Wellington City councillor Tamatha Paul. Photo / Mark Mitchell
ANALYSIS
Tamatha Paul fought against liquor bans as a student, pulled the plug on a $76 million loan for the airport as a councillor, and is now eyeing the Wellington Central electorate after Green Party co-leader James Shaw decided not to contest it.
The 25-year-old is a proud wāhine Māori who has long seen Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick as an inspiration.
Paul is hoping to mirror Swarbrick’s success in Auckland Central. Her ambitions will also have been boosted by Green-endorsed Tory Whanau’s recent mayoral win.
The race in Wellington Central was kicked into gear when incumbent MP Grant Robertson announced he would vacate the seat and run on the party list.
Robertson said being the Finance Minister was a huge job and he wanted to devote himself to the role after the election without feeling he was not giving his full attention to the people in his electorate.
Robertson has a majority of 18,878 votes and has held the seat since 2008. Labour is yet to select a candidate to run in his place.
Paul is a familiar face in the electorate as she is currently a second-term Wellington City councillor in the Pukehīnau-Lambton Ward.
But the total number of votes she received under the STV system in last year’s local body elections was 5,206- roughly a quarter of Robertson’s majority let alone his total number of votes.
This comparison partly exemplifies the poor interest in local body politics compared with general elections. Despite being a current councillor within the electorate, name recognition and profile are things Paul will still need to work on.
Like many before her, Paul was the president of the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association before she entered politics.
She worked alongside community organisations on issues like renting, city safety, and mental health.
Paul memorably took on Wellington City Council over a proposed liquor ban at Kelburn Park.
A fountain there has been a favourite haunt among students as they make their way from halls of residence into Wellington’s nightlife, much to the dismay of nearby residents fed up with the “screaming, yelling, urinating and vomiting” at the park.
Paul argued the ban would just move the problem elsewhere and that the various parties needed to come together to find a long-term solution.
Ideally, halls of residence would move their drinking kick-out times from 10pm to 12am and make dining rooms designated drinking areas, Paul said.
“The reason students don’t go straight from the hall into town at 10pm is because the clubs are dead at that time.”
She wasn’t wrong, and it was refreshing that she didn’t shy away from the realities of student life.
The liquor ban did not go ahead.
In 2019 Paul moved from one end of the council table making submissions on liquor bylaws, to having a permanent seat as a councillor.
She focused her campaign on young people and how she could be their representative on issues she has first-hand experience in, like Wellington’s ghastly rental market.
The then 22-year-old said she wanted to start a “youthquake” in the capital. Paul said she was inspired by Swarbrick and her Auckland mayoral campaign in 2016.
She ran as an independent but was clearly left-leaning. It’s fair to say some like-minded councillors thought they might be able to usher her under their wing as part of a left voting block, but Paul had a mind of her own from the beginning.
Her introduction to life as a city councillor was tumultuous, to say the least, with Andy Foster elected as mayor and the chaos that ensued.
She largely stayed out of the public squabbling some other councillors engaged in, although she did hit the headlines at the height of the former council’s problems.
Fellow councillor Diane Calvert laid a formal complaint against Paul over a “public attack” on Facebook.
In a post penned in response to concerns the council was divided, Paul said some councillors had publicly exhibited bullying and lying.
“For example Cr Diane Calvert stating I shouldn’t move a business-related amendment because I have never ‘worked with’ businesses before, and then smirking and snickering when I interject because this is simply not true…
“It’s this kind of behaviour that undermines the public’s belief in the Council, and makes us all look like idiots, meanwhile the City is in lockdown, being battered by five-metre high waves, families are losing their income, and businesses are folding,” Paul said.
The pair ended up sorting out their differences on their own, after Foster’s reluctance to get involved. In many ways, it was a sign of how councillors were starting to operate- forming their own alliances and majorities to fill the void that was the mayor’s leadership.
Paul has been a strong advocate for high-density housing and city safety issues after an increased reporting of sexual abuse and a string of serious assaults, including a fatal assault outside Te Papa.
One of her most impressive wins last term was finding the numbers around the table to pull the plug on $76 million set aside in the Long Term Plan for “airport seawalls”.
The airport appeared bewildered by the move, saying councillors had conflated the seawall project with plans to extend the runway.
But Paul stood her ground and said it was unclear what the funding was for.
“This loan must be removed as a clear signal to Wellington that we are dedicated to climate action and that we will hold some of the biggest polluters in town to account,” she said at the time.
Ahead of the most recent local body elections, Paul made the decision to seek the Green Party selection for Pukehīnau-Lambton ward.
This was after the party gave long-time Wellington City councillor Iona Pannett the boot during a meeting some members described as “deeply uncomfortable” and sombre.
In brutal fashion, Pannett was not selected even though the ward went uncontested.
Members were unhappy with Pannett’s votes to protect character homes in the city’s incoming new housing plan.
Some felt within the local party that the people who they sought to represent (renters locked out of the market) were not the people benefiting from Pannett’s votes (wealthy property owners in Mt Victoria).
To be fair to Pannett, there are actually several examples of party policy which refer to strengthening protection for historic heritage.
The transition between Paul and Shaw in Wellington Central went far more smoothly. Shaw said he stood aside with “some regret, but no doubt” and will nominate Paul himself.
Last year Paul was re-elected to council on the Green Party ticket with the highest number of votes among the Pukehīnau-Lambton ward councillors. Pannett was also re-elected in the ward as an independent.
A new super committee was created under the new mayor to deal with Wellington’s infrastructure crisis and housing shortage, of which Paul was made chairwoman.
Paul’s rise through the ranks has been steady and swift.
Although yet to be formally selected by the Greens, Paul is now eyeing Wellington Central and has referred to Swarbrick as “the blueprint”.
Paul said she has proven she can help transform the city within the confines of the council - a system that parliament largely dictates.
But she said the real dream is to break that system and change the law.
So does she have a chance? After the success of Swarbrick and Whanau, it would be unwise to dismiss Paul. Wellington Central is also the Green Party’s highest polling party vote seat.
It certainly won’t be easy though. Wellington Central has predominantly been held by Labour MPs and Labour is yet to select a candidate with internal nominations closing on February 22.
National Party deputy leader Nicola Willis is running for Ōhāriu this time around, paving the way for a fresh face to contest Wellington Central for National
One thing is certain, it’s out with the old and in with the new in the race for this electorate.
The new free open-air saltwater pool is already proving popular.