Banks South Auckland slur against Brown

Brown not fit for top role, says Banks
If John Banks wins the Super City mayoralty, he won't give opponent Len Brown a leadership role because "he's not up to the job". The Auckland City Mayor was asked on TVNZ's Close Up last night what position, if any, he would offer the Mayor of Manukau, his main rival, if he won the October 9 election. "He's a good bloke and got a lot of talent but he's not up to the job," Mr Banks said during an at-times heated debate. "He can't deliver consistent, decisive, stable leadership on tough decisions from day one."

Banks came across as an arrogant arsehole, so no surprises there, but his slur against South Auckland was priceless..

"don't want South Auckland replicated across the rest of Auckland. His city is a social disaster."

...no one does dirty red neck talkback dog whistle slurs like Banksy, and last nights slur against South Auckland on Close Up was as nasty as it gets. The fine balancing act is not to anger South Aucklanders so much that they come out in force against Banks, but just terrify the white voters of the North Shore enough to motivate them. Browns counterpunch however was brilliant, by pointing out the divisive nature of Banks, Brown reiterated the inclusive nature of his style in the face of a Supercity structure that has been forced upon the people of Auckland by Rodney Hide and the National Party.

With exit Polls favouring Brown, but with only 20% voter turn out so far the game is certainly afoot, but what was interesting was that despite the 75cent a text message Close Up revenue gathering scam masquerading as public opinion, Brown won.

I'd love to know what Michelle Boag's and Bill Ralston's cell phone bill looked like this morning.