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# Face of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/face-of-the-day-1580/
- Published: 2026-09-15T18:30:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T18:30:07.000Z
- Description: Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown responded swiftly, firing out a press release accusing Minister Watts of “picking a fight” with the council and breaching promises made to elected members earlier this year.
- Author: Good Oil Staff
- Tags: Face of the Day

> “Butt out of our business.”  
>  
> An angry Auckland Mayor has sent a terse message to Local Government Minister Simon Watts today over claims the government is meddling in the council’s democratic processes.  
>  
> The government today announced it is moving to ban voting rights for non-elected members of council committees.  
>  
> Watts said the changes would “strengthen local democracy and accountability”. They would apply to members of Houkura, the Auckland Council’s Independent Māori Statutory Board, he confirmed.  
>  
> Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown responded swiftly this morning, firing out a press release accusing Watts of “picking a fight” with the council and breaching promises made to elected members earlier this year.  
>  
> He also released a letter he sent to Watts in July, in which Brown warned any such move would be completely unnecessary and “counter to the principles” of the Auckland Deal agreement.  
>  
> Any move to ban voting rights for Houkura members could result in Auckland Council walking away from the Auckland Deal arrangement, Brown warned in the letter.  
>  
> “This is another ill-thought-through policy that will wind up costing the ratepayers with no real benefit to Auckland,” Brown said today.  
>  
> NZ Herald

[Read More](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland/auckland-council-could-quit-auckland-deal-over-houkura-voting-rights-ban-mayor-wayne-brown-warns/RP7DYL45EVBSXGBGD3ZKKR5QXI/?ref=goodoil.news)