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At least it’s not Canberra, right?
That’s the one-line quip about the Australian capital being lifeless, dull and batshit boring that now springs to mind whenever I’m in Wellington. Our capital is in a state of rapid demise and general malaise, the speed of which has been a shock.
It’s been hastened and worsened by the new government who continues to be brash, unapologetic and unrepentant in the search for savings and efficiencies across the public sector. They see only numbers, not people.
As of writing, more than 6500 public service jobs have been lost or vacancies have not been filled while one of the architects of the destruction, David Seymour, appears to be delighted with the downsizing.
He wanted twice as many public servants to lose their jobs and given he’s Deputy PM from next year, he might want round two - as long as his new Ministry of Regulation and its well-paid workers don’t make the list (and I doubt they will).
Sure Labour filled and created lots of new roles on their way out of office, but not all 6500 people went to work just to eat their lunch, right? And what can’t be denied is that those well-paid jobs pumped millions into the Wellington economy. Yet overnight they’re gone perhaps never to be replaced.
Fewer city workers equal fewer retail, hospitality and service outlets which means caterers, taxi drivers, cleaners, nannies - you name it – have or are losing work and income as families try to figure out how to navigate Wellington’s new now. Or move elsewhere.
It’s shown Wellington to be something of a “one trick pony” when it comes jobs. The government is the big employer and when a job freeze comes, displaced workers leave town and take their money with them.
The argument over whether they’re from the backroom or frontline is irrelevant. The fact so many jobs and subsequent salaries have been ripped out is now having a major impact.
Two more hospitality establishments closed their doors on the infamous but wounded Courtenay Place this week. The once proud stretch of bars and pubs and places to go represents a wasteland compared to the party years of the late 1990s and beyond.
The iconic bar and diner, Hummingbird, is doing anything but. Boarded up and waiting to explode back on the scene as a new and better version of itself, it sits idle. You can’t see inside to see if progress is being made but I suspect that the lack of noise coming from inside means it’s tools down – and they might not be picked back up again.
The Reading Cinema complex closed in 2017 for a mass renovation and facelift. After six years, any many column centimetres about its fate, nothing has changed. It’s now an eyesore and a monument to the lack of progress in the area.
Strategic PR and political advisory firms were already doing it tough after Labour decided to engage with no one but themselves for six years. Now it’s bad because companies who previously might have paid for a lobbyist or political advice haven’t got the cash. So lobbyists and agencies find themselves in trouble they never expected; they’re trying to “pivot” and find the next big thing.
But no one has any idea what that is or what happens next in Wellington.
I hosted the awards night of a high-profile real estate company in the capital. The housing market has stalled, and deals agents thought were going through were reneged on. As I arrived, a senior salesman told me it’s been a bloodbath and anyone who made it to tonight should be regarded as a survivor.
This bloke, who owned his branch of the real estate firm, says he believes we’re yet to see the carnage or the full net impact of the government cuts because the redundancy payments have kept people afloat.
Once they’ve spent those and still find themselves out of a job in a year, then what happens?
In 2013, former PM Sir John Key said Wellington was dying.
I never wanted to believe that about my hometown, but I do now.
For a city once so Absolutely Positively Wellington the speed of the decline has been rapid.
Oh well, at least it’s not Canberra, right?
