��һ�ǿ�����

I'm wondering if people in Auckland will, in a few years, look more kindly on their current Mayor.��

Fair to say that Wayne Brown didn't exactly get off to a flying start, especially with the media, and let's face it, no one's happy when the rates go up.��

On that score, you've seen nothing yet.��

I've been reading Mr Brown's proposals to build long-term financial and physical resilience.��

It's a dose of reality and long overdue, and, boiled down to a few simple bullets, here we go:��

Fix the infrastructure. ����

Stop wasting money. ����

Get Auckland moving. ����

Make the most of the harbours and environment. ����

Take back control of the CCOs.��

And running through the document, a recurring theme: the message being that Auckland can't continue living beyond its means.��

The chickens are coming home to roost to quote the Mayor, and he's flagged up that losing the Regional Fuel Tax and scrapping Three Waters will only make things worse.��

Brown talks about, and I'm quoting here, “significant financial restraint and efficiencies".��

"Auckland Council has to stop wasting money,” he says, “and start getting things done faster, better, and cheaper.”��

Even achieving all of that, the rates are going to have to go up.��

There isn't time to go through the whole document but it's online, and if you're invested in the region one way or another, it’s worth reading.��

Look, sometimes we feel we need to apologise on a national station for talking about Auckland, but the reality is it is our economic engine room.��

It's the first place most visitors see, and we all know how powerful first impressions are.��

And as the largest and arguably most complex, if Auckland can do things well, so too can every other local body across the country.��

But unless the Council can get to grips with this stuff the Mayor's talking about, Auckland is stuffed.��

New Zealand's Queen city, currently looking well... not so regal. And without some serious work, it's on its way to being a hobo town.��