commitments of the Auckland Deal<\/a>. <\/p>\n\u201cThat is not a sustainable way to operate if central and local government are expected to jointly fund and deliver outcomes,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are responsible for the culture change required to deliver on the Auckland Deal and I suggest you start with reminding those who were responsible for this mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
The consequences of the decision would extend beyond a single event cycle, with the loss risking New Zealand\u2019s exclusion from the SailGP circuit for the foreseeable future at a cost to the country\u2019s international destination profile, tourism appeal and marine sector investment, he said.<\/p>\n
The decision also weakened Moana Auckland, the council\u2019s annual ocean festival built around SailGP as a cornerstone.<\/p>\n
Brown criticised Government officials for failing to see the event\u2019s value to the tech and innovation sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut simply, a decision like this has potentially cost New Zealand a place in SailGP for good. That is a significant loss off the back of what can only be described as poor judgment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to avoid a repeat of this. That requires clearer strategy, and a more disciplined approach to investment decisions where Auckland is a key delivery partner.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ministers\u2019 response<\/p>\n
Upston, Mitchell and Watts said in their joint reply, dated April 23, the Government remained committed to supporting major events that generated national benefits and showcased New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cAuckland continues to be well supported with Government funding in this regard, with investment in events such as the Fifa World Series, Linkin Park, and recently announced events including State of Origin and the International Football Festival.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ministers\u2019 letter went on to explain SailGP received $6.39 million from 2023 to 2026 through the Major Events Fund (MEF).<\/p>\n
![\"Tourism]()
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston. Photo \/ Mike Scott<\/p>\n
In October 2025, a $5m-a-year joint offer from MBIE and T\u0101taki Auckland Unlimited (TAU) for the 2027 and 2028 events was accepted in principle, conditional on avoiding a clash with a longstanding round-the-world event, The Ocean Race, in March 2027.<\/p>\n
The ministers\u2019 letter said TAU and SailGP could not agree on delivery dates.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing forward, I would note that the Government remains open to considering investment in the 2028 and 2029 SailGP events, and remains open to discussing the 2027 event if timing allows. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe also note your view regarding consultation in the lead-up to this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown\u2019s rebuke<\/p>\n
Brown responded in writing the same day, saying the ministers had missed the point of his initial letter and disputing their claim dates for the event could not be agreed. <\/p>\n
TAU had agreed dates of February 13-14, 2027, with SailGP and was actively working with SailGP and The Ocean Race to manage scheduling, Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour statement that dates could not be agreed is simply wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cAuckland has now lost SailGP for 2027, along with a significant amount of goodwill built up over the last four years of New Zealand hosting the event. <\/p>\n
![\"SailGP]()
SailGP will not race in Auckland in 2027, but remains open to negotiations for a return in 2028 and beyond. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother city has recognised the value of the event and secured a longer-term arrangement. That is the nature of these global circuits \u2013 once you are out, you are out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown finished the letter by saying the issue would be the first discussion point at the inaugural Auckland Deal meeting being arranged between the council and Government.<\/p>\n
Luxon told reporters on Friday morning that the proposal for funding SailGP in Auckland did not stack up, but distanced himself from it and acknowledged he was not across the details.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll continue our conversations with Auckland Council and SailGP but the proposal we received just frankly didn\u2019t stack up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
RNZ reported that Luxon was unsure how much money the Government was being asked to provide.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t remember what the proposal specifics were, but when we ran it through our evaluation criteria it just didn\u2019t stack up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Scott has covered stories across New Zealand and internationally for more than 20 years. His work spans writing, photography and video and has won numerous journalism awards.<\/p>\n
Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chief executive Sir Russell Coutts said the league remained in dialogue with the Government and council about a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[123609,74,696,51,6120,6256,2199,4731,3468,62240,8231,738,266,204068,10934,42677,111,43,139,1536,69,1118,2847,29689,32850,3542,1530],"class_list":["post-394875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-accuses","tag-after","tag-announced","tag-auckland","tag-breaching","tag-brown","tag-city","tag-days","tag-deal","tag-declined","tag-event","tag-funding","tag-government","tag-lambasted","tag-mayor","tag-ministers","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-next","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-only","tag-row","tag-sailgp","tag-wayne","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}