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Download AudioWaipareira head John Tamihere says Auckland’s new mayor will be a breath of fresh air after a grey six years of Phil Goff – but he’s got a battle with the bureaucrats on his hands.
Mr Tamihere, who stood against Mr Goff last election, says while Wayne Brown pledged to bring the council controlled organisations like Auckland Transport and Eke Panuku under council control, the people running the CCOs will already be applying the handbrake.
“Not only the handbrakes, they’ll put the judder bars up, wherever Mr Brown wants to go really quick they’ll be slowing him right down hoping that in three years another contest will come along and he will be swept away. The very bureaucracy that has to serve politicians can turn and does turn on them. If Brown does play up they will take the stick out on him,” he says.
Mr Tamihere says a priority for Maori this council term is getting changes to the super city legislation so they can elect their own representatives in Maori wards in 2025.
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