One councillor said tall buildings contribute to global warming. Another said Auckland doesn’t have a housing crisis. Wayne Brown was already grumpy by the time the council’s latest housing debate rolled around.

After the interrogation was over, one councillor was compelled to give his beleaguered North Shore counterpart a pick-me-up. Desley Simpson looked a bit queasy. Auckland’s deputy mayor had just been asked to second mayor Wayne Brown’s plan to raise the city’s rates by 7.9% and she wasn’t keen to look in love with the idea.