I’ve tried very hard to understand the Government’s decision to essentially cancel SailGP in Auckland next year and I just can’t.

I cannot understand what has gone on here because, as I understand it, this has come down to a few hundred thousand dollars.

Let me run you through the timeline.

We’ve been fighting for SailGP to stay in New Zealand - particularly in Auckland - for the past few years. In October last year, the Government and Auckland Council agreed to pay a combined $5 million for SailGP to be held in Auckland. That agreement was made in October.

Then, in February, SailGP requested additional funding, which would have come out of the Major Events Fund. That request appears to be what prompted Louise Upston to say no.

Finding out how much that request was for was incredibly difficult. No one wanted to give me a number. Eventually, I was told it was less than a million dollars and may have been closer to $500,000.

If that’s true, then turning down SailGP over $500,000 is frankly nutty. That is peanuts for a Government - and money that would almost certainly have paid for itself. I would argue it was a wise investment.

SailGP is not just about what people spend in Auckland when they come here. Just like the America’s Cup, it’s about what people around the world see when they’re watching. They see Auckland’s beautiful harbour on a stunning day. They see crowds having fun. They see beautiful buildings and incredible maunga.

You cannot buy that kind of international exposure.

We have blown tens of millions of dollars on the America’s Cup over the years. We paid for Linkin Park, for God’s sake, to come to Auckland. We set aside $70 million for major events just like this - and yet we turned down one of the hottest sailing events in the world over $500,000.

Even on a purely political level, this makes no sense to me.

Auckland has been desperate - begging the Government - for help with events like this to revive the city. We’ve only just got that momentum underway and then this happens. It’s an election year, in a city you must win to win the election, and it’s a city already showing signs of leaning left.

I am open to arguments to the contrary - but to me, this just looks like a really bad decision.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.