According to official information posted on X by political commentator Suit and Tie, and released under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA), Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick has had just one formal meeting with Mayor Wayne Brown to discuss homelessness in the past 19 months.
Meanwhile, Auckland’s city centre is sliding deeper into social and economic decay. The latest Heart of the City survey paints a grim picture: 91% of 102 business owners say rough sleepers and begging are directly affecting their businesses. 81% believe the city is in no state to attract people or investment.
You would think that Auckland Central’s MP might see this as a priority. But instead of fighting for her constituents, Chlöe Swarbrick is busy fighting for Palestine.
While Queen Street turns into a gauntlet of boarded-up shops, beggars, and rising crime, Swarbrick has devoted her political energy to foreign affairs – issues happening 6,000 kilometres away. Her social media feed reads more like an activist’s diary than that of an elected representative charged with improving one of the country’s most troubled electorate.
MPs like Swarbrick latch onto global causes precisely because they don’t have to do anything about them. It’s much easier to chant slogans about “liberation” and “solidarity” than to get their hands dirty addressing real problems – the rough sleepers outside every second shop, the safety concerns that drive locals away from the CBD, the business owners struggling to keep the doors open.
The “Free Palestine” movement has become the perfect political smokescreen. When peace between Israel and Palestine was finally brokered, largely through diplomatic channels involving Donald Trump, many of these same activists didn’t celebrate. They were gutted. Because peace meant the protest party was over. Their cause was never really about peace, it was about attention.
Attention is exactly what MP’s like Chlöe Swarbrick thrives on.
A recent NZ Herald online poll asked readers: “Do you believe Auckland CBD has become an uninviting destination for the public, beset by anti-social behaviour and neglect?” Over 6,100 people responded. Ninety-seven percent said yes.
Aucklanders are bloody sick of political grandstanding while their city crumbles…