The issue arose when her council voted against selling its stake in the city’s airport. The proceeds from the sale were slated to tackle a fiscal hole.
Whanau says everything is fine, believes an intervention threatened by Govt is unnecessary.
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau claims Local Government Minister Simeon Brown didn’t raise the prospect of the Government intervening in Wellington City Council during a meeting between the pair this morning.
It follows speculation the Government will place a Crown representative within the council as ministers, including Brown, criticise it amid an impasse on spending cuts.
Emerging from the roughly 30-minute meeting at Parliament, Whanau said the meeting was “good” and “productive” in which she gave Brown a “full rundown on the status of the council’s Long-Term Plan (LTP) – now in strife following the council’s decision not to sell its stake in Wellington Airport.
She claimed the topic of government intervention was not raised during the meeting, nor were any concerns Brown had about the council. She noted Brown was still waiting for advice from officials on potential options.
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor of Wellington Tory Whanau met this morning. Photos / Mark Mitchell
Brown said the meeting was an opportunity for Whanau to update him on the council’s LTP and the impact this might have on ratepayers.
“I have requested advice on whether the situation warrants government intervention and am expecting that advice in coming days.”
Whanau maintained she didn’t believe the council had met the threshold for the Government to step in, but said she would understand if Brown had concerns.
“In terms of our council, there has been a lot of attention given to us in recent days, and I acknowledge that the decision around the Wellington Airport was a tough one for all of us,” she said.
“So I understand that [the Government] had concerns, but I want to reassure them that, while they have concerns, me and my council are committed to running a successful long-term plan that delivers the best outcomes for Wellington.
“[Brown] was very polite. I know other ministers have referred to our council as a shambles. I would disagree with that.”
On the Long-Term Plan, Whanau said it was hoped an amendment would be made before the end of the year that ensured benefits for the city and addressed the council’s “insurance risk”.
“That was the intention of the sale of the airport last week. We will find other ways to do that with our capital programme that decreases our debt headroom.”
Asked if she had the council’s confidence as mayor, Whanau admitted it was “very difficult to reach consensus”.
“I’ve brought unity for a strong majority of this council, but in a very political capital city and in a very robust council, I acknowledge it’s difficult to bring every single person on board.”
Whanau was flanked by one of her advisers and Wellington City Councillor John Apanowicz.
Apanowicz is a National Party member and Whanau has previously said she would lean on him, and former Wellington International Airport board chairman Tim Brown, for help with dealing with the Government.
”I’ll be taking them to my meetings with the National Government because they have those relationships,” she has told the Herald.
Last night, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Whanau both attended the Wellington Address event.
Luxon acknowledged Whanau at the beginning of his speech and thanked her for the work she was doing.
“This is a great city. Do not give up hope on Wellington because it’s an awesome place, having lived and worked here.”
Ahead of today’s meeting, one of Whanau’s councillors, Nicola Young, said she believed her colleagues agreed cuts needed to be made, but there were disagreements about where funding should be trimmed.
Young told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast that councillors “haven’t actually got any idea how big the fiscal hole is [and] we don’t have a plan, just a vague agreement that we have to address this”.
Young hoped Brown would do something. The issue arose from a meeting last week where councillors voted to stop the sale of the council’s 34% share in Wellington International Airport.
The sale was designed to help solve two serious financial risks: the council’s $2.6 billion under-insurance problem and the lack of diversity in its investment portfolio. The proceeds were going to be invested into a perpetual investment fund.
The council now needs to amend its LTP and cut hundreds of millions of dollars in capital spending to create additional debt headroom to respond to insurance risks.
Wellington City Councillor Nicola Young says her colleagues agree spending cuts need to be made, the question is where. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Finance Minister Nicola Willis called the council “a shambles” and said the Government would intervene if necessary.
Whanau then requested a meeting with Brown and called her councillors into an urgent impromptu meeting yesterday. She said the meeting had been “productive” and said there was a “strong commitment to deal with the challenges”.
She said councillors agreed they must address the insurance risk and to help achieve that they needed to reduce debt consistently over the next decade to reach $500 million of debt headroom, in case there is a disaster such as an earthquake.
Whanau called her councillors into an urgent meeting, after which she said everything would be fine and Govt intervention would be unnecessary. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“I do not intend to cut projects that are critical for our city’s growth and sustainability. For me, that means protecting our social housing, and continuing funding for water and key climate initiatives.”
Whanau said there was a shared commitment from councillors to investigate the sale of the council’s ground leases and carbon credit holdings to form an alternative investment fund or something similar.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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