Today's New Zealand Herald Photo: RNZ
In a bold move, the New Zealand Herald has devoted its entire front page to an editorial calling for the Auckland mayor, Len Brown, to resign.
The newspaper says councillors have started an assault on the mayor's office, which could leave the city without a leader who has independent authority.
Brown is expected to be censured by Councillors who disapprove of his failure to declare nearly $40,000 of free and upgraded hotel rooms.
The editorial says that if the council were to set up some kind of oversight committee to control the mayor, it would drag Auckland back into partisan and parochial standoffs.
It says the only way that can be avoided is for Brown to step down.
The hotel use came to light after an investigation into whether he used council resources during an extramarital affair.
The Herald editorial says the latest report did nothing to lessen the certainty that Brown will remain a running gag, and that the joke will be on Aucklanders if the city's governance is compromised.