Windbag: The clown car of candidates vying to be Wellington's next mayor
As the clock struck noon on Friday, August 1, the candidate nominations closed for the Wellington mayoral race. The capital entered a new era. The transition of power has begun. By October 11 (or October 16 if it's a really close race), the capital will have a new overlord. A new man or woman will seize the chains of power – and with it, the ability to grant the key to the city to any cat they choose.
There are 12 candidates in the race, ranging from very serious to not serious at all. This is my rough attempt to sort them into tiers.
Serious candidates
Andrew Little
You know him, you love him (or more realistically, have no particularly strong feelings about him)… It's Andrew Little. The former Labour Party leader and senior cabinet minister under the Ardern government is by far the most credible and experienced candidate in the race. He has left-wing bona fides but a conservative temperament. He's unlikely to propose any game-changing reforms, but he's a steady hand who promises stability. He's announced policies to introduce a weekly cap on bus and train fares, committed to funding community facilities, and proposed some boring-but-sensible rules to make council decisions more transparent.
Alex Baker
Pitches himself as a Green-aligned candidate with a free-market approach to housing policy and business regulation. A former director of sustainability at Kāinga Ora and a chartered accountant at KPMG, he has solid back-room experience, but this is his first time seeking public office. He's pushing a switch to land value rates and cuts to commercial rates. He wants more bike lanes and bus lanes, further reforms to encourage high-density housing development, and an overall focus on growing the city's population.
Diane Calvert
A third-term city councillor, Diane Calvert entered the race after Ray Chung's campaign self-destructed, and immediately became the most credible candidate on the centre-right. She typically takes fiscally conservative stances and is a fan of more extensive community consultation on most council decisions. She has generally opposed bike lanes and the Golden Mile, and supported community projects in her Wharangi/Onslow-Western ward, such as the Khandallah Pool and Karori Event Centre. Her campaign policies so far are based around a 'back-to-basics' approach, with lower council expenditure, more regional collaboration with other councils, and a focus on suburban voices.
Karl Tiefenbacher
The founder of the Kaffe Eis ice cream chain and former banker has run twice unsuccessfully in Pukehīnau/Lambton ward. This year, he's seeking the mayoralty as well as running in Motukairangi/Eastern ward, which should be more receptive to his centre-right views. He's become a regular attendee at council meetings, and his opinion pieces on Scoop show a good grasp of council functions (which in this race is saying a lot). He's campaigning on reduced spending, cutting cycleways, and reforms to encourage faster housing consents and to incentivise the growth of the tech sector.
Unserious candidates (who think they're serious)
Ray Chung
A few months ago, Ray Chung was the highest-polling candidate. Then his campaign blew up with the emergence of tawdry emails he'd written about the mayor, which he repeated in live radio interviews. He handled the backlash ineptly and candidates started fleeing his ticket so fast that Independent Together became Independent Not Together.
He's campaigning on zero rates increases but has not provided any numbers to show how he would do that.
Ray Chung has never been fit for office
Rob Goulden
Goulden was a Wellington City Councillor for four terms from 1998-2010. According to reporting by Stuff in 2009, he was accused of being 'too combative, too aggressive, too intimidating' and was eventually trespassed from the council offices. Then mayor Kerry Prendergast said councillors were concerned by 'his increasingly erratic behaviour and his mood swings' and '[Some of the] women staff will not meet with him one-to-one.' Then-councillor John Morrison, a former political ally, said he was 'unfit for public office'. Goulden is running on a fiscally conservative platform, but no one is paying much attention to him.
Kelvin Hastie
Came a distant sixth in the 2022 mayoral election and is running again despite doing little to grow his profile in the intervening years. Describes himself as a ' predator-free hero ' and ' community champion '. Has promoted some ambitious but questionable policies, including a six-lane tunnel underneath the CBD, a roof on Sky Stadium, and selling the council's social housing to first home buyers.
Joan Shi
Previously ran in the Pukehīnau/Lambton ward byelection, during which she seemed well-intentioned but didn't have a particularly strong grasp of the issues. Says she wants to fix the pipes, cut rates, and make public transport cheaper.
Donald 'Newt' McDonald
A beloved figure on local Facebook groups and a star guest on Guy Williams' New Zealand Today podcast. McDonald has some big ideas for how to fix the city. Unfortunately, most people struggle to understand what he is trying to say.
Unserious candidates (who know they're unserious)
William Pennywize (Pennywize the Rewilding Clown)
Wants to turn the Basin Reserve into a swamp, repopulate the Golden Mile with moa, and use genetically enhanced tuna as the foundation for a new public transport network.
Josh Harford (Aotearoa New Zealand Silly Hat Party)
Campaigning on subsidised pizza delivery, publicly accessible cows, a lazy river on Courtenay Place, anti-rain dances to keep the sky sunny, a legally enforced no-hat-no-play policy, and mandatory optimism.
Scott Caldwell
Founder of the Scoot Foundation, which, depending on who you ask, is either a shadowy global cabal of Yimbys whose power and influence rivals the Atlas Network, or a Twitter account that he runs. He's a spokesperson for the Coalition for More Homes and is a genuine expert on housing density and infrastructure. There's just one problem: he lives in Auckland, and according to The Spinoff's sources, has only been to Wellington once.
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Scoop
19 hours ago
- Scoop
Recognise Palestine? Then Free Marwan Barghouti!
The world's most important hostage – must be released. The powerful Western countries have signalled that in the face of the genocide they may recognise the state of Palestine. States need leaders. That's why Marwan Barghouti – often dubbed the Palestinian Mandela – must be freed. A former head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, Ephraim Halevy, agrees with calls by leaders from across the Middle East for Barghouti's release: 'Barghouti is popular with his people, he has a clear position, he speaks Hebrew well and can negotiate; all of which qualifies him to lead a new path. We have to be creative in dealing with the future in the West Bank as well and the rest of the territories, as there are millions of Palestinians, and transferring two million Palestinians from Gaza is unrealistic,' Halevy told Middle East Monitor. States need leaders The UK, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a baker's dozen of Western-aligned states have signalled they may finally join humanity and recognise the right of Palestine to exist as a state. They are doing so at a moment when the physical existence of the Palestinian people in Palestine is in peril due to the US-Israeli genocide. If this is not simply another hollow, performative gesture real things must happen: first and foremost the lifting of the siege and the ending of the man-made famine. Simultaneously, Palestine needs a credible leadership to negotiate its future. Why call for recognition of a state when hundreds of the top leadership of that future state are held in cruel captivity? These hostages seldom receive any attention – in contrast to the remaining 20 or so hostages held by Hamas and other groups. Who decides who represents Palestine? In typical Western fashion the announcement of potentially recognising the Palestinian state comes with a swag of conditions – foremost that Hamas, the most popular movement in Palestine, the winner of the last free and fair elections in both the West Bank and Gaza, must not be part of any government. OK, so, if the Palestinians bow to that condition, who will be the leaders of this state? Who has the standing with all the factions of the Palestinian polity? Marwan Barghouti could be such a man. The geriatric and thoroughly discredited Mahmoud Abbas, unelected leader of the Palestinian Authority, is largely seen as a tool of the US and Israel. Over 90% of Palestinians want him gone. In contrast, Barghouti is a revered figure, respected by all Palestinian organizations. He consistently polls as the most popular leader. The Israelis have murdered many of the Palestinian leaders (along with targeted assassinations of hundreds of writers, professors, lawyers, doctors and other people crucial to state-building). They even killed the lead negotiator in the hostage release process. It is vital that the West ensures Barghouti is protected from further mistreatment. It is also worth dismissing the lie that Israel has no Palestinian partner to negotiate with; Barghouti has the will and the attributes. The blockage is actually Western complicity in ethnic cleansing, land stealing and the overall Greater Israel Project. Barghouti: the most important political prisoner During the past 23 years in Israeli prisons Barghouti has been beaten, tortured, sexually molested and had limbs broken, as documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. What hasn't been broken is the spirit of the greatest living Palestinian – a symbol of his people's 'legendary steadfastness' and determination to win freedom from occupation. As I wrote in 2024: 'Barghouti, the terrorist, rotting in jail. Barghouti, the indomitable leader who has not given up on peace. Barghouti, loved by ordinary people as 'a man of the street'. Barghouti, supporter of the Oslo Accords. Barghouti, the 15 year-old youth leader standing beside Yasser Arafat. Barghouti, once a member of parliament and Fatah secretary-general. Barghouti, leader of Tanzim, a PLO military wing, choosing militancy after the betrayal of the Oslo promise by the Americans and Israelis became fully clear. Barghouti, a leader of the intifada that restored hope to a broken people. Barghouti, the scholar and thinker. Barghouti, the political strategist and unifier.' Marwan is the most famous Palestinian prisoner but it should never be forgotten that the entire Palestinian people have been held in bondage for generations. The West should force the Israelis to release Barghouti – and thousands of other hostages held by Israel. To do so publicly and successfully would be a powerful statement of future intentions. The release of one man cannot, however, change the world: it will take a genuine course correction by the West to use their collective power to force the Israelis to abandon the endless killings, starvation, land thieving and other lawlessness in the Palestinian lands. The West must stop posturing and start acting If the Western states fail to quickly move to change facts on the ground, it will suggest that the whole exercise was only intended to achieve political cover for the pro-genocidal forces of the US and the other enablers like Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Netanyahu is driving both the Palestinians and Israel to destruction. Ironically, the Palestinian Marwan Barghouti could save Israel from moral death and, simultaneously, the Palestinians from further physical destruction. He is a leader that the West and the Israelis, if they chose, could negotiate with. As Alon Liel, formerly Israel's most senior diplomat, said a couple of years ago: Barghouti is 'the ultimate leader of the Palestinian people,' and 'he is the only one who can extricate us from the quagmire we are in.' One final point: negotiating with terrorists The West has made it clear they believe Hamas are too monstrous, too terroristic to be involved in a peace process. But the West is entirely comfortable with the racist, fascist, genocidal leaders of Israel remaining at the helm of their country. There is a reason for this and one the West needs to front up to: racism and contempt for the Palestinians as a people. Barghouti and hundrds of other leaders have endured torture and worse without our side raising even an eyebrow. The recent skite videos posted by IDF soldiers committing rape-murder inside Sde Temein prison says it all - they rightly assumed their depraved criminality would be sanctioned by the state and silently tolerated by the West. War crimes are fine and no barrier to leadership if these crimes are committed by regimes that we are deeply committed to. After all, as our leaders repeatedly tell us: we share values with the Israelis. I'll give the last word to Marwan Barghouti. 'Resistance is a holy right for the Palestinian people to face the Israeli occupation. Nobody should forget that the Palestinian people negotiated for 10 years and accepted difficult and humiliating agreements, and in the end didn't get anything except authority over the people, and no authority over land, or sovereignty.' It is time to change that and to stand with humanity. Free Marwan Barghouti! Eugene Doyle
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The Spinoff
2 days ago
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Windbag: The clown car of candidates vying to be Wellington's next mayor
Twelve candidates – including at least one actual clown – have put up their hands for the worst job in local politics. As the clock struck noon on Friday, August 1, the candidate nominations closed for the Wellington mayoral race. The capital entered a new era. The transition of power has begun. By October 11 (or October 16 if it's a really close race), the capital will have a new overlord. A new man or woman will seize the chains of power – and with it, the ability to grant the key to the city to any cat they choose. There are 12 candidates in the race, ranging from very serious to not serious at all. This is my rough attempt to sort them into tiers. Serious candidates Andrew Little You know him, you love him (or more realistically, have no particularly strong feelings about him)… It's Andrew Little. The former Labour Party leader and senior cabinet minister under the Ardern government is by far the most credible and experienced candidate in the race. He has left-wing bona fides but a conservative temperament. He's unlikely to propose any game-changing reforms, but he's a steady hand who promises stability. He's announced policies to introduce a weekly cap on bus and train fares, committed to funding community facilities, and proposed some boring-but-sensible rules to make council decisions more transparent. Alex Baker Pitches himself as a Green-aligned candidate with a free-market approach to housing policy and business regulation. A former director of sustainability at Kāinga Ora and a chartered accountant at KPMG, he has solid back-room experience, but this is his first time seeking public office. He's pushing a switch to land value rates and cuts to commercial rates. He wants more bike lanes and bus lanes, further reforms to encourage high-density housing development, and an overall focus on growing the city's population. Diane Calvert A third-term city councillor, Diane Calvert entered the race after Ray Chung's campaign self-destructed, and immediately became the most credible candidate on the centre-right. She typically takes fiscally conservative stances and is a fan of more extensive community consultation on most council decisions. She has generally opposed bike lanes and the Golden Mile, and supported community projects in her Wharangi/Onslow-Western ward, such as the Khandallah Pool and Karori Event Centre. Her campaign policies so far are based around a 'back-to-basics' approach, with lower council expenditure, more regional collaboration with other councils, and a focus on suburban voices. Karl Tiefenbacher The founder of the Kaffe Eis ice cream chain and former banker has run twice unsuccessfully in Pukehīnau/Lambton ward. This year, he's seeking the mayoralty as well as running in Motukairangi/Eastern ward, which should be more receptive to his centre-right views. He's become a regular attendee at council meetings, and his opinion pieces on Scoop show a good grasp of council functions (which in this race is saying a lot). He's campaigning on reduced spending, cutting cycleways, and reforms to encourage faster housing consents and to incentivise the growth of the tech sector. Unserious candidates (who think they're serious) Ray Chung A few months ago, Ray Chung was the highest-polling candidate. Then his campaign blew up with the emergence of tawdry emails he'd written about the mayor, which he repeated in live radio interviews. He handled the backlash ineptly and candidates started fleeing his ticket so fast that Independent Together became Independent Not Together. He's campaigning on zero rates increases but has not provided any numbers to show how he would do that. Ray Chung has never been fit for office Rob Goulden Goulden was a Wellington City Councillor for four terms from 1998-2010. According to reporting by Stuff in 2009, he was accused of being 'too combative, too aggressive, too intimidating' and was eventually trespassed from the council offices. Then mayor Kerry Prendergast said councillors were concerned by 'his increasingly erratic behaviour and his mood swings' and '[Some of the] women staff will not meet with him one-to-one.' Then-councillor John Morrison, a former political ally, said he was 'unfit for public office'. Goulden is running on a fiscally conservative platform, but no one is paying much attention to him. Kelvin Hastie Came a distant sixth in the 2022 mayoral election and is running again despite doing little to grow his profile in the intervening years. Describes himself as a ' predator-free hero ' and ' community champion '. Has promoted some ambitious but questionable policies, including a six-lane tunnel underneath the CBD, a roof on Sky Stadium, and selling the council's social housing to first home buyers. Joan Shi Previously ran in the Pukehīnau/Lambton ward byelection, during which she seemed well-intentioned but didn't have a particularly strong grasp of the issues. Says she wants to fix the pipes, cut rates, and make public transport cheaper. Donald 'Newt' McDonald A beloved figure on local Facebook groups and a star guest on Guy Williams' New Zealand Today podcast. McDonald has some big ideas for how to fix the city. Unfortunately, most people struggle to understand what he is trying to say. Unserious candidates (who know they're unserious) William Pennywize (Pennywize the Rewilding Clown) Wants to turn the Basin Reserve into a swamp, repopulate the Golden Mile with moa, and use genetically enhanced tuna as the foundation for a new public transport network. Josh Harford (Aotearoa New Zealand Silly Hat Party) Campaigning on subsidised pizza delivery, publicly accessible cows, a lazy river on Courtenay Place, anti-rain dances to keep the sky sunny, a legally enforced no-hat-no-play policy, and mandatory optimism. Scott Caldwell Founder of the Scoot Foundation, which, depending on who you ask, is either a shadowy global cabal of Yimbys whose power and influence rivals the Atlas Network, or a Twitter account that he runs. He's a spokesperson for the Coalition for More Homes and is a genuine expert on housing density and infrastructure. There's just one problem: he lives in Auckland, and according to The Spinoff's sources, has only been to Wellington once.
