RICHARD CLARKE

Leading the rebound

You could say Richard Clarke is used to building significant outcomes from unpromising situations. He presided over the emergence of the New Zealand Breakers from Australian National Basketball League cellar-dwellers to champions for three years in a row, and most recently kick-started the successful return of the Brisbane Bullets to the same league.

Now Clarke is back in New Zealand and facing another challenge that is sure to test his organisational and leadership abilities. The proven basketball boss is now playing a wider game, as head of major events for Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (Ateed). It is his job to help get New Zealand’s largest urban area up and running postCovid via the important avenues of sport, culture and the arts – and the impact they can have on the economy of his city.

It’s a change of pace for an executive who has spent the best part of the last 17 years immersed in basketball – 13 with the Breakers (11 as general manager) and the last three and a half with the Bullets, re-establishing them in the NBL after a significant hiatus. But it fits perfectly with his desire to expand his career horizons.

‘‘My purpose has always been to have a positive impact on as many people as possible, and this offers a very broad lens to do that. There is a lot of opportunity and it’s a pretty exciting way to come back to Auckland, and use my connections to hopefully make a difference,’’ says Clarke during a chat at Ateed’s city centre HQ.

He admits he’s having to extend his comfort zone, with his work encompassing a multitude of major events that have an impact across a wide spectrum of society. From the America’s Cup to Pasifika, from the World Surf League to the Comedy Festival, from V8s to Te Matatini, his job is to support events that are in many ways the lifeblood of his city.

‘‘This is me well beyond the basketball bubble,’’ he shrugs. ‘‘At the Breakers we just happened to be a basketball club, but were to all intents and purposes a social development organisation and basketball was how we effected change. That’s what attracts me to this too. It’s an opportunity to use events, sport, culture and arts to have a real impact on the city.’’

Of course Clarke’s role has been exponentially challenged by the arrival of the Covid-19 virus and the major shutdown caused by the global pandemic. No sooner had he got his feet under his desk in his new role than he was cancelling events in rapid succession and contemplating tourism and hospitality sectors, among others, in freefall.

When Covid struck the Ateed-owned Pasifika Festival and World Surf League round at Piha, both had to be shut down at the last minute. It’s only now, thanks to New Zealand’s world-leading fight against the virus and the move to alert level 1, that planning can begin again for major events of this scale, with fingers crossed that the two new cases this week don’t escalate.

‘‘Events are a catalyst for city outcomes, and I think those outcomes are going to become broader postCovid,’’ says Clarke. ‘‘At the moment we look at things like GDP, visitor nights, sociability, promoting Auckland as an international brand. You see with the America’s Cup one of the key outcomes is infrastructure legacy. Events can do a lot things that have a lasting impact on a city and the exciting part is looking at where our investment can have the biggest impact.’’

But Covid also serves up a chance to change thinking and reset guidelines. ‘‘It’s given us a mandate to think differently about how we do things. Events are going to play a significant role in the recovery of the economy because they can stimulate activity. Coming through the alert levels, one of our challenges was to look at scalability for events. Level 1 is really exciting but it also means our planning is valid because we can scale up.

’’It’s been an interesting time to arrive but also a time when you can make even more impact by leading that thinking. Coming in from a commercial background with a different way of thinking, it’s been useful to test the status quo.’’

Ateed dishes out about $8 million a year supporting sporting and cultural events in the city, though its America’s Cup backing sits in a separate budget. They are not all landmark international events either, such as the women’s cricket and rugby world cups next year, or the V8s, annual tennis tournaments and motor rally.

It is also helping out the National Basketball League, which is running a hybrid competition in Auckland from June 23 to August 1 that sprang up out of the ruins of Covid-19. Clarke says it’s backing the sport deserves for its ability to think on its feet and leap so quickly back into action.

Plus there are benefits to Auckland through accommodation bookings, economic impact and an international broadcast. ‘‘All that stacked up, and the ability to support a Kiwi league being innovative appealed,’’ says Clarke. ‘‘It’s a chance to show some different thinking but if you look at outcomes for the city, they’re consistent with a lot of other events we’re backing.’’

Next year is shaping as a big one for Auckland with those twin world cups, the America’s Cup, Te Matatini (the national Ma¯ ori performing arts festival to be held at Eden Park) as well as the regular events such as motorsport, tennis and surfing. But there remain question marks because of the unknown factor of international travel. Will borders reopen? Will quarantines apply? Will visitors still come?

‘‘It’s a very complex time and people have to be dynamic and fluid with decision-making,’’ says Clarke, who considers solution-focused thinking and positivity as pillars of the recovery. ‘‘The good thing is all those events are planning on still delivering. It will be the attitude of Aucklanders and New Zealanders that will help us get through this.’’

And despite talk that the America’s Cup might have turbulent waters to negotiate, Clarke remains bullish on the event providing its usual flow of interest, visitors and economic benefit.

‘‘It might even be bigger than normal because of the scarcity of other competitions. New Zealand’s response to Covid has been passionate and patriotic. We wanted to beat it and be the best in the world. That will be showcased again in the America’s Cup. New Zealanders are uniquely passionate about it, and I think it still resonates very much.’’

Like equivalent organisations around the country, Ateed sees itself playing an important role in the long post-Covid economic recovery. . ‘‘We’re working with all our postponed events on rescheduling and how we retain them in Auckland. It’s about investing in things to help people return to normal. We need to rebuild our events portfolio, to get more things happening and to stimulate the accommodation and hospitality sectors, as well as those small businesses that are part of that supply chain.’’

If there’s a pot of gold, reckons Clarke, it’s the mooted trans-Tasman bubble. ‘‘It’s huge. It’s a sustainable economy for both countries in the short to medium term. In the meantime, he feels ‘‘energised’’ by having a privileged chance to be ‘‘part of the solution . . . We can help in economic development and getting businesses active again’’.

He also firmly believes his time running basketball clubs either side of the Tasman has prepared him for this. ‘‘Ultimately those businesses all came down to people – how to get them engaged and excited and part of a collective outcome. That’s no different here. It’s about bringing people together for a common purpose.’’

To borrow some terminology from his old gigs, it’s all about the rebound now.

‘‘New Zealand’s response to Covid has been passionate and patriotic. That will be showcased again in the America’s Cup.’’