While leading rivals Viv Beck and Wayne Brown have more business experience, Collins insists companies can still count on him
Plans for a business leaders forum and dedicated business unit in council are reasons why mayoral candidate Efeso Collins insists the business community can trust him.
With just over a month to go before local body elections, Auckland voters are just getting their heads around who they think is best posed to represent them in the upcoming council term.
The latest Curia-Ratepayers’ Alliance poll for the mayoral race shows left-leaning Collins in first place with the support of 28 percent of decided voters.
However, the 15 percent of voters who were planning to go for controversial Leo Molloy will have to go elsewhere now that he has dropped out.
It means it’s been a month of some uncertainty for the candidates, with Viv Beck and Wayne Brown surely banking on having picked up some of the Molloy votes - especially from a business sector still licking their wounds from the difficulties of the pandemic years and easily swayed by promises of cuts to red tape or rates.
There have been no right-leaning mayors since the super city’s first mayoral election back in 2010, which means those in the business sector looking for a change are likely to be turning their eyes towards candidates like Beck, Brown, or next-ups Craig Lord and Ted Johnston.
How much of the lead Collins has managed to retain come next poll result could well be determined by Aucklanders’ yen for his campaign cornerstones - fare-frees public transport and commitments to carbon emissions reductions.
Whether these promises will lure members of the business sector remains to be seen, and if previous patterns of voter turn-out remain true, those votes are where the election may well be won.
Voter turnout is inversely related to the level of neighbourhood deprivation, meaning policies and appearances that pander to the people of Devonport or St Heliers will deliver the best political mileage.
Collins said it’s been a balancing act reaching out to those kinds of neighbourhoods while still keeping his ties to south and west and convincing those communities to get engaged in local democracy.
“There's always going to be cause to a strategic approach, but there's always going to be part of me that wants to lift participation among minority groups, ethnic and young people,” he said. “That's the big challenge.”
He said his campaign has been data-driven, analysing where his time is best spent without turning his back on his own community. Of course there’s an opportunity cost with every decision, and with multiple events happening on some evenings calling out for candidate attention, every candidate is being forced to make some cuts.
“I wish I was three people, then we could all share where I need to be,” Collins said, referring to what has been a busy campaign, especially for candidates like himself, Beck and Brown - all of whom have been appearing at multiple events a week.
But aside from just showing up, Collins has to gain the trust of the business community before he can count on those votes.
Out of the three front-runners, he’s the one with the least direct business experience. Aside from his two terms as Far North mayor, Brown has a history of property development and leadership with companies like Transpower and Vector Ltd.
Meanwhile, Beck is fresh from her role heading up inner city business association Heart of the City for the past seven years, and has a history of roles doing communications in the business world.
Collins bonafides come more from the education and government sector, having been a lecturer at Laidlaw College, a community liaison advisor at the University of Auckland and a youth development manager at the Ministry of Social Development before being elected to Auckland Council in 2013.
But despite the difference in experiences, Collins said the business sector can count on him.
“We know that Auckland represents 38 percent of the GDP,” he said. “We’ve got to be working hard as a council to support and facilitate the conditions so that businesses can prosper.”
He said council needs a dedicated business unit to look at things like speeding up consenting processes and cutting red tape, and wants to improve communication between council and the business community by establishing a business leaders panel, which will directly advise the Mayor's office on enabling start-up enterprises.
“I think what we haven't done well in this term of council is actually get business leaders to talk to us to give us direct feedback as to what's going to assist them to be able to flourish,” he said. “If small business is flourishing, Auckland will flourish along with that.”
But how will he ensure small business is flourishing? Mayoral contenders like Wayne Brown have talked about financial coups de grace they’ve made in the past like turning around a deficit at the Auckland District Health Board without cutting a single service. It’s the kind of talking point that may be more likely to attract the air of the business sector than free bus rides.
But Collins says his fares-free public transport policy will have a big impact on business, and could help to turn around issues of absenteeism that have plagued workplaces this winter.
“That has a positive impact on business because then you'll know as an employer if you've got an employee that's challenged financially, they're not having to fill up the car, they just get on the bus and they'll be able to make it to work,” he said, adding that employers could relax more with a “reliable system” in place.
He contended being able to easily get around with public transport would have positive flow-on effects to Auckland's town centres, as people stop in to retail or hospitality out in their local suburb on the way to a bus stop or train station.
When it comes to comparing CVs, Collins said his experience should make him more attractive to the business sector, rather than less.
“I think it's important the mayor understands the figures,” he said. “I’ve been part of six annual plans, two long-term plans. I understand how the processes work.”
This year’s election follows in the footsteps of two left-leaning career politicians in the form of Len Brown and Phil Goff. Just how loud the calls are for a change to the recipe may win or lose this one for Collins.
But at the same time, he can argue that he’s not a Brown or Goff 2.0 at all. He would be Auckland’s first Samoan mayor, and represents huge swathes of the city to the south and west that often feel under-represented in council chambers.
He said his connection to the community is another reason the business community should trust him.
“We want somebody who's leading the community, and when we connect communities and business together we actually become the whole picture of Auckland and not just one section,” he said. “Businesses can count on me to be representing their interests to the degree that we want them to flourish in Auckland, because that's the backbone of our economy here in Auckland.”
