Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says a new poll proves ratepayers are behind his proposal to lease Ports of Auckland's commercial operations.
The plan would contribute to the establishment of a multi-billion-dollar future fund, which would help pay for repairs needed after natural disasters.
While the polling appears to back Mayor Brown's plans, a cluster of councillors are yet to be convinced.
Auckland's Port is once again a political football at the centre of the city's future.
Brown told Newshub he has Aucklanders' backing his plan to lease its commercial operations.
"Some of my councillors have had a long career of saying no to every possible thing, so you don't have to get everybody, and I think the public support will bring along the thoughtful ones," Brown said.
Newshub was provided with poll results that show 57 percent of Aucklanders support leasing the port and 23 percent don't.
"All I'm wanting to do at this stage here is get my mayoral proposal out for consultation, and I don't want the fixed views of some councillors to prevent the public from having an input into all the options which are available," he added.
The Curia research poll, commissioned by the mayor's office, goes even further and shows most Aucklanders agree shifting the port to Northland is a good idea.
Fifty-four percent support the shift while 30 percent don't.
"That wasn't the driver behind this," Brown told Newshub.
That's not on the mayor's agenda but getting GST on rates back in the pockets of Aucklanders is.
Sixty-one percent support it, including the majority of National, ACT and NZ First voters surveyed.
Then there's Auckland's airport, where 61 percent back a sale of council's shares and 29 percent don't.
Brown's proposal is slightly different this time around, proposing transferring the shares to the planned future fund.
But the battle will be building support around the council table, and some will take a lot of convincing.
"Is there another option, instead of going to leasing the port operations? If there is, we need information on that," Manukau Ward councillor Alf Filipaina said.
Some have said the poll's a tactical play from the mayor's office and one they don't buy.
"It's a tactic that people use all the time. 'I have this poll and guess what? This community is saying you've got to do this'. Like I say, if I had the time I could get me a poll," Filipaina added.
Aucklanders have spoken, according to the mayor, even if some aren't buying it.
