The Wellington mayor has the political radar of the Aratere. And just like the ferry, she is at risk of losing power.
In 2021, Andy Foster was interviewed by Corin Dann on RNZ’s Morning Report about his decision to launch a governance review to address council infighting. Dann repeatedly challenged the then Wellington mayor about why trust had broken down between councillors and him. Foster was awkward, giving short, stunted answers.
Eventually, Dann asked, “Do you still want to be mayor?”. He was bowling Foster a pie, offering him the chance to say something inspiring about his goals and vision for the city. Foster didn’t take it.
“Look… it’s a very challenging… ah… challenging situation,” Foster began, stumbling through an unconvincing obfuscation that never actually addressed the question of whether he wanted his job. It was the worst answer I had ever heard from a Wellington mayor in a live interview – that is, until last week when Tory Whanau appeared on Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills on Newstalk ZB.
Questioning her about the cost of living, Mills asked, “Do you actually feel what we, as Wellingtonians, are feeling right now?” Whanau responded: “I don’t want to downplay the privilege I have. I’m the mayor of the city, I have a house, and I’m very thankful for that. However, I’ve just sold my car recently to kind of help pay the bills. I walk to work again. My mortgage rates have doubled in the last two years, so I’m feeling the pinch as well, but I also recognise the privilege that I have.”
Although she tried to couch it by mentioning her privilege twice, it was still wildly out-of-touch. As mayor, Whanau earns $189,000. She also won the Lotto in 2002, taking home $1.4 million. A politician in her position cannot pretend to have a relatable, everyday relationship with money. The only correct answer is, “I know I’m in a fortunate position, but I meet with people every day who are doing it tough, and I want to understand and help in whatever way I can.” In an interview with Jack Tame on Q+A, Whanau walked her statement back, saying she had sold the car because she lived in a walkable area and didn’t need it. A later statement from the mayor’s office flipped that narrative again, saying she had sold the car at least in part due to her mortgage costs.
It was a mess, and it speaks to the core of Whanau’s greatest weakness: she has terrible political instincts. It is entirely fair to say that Whanau has drawn a disproportionate amount of attacks because she is a woman of colour. But it’s also fair to say that she hasn’t proved to be a very adept politician.
Her decision to go public on her diagnosis of ADHD and autism was poorly timed. That style of open, personal politics can play well, but Whanau’s announcement came when she was already under fire and had just admitted to a drinking problem. It looked like she was making excuses and just handed more ammunition to her opponents.
Even the drinking scandal was self-inflicted. Whanau could have survived the first incident, where she got a bit boozy in a restaurant and walked out without paying. However, it was the second story about a night out at Havana Bar that really cemented the connection between her and alcohol in most voters’ minds.
That story was based on a false rumour, first spread online by Glen Inwood, AKA Resistance Kiwi, about a video of the mayor engaging in a scandalous act. I’ve spoken to enough trusted sources who were there that night to say confidently that the described video does not exist. When an RNZ reporter asked the mayor about the rumoured video (which RNZ had no proof of), she should have outright denied it. Instead, she tried to front-foot a non-existent scandal by admitting to having a problem with alcohol, thereby turning a baseless rumour into a major news story.
Even when it comes to the actual job of governing, some of her choices fly in the face of logic. The decision to sell the council’s airport shares – which now looks like it will fail – started as an olive branch to the centre-right, specifically councillor Tim Brown. It’s a sensible decision on paper, but Whanau should have known it would lead to toxic rupture on the left, many of whom are still scarred by the asset sales of the 80s and 90s.
Ironically, the airport sale may not have been needed at all if Whanau had been willing to scrap the $330m Town Hall repairs – or at least pause them until the central government came to the party or another funding source could be found. The Reading Cinema deal was a similar case of obvious risk if there was any sniff of corporate welfare for a multinational company that Wellingtonians already felt bitter toward. There was very little political upside and enormous downside.
Wellingtonians’ relationship with Whanau is a bit of an odd one. Despite electing her as mayor by a landslide, voters still didn’t really know her. She wasn’t a public figure before running for mayor, but she had a strong CV and pitched herself as broadly competent with clearly articulated principles aligned with the Green Party – which proved to be a winning formula. She’ll be going into the next election as a better-known figure, but one whose personal brand is considerably weaker than that of her party.
There are some parallels to another left-leaning politician with a history of saying weird stuff and making unforced errors: Joe Biden. While members of the Democratic Party felt deep loyalties to the US president, it eventually became clear that he was an electoral liability who needed to be replaced by a different candidate. Green Party members in Wellington must surely start asking the same question.
