Manukau councillor and mayoral candidate Efeso Collins. Photo / File
ANALYSIS:
The Labour Party has a mess on its hands deciding who to endorse for the Auckland Mayoralty if, as expected, Phil Goff decides to step down after two terms.
"It's turning into a circus," says one political insider with close ties to the party.
He's referring to a behind-the-scenes contest between councillors Efeso Collins and Richard Hills to become the Labour-endorsed candidate for the mayoralty.
Hills is a Goff prodigy who has yet to show his hand. Collins has publicly declared he is standing for the mayoralty.
Some of the mess is down to Goff, who is dragging out his announcement until the end of the month. All the signs point to Goff signing off, possibly to an overseas posting or retirement at his hobby farm outside Clevedon and his bach at nearby Orere Point to spend time with wife Mary and their grandchildren.
In words of a close aide: "I haven't heard anyone say Phil wants to stay on. Besides, Mary is sick and tired of him working."
For the first time since the Super City was formed in 2010, Labour does not have a frontrunner like Goff or his predecessor Len Brown and October's local body elections are without a heavyweight candidate on the left or right.
At this stage, the centre-right is a crowded field of restaurateur Leo Molloy, Craig Lord who came third in 2019, and Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck, who is expected to throw her hat in the ring later this month.
"If it becomes the tallest dwarf contest, then somebody could win with 23 per cent of the vote," said one Labour source.
As things stand, Hills is waiting for Goff's announcement before deciding if he will stand for the mayoralty. Collins is still pushing for Labour to hold an "open and honest" process to select and endorse a candidate. In the meantime, he announced two weeks ago he is standing.
In a statement issued to the Herald, Labour Party president Claire Szabo said the party has endorsed Phil Goff who continues as the current sitting Mayor of Auckland.
If Goff does not run again, she said, Labour "will initiate an appropriate internal process to endorse a new candidate for 2022 which we will release at that time".
She made no mention of the party holding a selection process.
Labour's process of endorsing candidates for the Auckland Mayoralty is murky at best. In 2010, Manukau Mayor Len Brown declared himself as an independent candidate and got endorsed by the party. Goff did the same in 2016.
In an interview this week, Collins was hanging onto the hope of Labour holding a democratic selection process along the lines of selecting parliamentary candidates.
Collins said he had a "collegial and honest" conversation away from the noise of Twitter with Hills a couple of weeks ago.
"Both of us are considering what our options are and working out the best way forward", but added: "I have every intention of standing and I would love to do that with the endorsement of the Labour Party."
Therein lies the rub for Labour. How to broker a deal that doesn't result in the left vote being split and handing over the reins of the Super City to the right?
It's a contest between the charisma and oratory skills of a man with strong links to the Pasifika and church communities in South Auckland, but unpopular within the party; and a young and progressive party darling from the North Shore, whose big focus is climate change and reducing the city's transport emissions.
Hills is saying little about standing for mayor until after Goff makes his announcement.
"Over the past year I've had many approaches and discussions about standing for Mayor of Auckland, only in the event that Mayor Phil Goff doesn't stand at the next election," said Hills, who is believed to have assembled a campaign team.
Collins, on the other hand, is happy to talk about his vision and policies, and running with or without help from Labour.
His plan is to run as a centrist candidate who can work with "both aisles of central government' with a vision of becoming the first Pasifika Mayor of a vibrant, growing city where "dreams come true".
On the policy front, among Collins' priorities are housing affordability and free public transport. Of Samoan ethnicity, climate change is dear to his heart with what he is seeing happening in the Pacific.
He does not shy away from higher rates as one way to increase investment in the city, and likes the idea from National leader Chris Luxon of replacing the regional fuel tax with congestion charges. Collins has opposed the tax on the basis it falls heavily on poorer people.
He has also been critical of parts of the Government's Covid response and vaccination rollout in South Auckland.
Collins' Achilles heel is not his media or oratory skills. It is his behaviour that has put him offside with Labour and councillors.
"He offers a wonderful profile and is highly articulate, but he doesn't work that hard," says one councillor.
A further source was more generous, saying Collins would be much more of a public face mayor, closer to a high profile cheerleader and more closely tied to the south and west.
The Otara-born councillor has heard the criticism, including his poor attendance record at meetings, but says his energy has been focused on serving his community and increasing participation in council matters.
"I'd like to say I think I have great relationships around the council. People might not like what I have to say a lot of the time, but I think it is important we are robust and honest," he says.
Responding to criticism he is not a team player, Collins said it reminded him of an email he got calling him to the "Carlos Spencer of local government" - a reference to the former Blues and All Black rugby star known for his unconventional kicking and passing game.
"There are times when you have to play by particular structures and there are times when flawed talent, making a call on the spot, is necessary for the way in which games are played.
"I believe one of my strengths is to stretch the way we interpret the rules of the game…and I think that is what I offer," says Collins.
Hills has enjoyed a meteoric rise at council since being elected as a North Shore councillor in 2016 at age 30. Now 35, he's a member of Goff's inner circle and chairs the environment and climate change committee.
There are question marks about Hills, mostly around a lack of experience. He has nothing like the skillset of Goff, who has had to call on all his 40 years in politics to lead the Super City - a huge and complex beast with a $7 billion annual budget, diverse communities of interest, a powerful bureaucracy and an even more powerful Government in Wellington.
One senior councillor said the next term, with rising costs and falling revenue starting to bite, will be super hard for a new mayor, and doubted Hills would last 12 months in the job.
"He has had a pretty closeted existence, but there is nowhere to hide once you become mayor," another councillor said.
Another source questioned if Hills would want to stand and be seen to do over a high profile and much-loved Pasifika church leader in South Auckland, and believes there is a high chance he will not stand.
Someone who thinks Hills is up to the job said: "He will have to get tougher over the campaign but I think he can do it. Mayoral campaigns are bruising and that really toughens people up."
Labour sources also said Hills needs to quit his "nasty partisanship" on social media and grow up and learn that attacks on National are not the behaviour of someone who wants to be the Mayor of Auckland.
Another factor at play is Hills has recently become a father for the first time.
"It's not settled on the left. I don't have a winning horse yet," said one well-placed source.
"The mood of the Government has also shifted and a left wing candidate will have to deal with that. Being associated with Labour may not necessarily help given where the current sentiment is with things like inflation and rising petrol prices.
"In my view conditions are good for a right-wing mayoralty but as the right always do with the mayoralty, they will squander it."
The wealthy donor believes the capital is in 'serious decline'.