John Banks lashed out at current Auckland Mayor Phil Goff again, accusing him of being retired while wearing the chains.
Banks is considering a second tilt at becoming Mayor of the Super City. He was Mayor of Auckland City before amalgamation and lost heavily to Len Brown in the Super City's the first election.
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A team of advisors including Topham Guerin, digital advisors credited with helping Scott Morrison win the recent Australian federal election, are currently looking into his chances.
Banks told The AM Show on Tuesday his polling is "excellent" and he'll announce whether he will officially run within the next ten days.
He said he had been spurred into action by Goff's record as Mayor. Goff took over from Brown in 2016 and is running for a second term against John Tamihere.
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"I'd much prefer John Tamihere to Phil Goff every day, I'm here this morning because Phil Goff retired three years ago, hasn't done much and needs to go."
Goff has already shared his feelings about Banks, telling Radio Tarana on Monday Aucklanders have already made up their mind about his possible opponent.
He also hit back at Banks' previous insult Goff's reign was like "grandma's boiled cabbage".
"I used to like my grandmother's boiled cabbage actually," Goff quipped.
Banks said his campaign, if he were to have one, would focus on waste from council and cutting wasteful spending.
He derided projects like light rail from the city centre to Auckland Airport and the cost blow out on the City Rail Link, which has seen costs rise from $3.5 billion to $4.4 billion.
Rapid fire results
Host Ryan Bridge asked Banks a series of questions to try and get a rapid idea of Banks' position in a number of areas.
He told Bridge he loves Santa, but he wouldn't want to see the council funding the Santa parade, and he's in favour of building cycleways, but they need to be cheaper.
He also thinks climate change wouldn't be a priority for his council and he isn't convinced it's man-made.
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"I think there is climate change, but I don't believe in rain dancing," he said.
"I'm not at all sure [about it being man-made] but I don't believe in rain dancing and I don't believe in doing silly things that cost the country a lot of money which are tokenism at the very best."
The most recent UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report found overwhelming evidence human activity is the cause of climate change.
"Combined evidence increases the level of confidence in the attribution of observed climate change and reduces the uncertainties associated with assessment based on a single climate variable," it says.
"From this combined evidence it is virtually certain that human influence has warmed the global climate system."
Newshub.
