Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau confirmed today that she would not seek a second term. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wellington's deputy mayor is "absolutely gutted" by Tory Whanau's decision to not run for the mayoralty, but another councillor believes it is an opportunity for a fresh start.
Whanau announced on Tuesday morning that she would not seek a second term in the capital's top job and would instead run as a city councillor in the Māori ward.
RNZ asked some Wellington city councillors and supporters about Whanau's announcement.
Laurie Foon has been Tory Whanau's deputy mayor for nearly three years and was also a Green Party-backed councillor.
Foon told RNZ she was "absolutely gutted" to hear Whanau's announcement.
"Tory has made an outstanding contribution to the city, particularly in water investment and a district plan that will enable many more homes and offer more choices in how we move around the city."
Wellington deputy mayor Laurie Foon. Photo: Celeste Fontein
She said that she understood Whanau's reasons for not running for the top job and was happy she would run for the Māori Ward.
"She has worked hard to strengthen our mana whenua relations, and this kaupapa is extremely important for our city."
Wellington City councillor Diane Calvert said Whanau bowing out of the mayoral race was an opportunity for a fresh start in the capital.
She said there was "no way" Whanau would have won a second term, and hoped the next council better represented Wellingtonians - not political parties.
"Local government should not be influenced by central government politics," she said.
"We've gotta be able to work with whoever's in government of the day, whoever is leading up the other councils in the region, so we have to try and be a bit more agnostic than what we have been."
Councillor Diane Calvert Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
Whanau ran as a Green candidate, and the Labour party has just endorsed former leader Andrew Little as its 2025 candidate.
Calvert said she was not supporting any of the mayoral candidates yet because they had not yet announced specific policies or demonstrated how they'll lead a diverse council.
But she said the next mayor would need the skills to deal with big budgets and work programmes.
"When people think about who they want to be on council representing them, do they come with the requisite skills and knowledge to be able to make decisions?
"This council spends $1.5 billion a year, it has over 400 services, you need to understand the business of council to be able to make informed decisions."
Right-leaning independent mayoral candidate and current Wellington councillor Ray Chung told Morning Report he was still "very confident" in his chances for getting the top job.
But he thought Whanau and Little had done a deal to "stitch up" the city.
"If Andrew wins the mayoralty, and Tory comes in as the deputy, then Wellington will just continue on with what's been happening," he said.
"We'll continue going downwards, businesses will continue to leave, and there'll be absolute chaos in the city streets."
He later admitted he could not describe that as stitching up the city - just that he believed that was Whanau and Little's plan.
Whanau denied she stepped aside in return for the deputy's seat.
Chung said he would campaign on zero rates increase, and reining in council spending, including cutting the Golden Mile project.
"We're going through all the numbers on what we can actually cut out, but a lot of it is very, very complicated because a lot of it is opex [operational expenditure] and so we need to understand what the implications of these things are."
Rainbow Wellington chairperson Sam French hoped the city's next mayor followed in Whanau's footsteps as an outspoken ally.
The mayor had traditionally been the organisation's patron.
"She's... set the standard of what a vocal advocate and supporter of the community is," French said, pointing to her support for Cuba Street's rainbow crossing, attendance at rainbow events, and speaking out against protests at this year's Wellington pride parade.
Ray Chung Photo: Supplied / Facebook
French wanted candidates to make clear their policies, particularly around safety in the capital.
"It's amazing to have mayors and councillors who are outspoken supporters, but we want to keep that going and turn that into real action to make us the best city in the country, if not the world, for rainbow people."
Census data last year revealed Wellington was the rainbow capital of New Zealand, with by far the biggest proportion of people identifying as part of the rainbow community - 11.3 percent.
Rainbow Wellington would run a meet the candidates event ahead of the election so the community could hear from mayoral and council hopefuls about the issues that mattered to them, said French.
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