Auckland Mayor Len Brown says there is much to learn for Auckland from his attendance at a global climate change conference in Paris this month.
Mr Brown is leading a five-member council delegation to the conference. He is part of the official New Zealand Government delegation.
He said he would be standing shoulder to shoulder with city leaders from around the world in Paris to collectively make it clear they would not tolerate the barbaric killing of innocents.
Councillors George Wood and Dick Quax said Mr Brown should not travel to Paris, but stay in Auckland to attend to local matters.
Said Mr Wood: "This is an important time of year for council. Over the past months we have been working on the annual plan to give some political feedback to the mayor for his consideration prior to him presenting the mayoral budget. It's totally inappropriate that at this time he has decided to head off to Paris for a climate change forum".
Mr Quax said setting the budget should take priority over international junkets.
"The mayor has just one year left in his mayoralty and to me and some of my colleagues it appears that he has completely abandoned Auckland to attend a climate change meeting of dubious merit especially when one considers that the government is sending a delegation because it sets the policy framework for climate change not a local mayor," Mr Quax said.
