The Wellington mayor is sick of being the government’s punching bag.
Tory Whanau has criticised prime minister Chris Luxon’s character in an interview with The Spinoff, saying, “I don’t think he’s a nice person”.
It comes after Luxon called Wellington’s councils “pretty lame-o” for not submitting a proposal for a regional deal, which could offer greater financial and regulatory support for infrastructure projects focused on growth. “Every other region’s been able to come together, work together, on the last six months, Wellington hasn’t even shown up with some proposal,” he said. “This is a great part of the country and yet their leaders at a local government level can’t come together on a regional deal.”
Wellington was not the only region that didn’t submit a proposal – Canterbury was also notably absent from the list. Whanau said Luxon targeted the capital because “Wellington didn’t vote for him”.
“Wellington is a Green city, and they’ve been picking on us since the beginning,” she said. However, she acknowledged that the high-profile conflict could benefit her politically. “It works for me because a lot of people in Wellington don’t like him.”
While she made no secret of her disdain for the prime minister, Whanau said she was building collaborative relationships with some ministers, particularly housing and transport minister Chris Bishop and building and construction minister Chris Penk.
Whanau said the region’s mayors were focused on water reform, which was an “intense job” ahead of the September deadline, and she did not want council staff to have to split their focus with a regional deal proposal.
Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter accused the prime minister of having an anti-Wellington bias. “He’s clearly a guy who doesn’t feel comfortable going south of the Bombay Hills. He’s an Auckland lad, and it must be painful for him to have to come to Wellington every week to fulfil his prime ministerial duties,” he told The Spinoff. He said Wellington local government leaders have “all become a bit immune to his throwaway comments”.
Wellington City Council’s relationship with central government has grown increasingly hostile since former local government minister Simeon Brown appointed a crown observer in November. Whanau and her political allies felt the decision was politically motivated and intended to humiliate the council. In his initial report, crown observer Lindsay McKenzie said Wellington City Council faced similar issues to other councils around the country, but its proximity to government and media spotlight had exacerbated challenges. “It is surprising that the organisation hasn’t totally wilted under the pressure,” he wrote.
Luxon has made several public comments knocking Wellington City Council, especially during its rocky Long Term Plan process. At last year’s SuperLocal conference, he criticised the council for building Tākina, the conference centre where the event was hosted. “With pipes bursting and other infrastructure under pressure, Wellington City Council decided to spend $180 million of ratepayers’ money on a convention centre… can anyone seriously say it was the right financial decision or the highest priority for Wellington given all of its challenges?” At the same conference, Whanau delivered a strongly-worded speech criticising the government’s policy on Māori wards. “We should be able to decide for ourselves how we honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and how we work in partnership with mana whenua, iwi and Māori,” she said.
When asked this week why Wellington didn’t submit a proposal for a regional deal, Ponter said the region was taking a long-term view. “It isn’t because we weren’t prepared or organised. It’s not because someone cocked up the date. We need to take more time to figure out our priorities and how we want government to be part of it.” He emphasised that Wellington has already been working on regional growth planning for at least three decades, including the Regional Land Transport Plan and the Future Development Strategy.
Wellington still intended to develop a regional deal proposal within the next three or four months, but Ponter wanted to develop it in collaboration with central government rather than rush through a list of five projects to be treated as a “lucky dip”.
“They make it sound like here is a pot of money at the end of the rainbow and the government will be ingratiating you with love,” he said. “The process is wholly controlled by central government ministers. We should be able to sit down with ministers and senior officials.”
Eighteen regions submitted proposals for regional deals. The government will decide which regions progress towards a deal, with the intention to complete the first deal by the end of 2025.