3PM: Gay-friendly Auckland mayor Dick Hubbard has this afternoon been ousted from the city's top job by relentlessly homophobic politician and broadcaster John Banks. Banks was previously defeated by Hubbard in 2004 but has recently campaigned strongly to regain the Mayoralty. Though Banks attempted to rebrand himself in recent months as a re-born gentler, more inclusive person, his anti-gay rhetoric on his radio talkback show has continued unabated. At the September 5 Gay Auckland Business Association Mayoral Forum, when asked about his anti-gay slurs since his previous attempt to court glbt votes in the '04 election, Banks curtly snapped that there was no evidence of such comments. The evidence was that night posted in a GayNZ.com news story (see link below). Banks has won with 44,085 votes, Hubbard received 33,786 and Alex Swney attracted just over 10,000 votes. Lesbian candidate and local body political activist Lisa Prager has polled in sixth place with 2106 votes. Meanwhile, in west Auckland, incumbent gay-friendly Waitakere City mayor Bob Harvey has convincingly beaten arch-homophobe John Tamihere by a margin of 4,500 votes. Ref: GayNZ.com (j)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Saturday, 13th October 2007 - 3:25pm