Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau’s remarkable financial admission fails to relate – Editorial

EDITORIAL

Tory Whanau was this week asked if she could relate to the financial stress facing Wellington business owners forced to shut up shop and public sector workers losing their jobs.

It was perhaps a chance for Wellington’s mayor to express her sympathy, maybe even concern for those struggling. A chance to convey her support and commitment to help Wellington weather the financial storm and get its economy back pumping.

Instead, Whanau responded more personally, revealing that she too was “feeling the crunch”.

“I can’t spend at the moment because of the cost-of-living crisis, like many others”, she told Newstalk ZB’s Wellington Mornings show.

Not only could she not spend, she said, she had also sold her car recently to “help pay the bills” and made some “adjustments to her lifestyle, i.e. do nothing in terms of socialising and stuff”.

She made it clear she didn’t want to downplay her “privilege”, but yes, she too was facing financial pressure.

No doubt the mayor’s comments were intended to show a relatability, an understanding about just how tough it is out there at the moment.

Here’s the mayor, feeling the pinch like the rest of us, keen to see things improve.

But with an annual salary of $189,799 – boosted by a 3.7% pay rise in July – she’s not in the same boat as most.

Data from Trade Me jobs had the capital’s average salary sitting at $72,062 in the second quarter of this year. Infometrics says the average income for a household in Wellington City is $165,974, considerably higher than the New Zealand average of $132,538.

The mayor earns more than the average household and more than double the average individual. If she’s struggling to “pay the bills”, how on earth are others faring?

It’s not only her high income that saw her comments fail to hit the mark though.

At a time when businesses are openly struggling, citing reduced foot traffic and reduced spending in the city, Whanau had an opportunity to highlight ways we can support them: continuing to buy coffee from a local cafe you want to see survive, celebrating good service by returning to an outlet you value.

The mayor said she and the Wellington City Council were working with businesses to come up with new initiatives to support them – a New Year’s Eve festival, fashion event, more parklets outside restaurants.

She also said she personally wasn’t spending. She wasn’t socialising, had “adjusted” her lifestyle.

Again, it’s an acknowledgement of a wider mood around the country, with households feeling the stress from high interest rates, high food prices, and rising unemployment.

But for a Wellington business hoping to see an uptick in trade, keen to hear what city planners are thinking, it’s the sort of message you don’t want to hear.

Whanau’s intention may well be to paint herself as a woman of the people, someone who knows how tight money is at the moment, who understands why people aren’t spending. To show she can relate.

Reassurance may have been a better message to send.

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