Contender Wayne Brown Fights Back

I don’t often burst out laughing during the rather dry current affairs show The Nation, but today I did. A rather naive Wayne Brown during recent media time with Newshub made a highly inappropriate, but hilarious, comment while he was ‘miked up’.

He called Simon Wilson, who has been on his case for the past year petrifed that Brown will win the mayoralty, a ‘prick’ and suggested when he became mayor he would stick pictures of Wilson to urinals so they could pee on him… Oops.

Of course this was gold to the largely liberal journalists at Newshub keen to make a hit on Brown, and the piece de resistance of the debate today when they presented the clip, which a rather naive Brown did not think had been recorded.

Brown’s inscrutable face gave nothing away, but he was no doubt embarrassed. Panelist Simon Bridges (now CEO of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce) referred to him as a ‘rough diamond’ as a way to explain his ill-advised comment. Also, this was said before the Herald debate where peace seemed to have broken out between the two protagonists.

My first thought was: this won’t dent his chances as people are fed up with our pious, woke media, like senior NZ Herald journalist Simon Wilson getting away with lack of balance in his reporting, using personal attack and going unchallenged; along with Wilson’s cartoonist mates getting away with vicious depictions of Luxon, whilst giving Ardern’s full flight on the ‘dangers’ of free speech on the global stage a free ride, but capturing her WOW catwalk moment to best front page effect. And largely failing to report the corruption and bullying rife in her government.

Wilson calling Brown an ‘angry old white man’ during his campaign is not the clever rhetoric of a ‘highly skilled, experienced journalist’, as NZME’s Shayne Currie describes him, but a personal attack by an ‘angry old white hack’ frustrated at the traction of an older successful businessman with the courage of his convictions, who will not be cowed by the likes of Wilson and who generally does not get his opinions challenged.

Wilson would have been furious when Brown refused to participate in an earlier debate moderated by Wilson, as he is too biased.

However it seems from polling, Aucklanders want an authentic mayor like Brown, with some practical ideas to fix the city with a focus on ratepayers, not ideology like Goff and and his predecessor, beleagured Len Brown.

Rebecca Wright also got put in her place by Brown, during what was a well-run and convivial debate between Efeso Collins and Wayne Brown, when she suggested Brown’s age could be a problem. Brown, quick as lightning shot back, ‘Isn’t that an ageist comment?’ And then suggested some of them might like to join him surfing at Piha the next day.

Also the elephant in the room ‘diversity’ got well and truly acknowledged, with Brown’s insistence that although diversity was always important, competence came first, which Collins seemed to agree with. His argument for change is based on the fact that almost all board members of Auckland City’s CCOs were chosen purely on ethnic and gender diversity.

This will not be music to Wilson’s woke ears.

Brown has all along stuck to his principles, telling Wright he is running for office to make ratepayers happy, not media. ‘If I’ve upset a few media people that’s just the way it is… but the ratepayers will be happy with what I want.’

Proof you can correct the media, assert your point of view and even fall out with the media and still be ahead in the polls. The public like a candidate with the courage of his or her convictions and on 8 October Auckland may be moving to the right for the first time in 12 years.