Action Man Banks is already rolling

With the election campaign behind him, Auckland's new mayor discusses his plans for the City of Sails with BERNARD ORSMAN.

You want to be a cheerleader for Auckland. What will be your leadership style?

It will be inclusive but overlaid with a sense of purpose, direction and action. My first commitment is to clean up the streets of the CBD in terms of law and order.

What is your vision for Auckland over the next three years and beyond?

A place where people feel proud to live, happy to raise families and be safe within the community. And where everyone is a cheerleader for Auckland.

You spoke on the election trail about a 30-day action plan. Can you elaborate?

The 30-day action plan begins today (Sunday) with a chat to the chief executive (Bryan Taylor) and I'm already meeting some of the councillors.

I want to bring together the team of councillors this week and see what they want to achieve, how they can fit into the jigsaw, their role on the council. Bringing in the structures in the first 30 days is most critical.

Looking at the budget, looking at the finance, looking against the expenditure programmes and putting that against some of the things I want to achieve in the first three years, bringing together the committee structures, the right people for the right jobs at the right time.

Auckland is a multicultural city. You have been accused of being a racist and a bigot. How do you plan to get along with the different communities?

I find that churlish. They say I'm a racist but I was the man who was prepared to spend my family's money to fund a lot of the care for Rau Williams (the Northland Maori whose family went to court demanding he get treatment for kidney failure).

I spent 18 years in Parliament dealing with Maori families in Northland. You won't find anyone who said I treated them badly. You look at my business today, I employ all sorts of nationalities.

I have employed more gay and lesbian people than most other people in this town and not one will say I was a bad boss. I can get on with people but in the end, what you see is what you get.

I stand for things and I stand against things and I'm not going to compromise my philosophies, concepts and principles.

What is your stand on the Hero Parade and council funding of this gay extravaganza?

There is a council budget in place for $20,000 for the purposes of infrastructure around the Hero Parade, putting up barriers, street works, cleaning up.

Like any other parade I don't have a problem with that $20,000 and that can stay in place. But I need to be convinced that the organisers have their finances in place and there is accountability.

Other than that, it is a diverse city of people with different outlooks on life to me and social cohesion is what I am chasing. I don't want to alienate any section of the community.

Having said that, it doesn't change my views on what I stand for and what I stand against. Their lifestyle is not my lifestyle.

Do you support council funding of Auckland icons like the Santa Parade and Pasifika?

I want to order our priorities. I want to get council funding back to core business. The streets, the footpaths, the wastewater, the sewerage, the roads, the traffic, the transport. But if there is some discretionary funding that is available for some other things, do it.

We have got $7 billion worth of expenditure over the next 10 years on intergenerational infrastructure and I want to make sure we are not going to load all these additional costs on to the ratepayer.

But if the Santa Parade was going to need some funding, like the Hero Parade, to do the kind of work the funding is for, no problem. But there is not going to be money handed out left, right and centre for things that are not core business.

You have made a lot of noise about making Queen St safe at night. How does the Mayor of Auckland, who has no direct control over policing, do that?

I have direct control over Queen St. We can close Queen St off on Friday and Saturday night to all traffic except buses and taxis, which we don't want to do. I'm expecting good behaviour from all citizens.

(I want) good behaviour on Queen St late at night and making this place a fun place, a safe place. We are going to have a zero tolerance of bad behaviour, including graffiti, vandalism, shop lifting, racing and anything else that doesn't stack up to living in a nice place with nice people.

I'm going to work closely with the district police commander and the Auckland cops. I'm going to have a commitment to make the streets around CBD Auckland safe, including the Auckland Domain. We can close that off on a Friday and Saturday night.

Do you plan to sell the two mayoral Volvos and provide your own transport?

I have my own transport. I don't need two Volvos so I'm not sure what we are going to do with the Volvos.

One thing is for sure. I'm not going to be fronting around this city in any car with MAYOR written on the numberplate. That represents everything bad about the previous administration - big spending and big noting.

What is the future for Britomart given that the council has signed a contract to start work on the $211 million transport centre?

It was a constitutional outrage and the epitome of arrogance that this lame-duck outfit signed that huge burden on to the backs of the ratepayers and future generations one day before polling.

This council and the mayor deserved what they got in that respect. Now that it is signed, I need to have a look at the contract and see how well it is bolted down.

I'm sure that $200 million (the cost of Britomart) is far greater than that.

How will Britomart affect your desire to complete the Auckland motorway network by 2007?

My priority is to the roading - Highway 20 and the eastern bypass - and bus transport. We just have to look at where Britomart fits on a redesigned rail network.

It might mean Britomart is completed; not my idea of a perfect world. It may affect the funding but it doesn't affect the commitment that we need to finish Hillsborough Rd to Pt Chevalier (Highway 20) and the eastern corridor. And I believe I have the numbers on this council to do that.

Will a start be made on the eastern motorway in your first term?

I certainly hope so. I want to have made good progress by Christmas. We start tomorrow on that.

Will rates go up, go down or stay the same if you have your way?

The C&R people, who have big numbers on this council, have a policy of holding rates in the first three years. That's in the ideal world and I would like to buy into that, but let's see how we go.

Will John Banks get onside or offside with Wellington?

I'm going to get onside and offside with Wellington when and if necessary. I'm my own man. The Prime Minister is a friend of mine. I can work with her and this Government.

But Judith Tizard - we need to sit down and talk. I'm in charge of Auckland and she is responsible for Auckland and other things.

I'm interested in what Judith Tizard can do for Auckland.

Do you support a super city for Auckland?

Yes I do. There are some real difficulties around that in terms of rate structures and costs and how they fall, where they fall and who pays.

I would like to see a binding referendum through an act of Parliament in place for the next local body elections.

What do you make of the new council?

It looks pretty good. There are some excellent new faces. I would hope that some closely aligned to the previous administration might think about a change of vocation. Those that want to work with the new team and move Auckland forward - there is going to be a team and I am the leader - then let's talk.

Who would you like for your deputy?

It is not going to be for me to decide. I need to talk to everyone, but the deputy is going to have to do a lot of work.

Auckland City Council has 17 committees, 17 subcommittees and 14 working parties. What would you like this to be trimmed to?

It's a disgrace. Let's take the one out of the 17 and start from there.

I have a philosophy that meetings should last no more than an hour, and if it does it is probably not worth having. All memos will be no more than one page. If they are, they are not worth reading.

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