The gloves came off at last night’s mayoral debate, The Battle for Auckland, and a chance for leading mayoral candidates to impress the business community with a vision for rebuilding Auckland.

The debate was held at Jubilee Hall on Parnell Road and was hosted and facilitated by Newmarket Business Association (NBA) CEO Mark Knoff-Thomas and Parnell Business Association (PBA) General Manager Cheryl Adamson.

Leading mayoral candidates Efeso Collins, Viv Beck, Craig Lord and Wayne Brown each had five minutes to put forth their ideas, followed by questions from the business community and the media.

The event was a lively affair, with mayoral candidates locking horns on more than one occasion. It was attended by 120 people from the business community and a media panel was also present.

“Auckland suffered more than any other part of the country during covid, on behalf of all of New Zealand, and that financial investment needed to be acknowledged”, NBA CEO Knoff-Thomas said.

“Last night we got a glimpse into how different candidates would go about doing that.”

The candidates previously took part in a “Battle for Auckland webinar series” with the same theme, and last night’s debate continued the theme, as candidates had an opportunity to drill down into policy.

Topics of debate included the reinvigoration of business life, redeveloping Queen Street to accommodate tourists, dealing with anti-social behaviour and crime including ram-raids, financial planning, empowering changemakers and tackling major transport infrastructure shortfalls.

PBA MD Adamson said the event had been a valuable exercise for all involved.

“We need a pragmatic Mayor who actually listens to Aucklanders and responds accordingly, and is not driven by deep seated ideological beliefs. They need to be capable of putting Auckland back on the map and be a cheerleader for the city.

“We have dwelled a lot on the bad issues after a couple of very challenging years. We need to break free from a negative mindset. Last night everyone was given the opportunity to see the possible paths forward, and troubleshoot, so it was really positive.”

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