal, NCEA level 1 would be replaced with foundation literacy and numeracy tests . Levels 2 and 3 would be replaced with a New Zealand Certificate of Education and an Advanced Certificate. Students would be required to take five subjects and pass at least four to get each certificate. Marking would be out of 100 and grades would and range from A to E. Teachers' unions are cautiously optimistic the changes will work, provided they are implemented and resourced well. Stanford fielded questions at Auckland's Rangitoto College, a school she attended, and her children now go to. Education Minister Erica Stanford visits Rangitoto College, Auckland, 5 August 2025. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel Stanford said the cost of the changes had mostly been budgeted already through previous Budget announcements. She said there is already a reform process in place, which the government is using and shifting across. "There will likely be future budgets when we're looking at the feed pathways, the vocational pathways, we know there will be a little bit there," she said. "But we're gearing up for that right now for next year's Budget." Education Minister Erica Stanford visits Rangitoto College, Auckland, 5 August 2025. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel Stanford said New Zealand will continue to use AI as a marking tool, as it already been used for literacy and numeracy corequisite exams. "We're extraordinarily advanced in terms of the rest of the world," she said. "Many other countries can't even dream of where we're at the moment - digital exams, AI marking." AI marking was as good, if not better than human marking, she said. Stanford said the tool would be crucial to moving away from NCEA Level 1. "You've got to remember we are dropping Level 1 so there is a whole year of internal and external assessments that will go all together," she said. "If we didn't have AI, this is something that probably wouldn't be possible without a massive injection for NZQA. "But we do have AI, it is coming, and it is getting better and better every year ... and I'm confident that will help (teachers) mark quicker." Education Minister Erica Stanford visits Rangitoto College, Auckland, 5 August 2025. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel Stanford hoped the changes would make it easier for students, but also parents to understand the grading of an assessment. "There's a couple ways we're using the word 'standard'. Essentially, the way we want to be using it now is the standard is the curriculum," she said. "Teachers will be very used to marking an assessment, or an essay for example as a mark out of 100 ... it does give a lot more clarity to students on how they can improve, and also to parents really importantly." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
