A string of outlandish announcements already by the leading Auckland Mayoral candidates has set the stage for engrossing or entertaining prospective voters, depending upon how you feel about them, as the election season return to New Zealand's biggest city.

While some announcements might engross prospective voters for the promise it offers in bettering their lives, the others might be at best have entertainment value in this election season.

The local elections for the regional councils, city and district councils, community boards and local boards return back in every three years, thus bringing back the season of hyperbole announcements, especially in Auckland Mayoralty election.

This year, so far the laurels has been with Mayoral challenger John Tamihere, who has been leading the charge with seemingly over-the-top announcements, such as of building an eighteen lane Harbour bridge or part-privatisation of Auckland's watercare, thereby leaving the current Mayor Phil Goff largely dumbfounded and struggling to get off his electoral campaign in style.

Such has been John Tamihere's success in creating media headlines with announcements that even Mayor Phil Goff has to come-up with some major attention-grabbing headlines such as "tackling climate change would be the key priorities for his second term."

Otherwise what else will explain Mr Goff's leapfrogging to tackling climate change as his main priority in 2019 only three years after he first campaigned in 2016 for the issues of transport, housing and improving democracy     (in Auckland Council) as his main priorities.

Has he been able to make comprehensive progress in the last three years in tackling successfully the issues that were a priority to him in 2016, that he is feeling motivated to bring new priorities for 2019 re-election altogether is the question to be asked?

Or incremental progress is a less-valued commodity, in comparison to, more outlandish announcements during election seasons, especially in local elections, where voter attention is already substantially low as in comparison to parliamentary elections.

Mr Goff was speaking at the official launch of his electoral campaign on Sunday, August 18, at South Auckland based diversity centre, when he asserted "Under my mayoralty, the days of dirty diesel buses on Auckland's streets will be numbered."

"Protecting Auckland's environment and tackling climate change would be the key priorities for my second term," Mr Goff said.

However, not much was cleared if Mr Goff expected Auckland ratepayers to foot the bill for this seemingly progressive proposition of buying a fleet of electric buses or would expect the government to extend a generous gift in support of his mayoralty.  

Undoubtedly, Mr Goff's remaining speech and the direction of the campaign - so far in its early days - has remained fully ingrained in reality, and at best encapsulated in the form of an achievable reality, even if with some gigantic efforts.

However, and expectedly though, that has not attracted significant media-attention for Mr Goff.

In fact, the early trends so far have shown that Mr Goff's electoral campaign has been more occupied with responding to some of the outlandish announcements made by challenger John Tamihere than coming up with their plans for Auckland's future.

Given John Taimhere's audacious announcements for Auckland voters, it will not be surprising if Mr Goff gets compelled to deviate further and come up with more hyperbole announcements than his already ambitious goal of "tackling climate change" as the main priority for the next term.

Some of the over the top attributions that the super city of Auckland get during the election season, regardless of local or national elections, paints a very contradictory picture of this largest city of the South Pacific region.

In 2016-17 the Auckland city was facing an existential crisis primarily on the basis of high net immigration rates, crumbling infrastructure with transportation gridlocks and housing crisis, and in roughly three years time, the narrative is being created to prepare Auckland for the challenges of future.

Have we solved any of those existential crises that the voters were consistently made to believe that the city of Auckland faced three years ago?

Our political leaders, across both sides of the spectrum, needs to answer that question first before they continue to thrust upon new narratives, and visions for the city of Auckland on the hapless voters during this election season.

However, regardless, it seems that the Aucklanders will continue to be served with hyperbole announcements in this election season.