Mayor Brown frugal on the video and frugal with some facts

Newsroom

06-07-2025

'As a matter of principle I never go down to Wellington,' says Auckland mayor Wayne Brown. True or False?
The statement is a line in Brown's latest social media video, a slick, fast-moving production with special effects intended to demonstrate that the mayor is, in his words, 'completely against frivolous, wasteful spending.'
However, 'never go'? In the week before Christmas, the mayor, his chief of staff, and his Head of Governance booked a trip to the capital.
Mayoral office accounts provided to Newsroom, show airfares for the trio costing $1292. Three rooms were booked for one night at the Sofitel hotel, each room costing $271.
Sofitel Wellington, handy to the Beehive, describes itself on its website as 'the leading luxury hotel and boutique events venue in the city, combining French art de vivre with the spirit of New Zealand.'
That trip didn't happen though, due to what the mayoral office referred to as 'competing priorities.'
The trip to Wellington was still on the mayor's to-do list, and postponed to February, when the accounts show another trio of one-night hotel bookings at $253 apiece.
Again, this second attempt at a business trip to Wellington did not happen due to what the mayor's office called 'weather-related flight disruptions.'
There has been no third attempt, and Brown's office said he has made no other trips to the capital as mayor. True then, that the mayor has not made a business trip to Wellington, but clearly not for want of trying, or as a 'matter of principle'.
The 'don't go to Wellington' line plays into Brown's demand going as far back as his election campaign, that the government keep out of Auckland's affairs. This has not been the case.
The National-led co-alition has forced Auckland Transport to reverse at its own considerable cost, hundreds of speed reductions made on safety grounds following public consultation.
It has required planning rule changes boosting housing density, something welcomed by those calling for more, and more affordable, well-located homes.
Still in the pipeline is the legislation needed to formally split Auckland Transport and shift planning, strategy and other functions into the council, more directly controlled by politicians.
Brown led that change, but with the draft legislation not yet out for scrutiny, it is not clear whether the new structure will significantly increase the government's control of transport in the city.
Meanwhile, back to the video, which is the latest in a series on the mayor's Facebook page and X account.
This one is to show how frugal he is despite the impression that might be gained from seeing a flurry of slick promotional videos filmed at varying locations in the city.
'Some people think we've wasted a lot of money on expensive production company,' he explained.
In it Brown, sits at an Apple Mac laptop, sounding knowledgeable about the software and techniques used in-house. The mayor doesn't actually say he does it himself, but one could be left with that impression.
'I've been dabbling with some of this video clever stuff,' he tells viewers.'Bit of After Effects, bit of Photoshop – I've mostly been using DaVinci Resolve (software).
For the record, the mayor's office says Brown is not hands-on with the video production. 'The video was 'tongue in cheek' said a spokesman. Or at least on that question.
Everything is relative. Making videos in-house is unquestionably cheaper than using an external production company.
Brown would know. In the first months of his tenure – burned by public criticism of his performance during the weather disasters in January and February 2023 – he spent $58,000 in just five weeks with well-known international political marketers Topham Guerin.
The agency provided communications support and created two marketing brands in the wake of the Anniversary Weekend floods, one of which was scrapped after Cyclone Gabrielle struck a fortnight later.
Producing videos inside the mayor's office does have a cost. Brown has become the first Auckland mayor to hire a dedicated video producer as part of his office communications team.
The communications advisor's online CV shows a decade of experience with top media outlets.
The office has invested in its own video hardware and software. Once content is created, there is additional cost in getting it to an audience.
On March 26, Brown's office accounts show $15,796 for 'Social Media and Comms Services'.
His office told Newsroom this was for 'paid social media content via the Meta Ads platform to promote engagement in the council's annual plan public consultation.'
Brown had made two videos promoting his proposal for the council's annual plan or budget, and his office linked the impact of those videos with the subsequent 13,000 public budget submissions, 'the second highest for an annual plan.'
Wayne Brown is running for a second term as mayor, in local body elections in October.