As
a progressive mayor Tory Whanau has had to deal with the
“old guard” resistant to change, the outgoing Wellington
mayor says.
Whanau announced this week she
will not stand again for the Wellington
mayoralty.
Her decision came shortly after former
Labour leader Andrew Little confirmed he would be
contesting, with Whanau saying she didn’t want a Greens
versus Labour narrative to swamp the election. Instead, she
plans to run for the council’s Māori Ward.
Whanau has
previously said she would consider quitting the mayoralty
after facing scrutiny for her political and personal
challenges including the appointment of a Crown observer for
the council.
She told Saturday Morning she has
attracted extra attention because the “old guard” are
resistant to issues such as climate change, the cycleway
network and social housing.
“Being the progressive
change mayor – that does bring a lot of
negativity.”
Being wahine Māori has also posed extra
difficulties, she said, citing the treatment of other Māori
politicians such as Tamatha Paul, Marama Davidson and
Metiria Turei.
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There were double standards for women,
especially wāhine Māori and the negativity had also moved
onto the rainbow community.
“Politics at the moment
has become quite an ugly place and I’m just an example of
part of that.”
While she has enjoyed some support,
especially this week since her decision on the mayoralty,
politics could be “a lonely place” and
“isolating”.
“It’s absolutely crucial” to have
discussions about the online criticism directed at women and
gay politicians, she said.
“When is it OK to threaten
the life of a politician? It is never OK,” she said in
response to a councillor’s claim that she had asked for the
abuse she received because of her behaviour.
She did
not regret using social media in her bid to attract support
from young people, however, the political landscape had
changed a great deal.
US President Donald Trump and
some of the New Zealand coalition government members had
helped to ramp up the criticism politicians received, she
said.
“The online trolling has accelerated
significantly … the political landscape has become a lot
more toxic.”
She did not feel her life was in danger,
however, the abuse would turn off women and rangatahi Māori
from any thoughts of going into politics.
“And that
becomes a danger to our democracy.”
She appealed to
other politicians to make debate about policy rather than
personal.
Surprise at Little’s decision
Whanau
said she was surprised by former Labour Minister Andrew
Little’s announcement after he had ruled out the suggestion
last year.
“I
accepted it [Little’s decision], got my plans back in place.
I am really excited about running for the Māori
ward.”
She said she was not disappointed some on the
left had backed Little instead of her.
The most
important thing was to keep the city “on track” with issues
such as the cycleway network, building more social housing,
and investing in water.
She said many of the things
she had campaigned on such as more investment in water and
more social housing had started during her
mayoralty.
“The biggest thing I didn’t achieve was
light rail … I at least was able to keep the Golden
Mile.”
Questioned about her “flip-flop” over the sale
of Wellington Airport shares, she said it created
tension.
There was a need to address the $2.3 billion
underinvestment in insurance and she believed the share sale
would be the best option, however, there wasn’t enough
support.
The council had moved on and relationships
had been rebuilt.
“I’ve learned from that, won’t be
doing that again.”
It had caused “great upset” that
iwi did not have a voice over ther sale of the shares,
however, her relationship with iwi remained strong
throughout the saga.
Housing, protection of nature,
and having a voice at the table were the main priorities for
mana whenua, she said.
They had been supportive over
her decision to stand for the Māori ward.
Crown
observer ‘didn’t need to happen’
Whanau said the
atmosphere was “light” during her meeting with Local
Government Minister Simeon Brown during which the
appointment of a Crown Observer was discussed.
“We’ve
had independent advice that it didn’t need to happen but I
wanted to show Wellington that I was more than willing to
work with the government to prove we could have a successful
Long Term Plan … it’s back on track without the
airport.”
The presence of the observer had helped with
the management of councillors’ behaviour, she
added.
She had a “polite” relationship with Brown and
said things were warmer with the new minister Simon
Watts.
Whanau said it had been an honour to perform
her first karanga at two events during her term as
mayor.
“One of the most special honouring moments of
my life … that has been an absolute privilege of this
role.”
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