Inconsistency the hallmark of Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau’s leadership – Barry Soper

THREE KEY FACTS

• Local Government Minister Simeon Brown announced his intention to appoint a Crown observer at Wellington City Council.
• Mayor Tory Whanau said she won’t resign and welcomed Brown’s intention.
• Whanau’s Instagram account has liked, and since unliked, comments suggesting Government intervention in the council is a “hit-job”.

Barry Soper is Newstalk ZB’s senior political correspondent.

An earlier version of this opinion piece inferred Tory Whanau relied on the Single Transferable Voting (STV) system to win the mayoralty. While there were seven iterations of counting to reach the threshold to win, she did receive the largest number of first preference votes.

A complaint against this column has been upheld by the NZ Media Council. The full Media Council ruling can be found here.

OPINION

Celia Wade-Brown has finally made it to where Tory Whanau would like to be, in Parliament for the weird and wacky Greens. Whanau may have blotted her copybook though, initially rejecting her previously held Green credentials until she won the mayoralty and then embracing them afterwards.

This is the first citizen of the country’s capital who lacks the intellectual rigour to remember what she said at the beginning of an interview, only to contradict it later. Whose understanding of governance is as deep as a puddle.

Who seeks forgiveness for doing a runner on paying for a restaurant meal because she has an alcohol problem, who appears to suffer from an attention deficit disorder and has had weeks off work because she’s had Covid more times than Andrew Bayly has said he’s sorry.

Is there any wonder then why Simeon Brown, a Cabinet Minister who looks young enough to be Whanau’s son, has decided to lend her a helping hand with a Crown observer to watch over her?

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau speaks to media after the Government appointed a Crown observer to the city's council. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Essentially the observer is Brown’s nark. If the council under Whanau’s stewardship is as shambolic as we’re told it is, then the role will eventually be taken over by a Commissioner.

Even Brown tripped over his tongue in an interview by calling the observer a Com..., before correcting himself, which is probably a good indication of where it will end up.

After the Government intervention, Whanau’s response was to welcome it, saying she hopes the council will finally agree to the elusive long-term plan for the troubled city.

But then the trolls got to work on her Instagram account telling her the decision was a disgraceful hit job and suggesting the politicians behind it were corrupt and she should hold tight until they’re voted out of power.

Despite earlier saying she will happily work with the Crown observer, Whanau signalled she liked the damning comments on the account about one being appointed, that is until the ghoulish media noticed them and suddenly the likes became unlikes.

And that’s the inconsistency that’s become the hallmark of Whanau’s leadership. The cost of the observer overseeing the way the council operates, comes at the expense of the long-suffering Wellington ratepayer.

But if this madness is allowed to continue, perhaps getting rid of the mayor will be a small price to pay.

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