Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau missed half of airport board meetings in past year

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has missed half of Wellington International Airport’s board meetings in the past year.

The Wellington City Council owns 34 per cent of the airport and Infratil owns the remaining 66 per cent. The council is proposing to sell its share, worth $278 million.

Whanau, who sits on the airport’s board of directors representing the council, attended only four of eight meetings in the past year.

It follows criticism early in her tenure about absences from civic events and meetings, including a meeting of the regional mayors forum. At that time, she said the focus on her attendance was undue, and largely because people didn’t like what she represented as a young Māori woman in council.

The airport’s annual report, published this week, reveals Whanau has the lowest attendance of all seven directors.

Former Wellington Mayor Andy Foster was previously criticised for missing three out of seven meetings in 2021.

A governance expert said at the time that type of attendance record implied the director was not taking the appointment seriously.

Whanau missed three consecutive meetings between August and December 2023.

A spokeswoman for Whanau said this was due to “clashes with other business”.

These clashes included the council’s Audit and Risk Committee and a meeting with Sir Bob Harvey and Gareth Hayman, the Local Government New Zealand National Council Strategy Day, and attending an annual board meeting for the Thomas George Macarthy Trust.

The fourth meeting Whanau did not attend was due to sickness.

“The mayor has to juggle an incredibly busy schedule where unavoidable clashes are common”, the spokeswoman said. “For those meetings not attended by the mayor a representative from WCC has attended in her place.”

Annual remuneration of $86,915 is provided for Whanau’s role on the board, but the spokeswoman said the mayor did not receive this personally.

Wellington Airport declined to comment on Whanau’s attendance record.

The Wellington City Council has two seats on the airport’s board.

Wayne Eagleson, former chief of staff to Prime Ministers John Key and Bill English, is the council’s second appointment. Eagleson has attended all eight board meetings in the past year.

Foster was previously criticised for his attendance record at airport board meetings when he was mayor.

In 2021, Richard Westlake, managing director of Westlake Governance Limited and an experienced director and board chairman, said being a director carried significant responsibilities and risks.

“That type of attendance record implies the director doesn’t take the appointment seriously.”

Any director could miss one meeting a year or possibly two due to issues such as illness and a clash of commitments, Westlake said at the time.

“But a rule of thumb used in governance says miss three and you’re gone, unless there are strong mitigating factors.”

Westlake said he thought the mayor, and leader of a significant shareholder in the airport, would have brought a helpful perspective to board deliberations.

“Boards don’t have room for passengers.”

It was also disruptive to have a board member who only appeared from time to time, he said.

“They’re not up to date with where the board’s thinking has progressed, and they may want to re-examine or re-litigate matters the board has already dealt with.”

Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in politics, local issues, and the Public Service. Ethan is always on the lookout for a story, he can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz or messaged on X (formerly Twitter) @ethanjmanera