Tory Whanau 'glad' to see new mayoral candidate Alex Baker enter race
Wellington's current mayor Tory Whanau.
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wellington's current mayor Tory Whanau says she's "glad" to see another mayoral candidate in the race, saying many in the community have been disappointed by some of Andrew Little's public comments.
"We have a new progressive mayoral candidate in the race," Whanau posted on social media on Monday morning.
"I'm glad to see more people putting themselves forward - it's healthy for democracy and shows that people care about the future of our city."
That
progressive candidate
is former director of sustainability at Kāinga Ora and Chartered Accountant from KPMG Alex Baker.
He said what had driven him to join the race was that he didn't feel like his values were represented by the other candidates.
Green-backed Whanau had announced she was no longer seeking re-election after Labour-backed Little entered the race, saying she did not want a Green vs Labour battle.
"While I cleared the way for Andrew Little, I've been hearing from many in the community who are disappointed by some of his public comments, particularly regarding the Golden Mile. I believe that may be why we've now seen a progressive candidate enter the race," she said in Monday's post.
Mayoral candidate Alex Baker.
Photo:
Supplied
Andrew Little said he supported the Golden Mile in principle.
"Where I differ is that before pressing go I would want to be confident the businesses in our CBD can survive the disruption and I'd want to run the ruler over the contracts to limit the risk of cost blowouts and delays," he said.
"The council needs to rebuild trust. That means doing a better job of listening to the communities affected by decisions and keeping a firmer grip on the costs of major projects so we don't see any more blowouts like the Town Hall," he said.
In the post Whanau also said it was also notable that only men had put their names forward for the role so far.
"I've spoken openly about how the role has become increasingly untenable, and I know many women have been discouraged by what they've seen me experience firsthand."
Others vying for mayor include Former Labour MP Andrew Little, current city councillor
Ray Chung
along with Karl Tiefenbacher, Kelvin Hastie, Rob Goulden and Graham Bloxham.
Nominations are open until 1 August.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Tory Whanau 'glad' to see new mayoral candidate Alex Baker enter race
Wellington's current mayor Tory Whanau. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Wellington's current mayor Tory Whanau says she's "glad" to see another mayoral candidate in the race, saying many in the community have been disappointed by some of Andrew Little's public comments. "We have a new progressive mayoral candidate in the race," Whanau posted on social media on Monday morning. "I'm glad to see more people putting themselves forward - it's healthy for democracy and shows that people care about the future of our city." That progressive candidate is former director of sustainability at Kāinga Ora and Chartered Accountant from KPMG Alex Baker. He said what had driven him to join the race was that he didn't feel like his values were represented by the other candidates. Green-backed Whanau had announced she was no longer seeking re-election after Labour-backed Little entered the race, saying she did not want a Green vs Labour battle. "While I cleared the way for Andrew Little, I've been hearing from many in the community who are disappointed by some of his public comments, particularly regarding the Golden Mile. I believe that may be why we've now seen a progressive candidate enter the race," she said in Monday's post. Mayoral candidate Alex Baker. Photo: Supplied Andrew Little said he supported the Golden Mile in principle. "Where I differ is that before pressing go I would want to be confident the businesses in our CBD can survive the disruption and I'd want to run the ruler over the contracts to limit the risk of cost blowouts and delays," he said. "The council needs to rebuild trust. That means doing a better job of listening to the communities affected by decisions and keeping a firmer grip on the costs of major projects so we don't see any more blowouts like the Town Hall," he said. In the post Whanau also said it was also notable that only men had put their names forward for the role so far. "I've spoken openly about how the role has become increasingly untenable, and I know many women have been discouraged by what they've seen me experience firsthand." Others vying for mayor include Former Labour MP Andrew Little, current city councillor Ray Chung along with Karl Tiefenbacher, Kelvin Hastie, Rob Goulden and Graham Bloxham. Nominations are open until 1 August. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Federated Farmers campaign against pine tree planting initiative
Federated Farmers have put up a billboard in Wellington claiming "sheep are not the problem". Photo: Supplied Sheep farmers have stepped up their campaign against the government's reliance on planting pine trees to offset emissions. Under the existing Emissions Trading Scheme, planting pine trees for carbon credits is causing land to be repurposed, as it is generally more profitable to plant pine trees than to farm sheep. Parliament's own environment watchdog has questioned successive governments' reliance on planting trees to meet climate targets. Now, Federated Farmers have put up a billboard in Wellington, claiming "sheep are not the problem". Meat and Wool chair Toby Williams said farming families were being pushed off the land and it was destroying rural communities. He said between 2017 and 2024, more than 260,000 hectares of productive sheep farming land were lost to pine trees. The national sheep flock had reduced from more than 70 million sheep in 1982, to fewer than 25 million sheep today. Federated Farmers wants the government to review the ETS. The government made a series of changes to the legislation in December last year, with the goal of limiting the amount of full farm to forestry conversions. Williams told Midday Report farmers were "really grateful" for those changes, but class 7 land - considered "non-arable" - still had no limit on how much of it could be registered within the ETS. "Quite often what we find is people don't regard that land to be very profitable, or driving a good return, but it's where our ewes live, and our cows live. It's producing the lambs and the calves that we then process into meat," Williams said. New Zealand is the only country in the world that allows 100 percent carbon offsetting through forestry, with other countries putting restrictions in place. Climate change minister Simon Watts has been approached for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- RNZ News
Save our Sheep campaign erects billboards near Beehive
environment farming 25 minutes ago Billboards have gone up in full view of the Beehive and government offices in Wellington in a bold message to politicians to stop sheep farms being replaced by carbon forestry. Federated Farmers Meat and Wool Chair Toby Williams spoke to Charlotte Cook.
