Some 15,000 insurance claims have been lodged following what the Government said is the biggest weather disaster in New Zealand to date. So far, 174 of Auckland's flood-damaged homes have been red stickered (meaning uninhabitable) and 779 yellow stickered (restricted access).
Brown appeared on the AM show today and admitted he regretted the message was “made public”.
Speaking on the phone, rather than in studio or on camera, the 76-year-old described the slur as “inappropriate” but attempted to justify the reason he said it in the first place.
“I’m never going to be a smooth-talking politician and I do need to improve my communication.
“I probably shouldn’t have said the word drongo to a couple of friends of mine but I was just explaining why I couldn’t turn up to tennis that particular day.
“I regret it was made public, it was probably inappropriate but I do recognise the important role media play in an emergency.”
In messages leaked to The New Zealand Herald earlier this week, Brown complained about having to cancel his weekend’s tennis plans “to deal with media drongos over the flooding”.
Asked why he had agreed to do a media interview, Brown said: “it’s the first time there’s been a break in the weather”.
“I’ve been kind of buried and the need to improve the communications from not just ourselves, but from the Auckland Emergency Management group. I’ve been responding to helpful suggestions from the Government. We’ve instituted the Auckland Emergency twice-daily briefings to get things better. It’s been a huge improvement.”
Following Brown’s “drongo” gaffe, the Mayor rang the Herald on Monday night after a request for comment. In the 30-minute phone call, he defended his handling of the flood response as well as his position as mayor.
“Don’t f**k me over,” he said.
“I am the mayor for three years. You can’t do anything about that. No one else in New Zealand is going to get 180,000 votes. That was my mandate.
“Last month a guy in Hamilton got into Parliament with 6000 votes [referring to National’s Tama Potaka in the Hamilton West byelection]. I got 30 votes for every one of those.
Brown has been mayor since October last year. He refused 106 media requests in his first month, granting only two interviews. His press conferences are few and opportunities to grab him for interviews at events emerge only rarely.
It’s not Brown’s first controversial comments during the flood response.
Last week, when questioned by RNZ about Auckland’s inability to handle such a downpour, Brown swiped back saying: “It will be interesting to see just how well-prepared Wellington is when the earthquake strikes.”
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said she found Brown’s comments “distasteful and inappropriate at this time”.
Last weekend, Brown also defended the time it took to declare a state of emergency for Auckland, as well as his role in the response, saying “my role isn’t to rush out with buckets”.
“There has been some speculation I could have acted sooner, but I couldn’t have. This is a formal process, not to be taken lightly.
“I personally have been involved in one or two in the past, and careful assessment is important - careful steps, not rushed steps.
“And my role isn’t to rush out with buckets. It’s to be here ensuring that the centre is well organised and that we are taking the appropriate steps at the appropriate time, not rushing into them today in response to noise outside.
“This is a formal serious business, and the effects of it will go on for some time.”
Earlier this week, Brown admitted the communication during Friday’s floods had been “dreadful”, revealing even he had struggled to find out what was going on.
