Tory Whanau's withdrawal upends race for Wellington mayor
Whanau steps aside for a united progressive front
Tory Whanau is bowing out. The Wellington mayor this morning announced she will not seek a second term, instead throwing her efforts behind retaining the city's Māori ward seat for the Greens. 'The progressive goals I have fought for are at risk this election,' Whanau said in a statement to The Spinoff, explaining she did not want a Green versus Labour contest to become a distraction. 'When I had put my name forward to run for mayor again, I was worried there were no viable candidates for mayor. Now that has changed, I can now focus on what is important to me.'
Whanau, who ran as an independent endorsed by the Greens in 2022, said she would now campaign alongside Labour's Andrew Little to ensure progressive change continued. Her announcement came just a day after launching the first stage of the Golden Mile upgrade – a project she called a 'key milestone for my mayoralty and the transformative change I campaigned on'.
A clear path for Little's mayoral bid
Whanau's exit leaves the field wide open for Andrew Little, who entered the mayoral race earlier this month and quickly reshaped its dynamics. The former Labour leader, who last night received formal backing from his party, is promising 'urgent change and serious leadership', highlighting issues like housing development and better public transport. Writing in The Spinoff last week, Joel MacManus noted that Little has positioned himself slightly to Whanau's right – supporting cycleways but advocating for a more cautious rollout, for example, and suggesting a rephasing of the Golden Mile project.
Part of Little's approach so far has been to appeal to suburban voters by emphasising investment in popular community facilities like Begonia House and Khandallah Pool. Now, with Whanau stepping aside, he can shift leftward to shore up Green-leaning voters without risking his broader centrist appeal. As MacManus argued, 'Little has genuine progressive bona fides – his key to victory will be to lean into them, not shy away.'
Achievements and stumbles mark Whanau's tenure
Tory Whanau's term in office will be remembered for both bold achievements and a series of damaging controversies. On the positive side, she spearheaded the Golden Mile revitalisation, pushed through a pro-density District Plan, secured major funding boosts for water infrastructure, and championed the construction of new cycleways and bus lanes. Her statement this morning also highlights the planting of 223,000 trees and her backing of social initiatives like Te Pā Maru, Wellington's first wet house for rough sleepers.
Yet her mayoralty was marred by persistent controversies and mounting evidence that she had 'the political radar of the Aratere', as MacManus wrote in an entertainingly exasperated column last year. Evidence for his argument included her comments on the cost of living that critics said highlighted her privilege, and her admission of a drinking problem – which managed to turn 'a baseless rumour into a major news story', MacManus wrote. The bungled attempt to sell the council's airport shares, which exposed fractures within her political base, further dented her leadership credentials.
Mayor's focus shifts to defending Māori ward
Whanau says that from today she will run for Te Whanganui-a-Tara, the Māori ward currently held by the Green Party's Nīkau Wi Neera, who will not seek re-election. Last year Wi Neera found himself at the centre of the clash over the airport share sale – first opposing, then reluctantly supporting the sale after mana whenua said they had been disenfranchised by a key clause he had signed off on. As he reflected in Oliver Neas's comprehensive post-mortem of the airport debacle in The Spinoff, he and his fellow no-vote councillors had 'messed up and didn't do our due diligence on the exact wording'.
Ultimately, the stress of navigating these tensions likely helped push Wi Neera out of local politics. Whanau this morning thanked him for his 'tireless mahi on advancing kaupapa Māori' and said she was 'incredibly excited about running for the Māori Ward at a time when Te Tiriti is under attack from central government'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
Former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern and other ministers refuse to appear in public before Royal Commission, but continue to co-operate
The second set of public hearings for the Covid-19 Royal Commission has been axed, following the refusal of key witnesses, including former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern, to appear. Those witnesses, including Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and former ministers Grant Robertson and Ayesha Verrall, continue to co-operate with the inquiry.
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
'Once A Poster Girl, Now An International Laggard': Pay Equity Appeal Goes To UN
A pay equity advocacy group is making an urgent appeal to the United Nations (UN) to investigate the government's changes to pay equity laws. The Pay Equity Coalition Aotearoa (PECA) has made a formal submission to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to investigate what it calls a "historic and deliberate regression" of women's economic and political rights in New Zealand. In its appeal, PECA outlines how the Equal Pay Amendment Act has dismantled the country's pay equity system, cancelling 33 live claims covering more than 180,000 women, many of whom are low-paid essential workers in care, health, education, and public services. The group's Dame Judy McGregor told Nine to Noon it had informed Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of the request about a fortnight ago, which had been done "in a spirit of desperation". "It's an unprecedented step," she said. After pleas to the government to review and potentially repeal the legislation, it felt dialogue between the independent CSW and the government would be useful, Dame Judy said. "Perhaps a country visit in which a committee member can hear the stories and witness personally the anger and despair… thousands of women, many of whom are Māori and Pasifika migrant women workers who really now are condemned to decades and, in some cases, a lifetime of poverty wages." The submission stated $12.8b previously set aside to address pay equity claims had been diverted by the government for other budgetary purposes. The group believed the legislation breached Article 11 of the UN's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which guaranteed women the right to equal pay for work of equal value, as well as Article 2(3)(a) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which ensured access to effective legal remedies. Dame Judy bemoaned New Zealand's reputational slide on gender equity issues. "I think New Zealand has gone from being a poster girl for gender equality now to probably an international laggard," she said. PECA alerted Luxon of the submission about a fortnight ago "as a courtesy". "Given women weren't given that courtesy in relation to pay equity, we felt at least the government should," Dame Judy said. Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Women's Minister Nicola Grigg had also been alerted. No response had been received from the prime minister's office, other than receipt of the correspondence. The group was also considering filing a complaint to the UN's Optional Protocol to the CEDAW. Union backs move In a statement, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) said it backed PECA's appeal. Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges said cancelling pay equity for more than 180,000 working women was a "flagrant attack on their economic and political rights". "PECA are right to call for action from the United Nations to ensure that Aotearoa New Zealand lives up to its reputation on the world stage. "Overnight our world-leading system was gutted without consultation or normal checks and balances. What remained in its place is a series of roadblocks, thresholds and obstacles masquerading as pay equity." NZCTU said New Zealand was once proud to be world leaders for making progress on ensuring women were paid what they were worth. "It is shameful that our government has such low regard for women's rights," Ansell-Bridges said. "This government refuses to listen. We must use every forum to pressure them to restore pay equity claims. In June I raised pay equity at the International Labour Organization conference, and support taking the fight to the UN." Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden earlier this week said the pay equity changes were made to ensure genuine instances of pay inequity are identified and resolved. "As a government, we want to be sure that the pay equity process is robust, workable and sustainable and getting the settings right for claims that demonstrate genuine sex-based discrimination," van Velden said. "Equal pay is here to stay. Pay equity remains open as a process and the law is more robust." When the changes were rolled out earlier this year, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said claims the government was "cutting pay for women" were incorrect. "Equal pay remains, no change. Pay parity remains, no change. Collective bargaining remains, no change. Settlements that have already happened under pay equity, no change." RNZ has sought comment from Peters, Griggs and Luxon.
1News
2 hours ago
- 1News
Education Minister cut Māori words from future junior books, documents show
Education Minister Erica Stanford has imposed a near total ban on Māori in new additions to a series of books used to teach five-year-olds to read. An Education Ministry report shows Stanford decided in October last year to exclude all Māori words except for characters' names from any new books in the Education Ministry's Ready to Read Phonics Plus (RtRPP) series. The paper showed the decision was driven by concern Māori words were confusing for children learning to read English though evidence of that was mixed. Stanford told RNZ the decision affected only 12 books that would finish the series, after which the series, including 27 books with Māori words, could be reprinted. The ministry's report said: "Under this option, we would not include kupu Māori in all phases of the RtRPP scope and sequence for any future books. The 13 RtRPP books currently in development do not contain any kupu Māori, apart from character names." ADVERTISEMENT It was not clear in the paper whether the books would be reprinted. "As noted above, the RtRPP resources are expected to have a lifespan in schools of approximately 10 years, so it would take several years for the books containing kupu Māori that are currently in circulation to be replaced in practice." The document showed Stanford also instructed the ministry to develop a teaching sequence in the English curriculum to help teachers prepare children to read Māori words from their second year at school. Children reading (file picture). (Source: Stanford told RNZ that would stop teaching children in mainstream classrooms to pronounce and read Māori from being "left to chance". The ministry's document said currently from Year 4, Māori words were included in the curriculum with increasing frequency and complexity. Stanford told RNZ she considered rewriting the 27 books that contained Māori words to retain only the proper nouns in Māori, but later decided against it. ADVERTISEMENT "These are very early readers that teach children to learn to read and there are already 'heart' words in there that children have to memorise in English and if there are some te reo words in there as well, then that's okay and we'll leave them as they are," she said. She described the decision as the middle position between conflicting advice. The minister's October decision included reprinting one of the books, 'At the Marae', as a big book but not as a 'reader' for children to take home — something that angered many teachers and principals in the past week. The document showed Stanford raised the issue after "experts in structured literacy approaches" told her that including two different languages in the books could confuse learners and make it harder for them to master English phonetics. The ministry's paper said evidence about that was mixed but there was a case to consider the amount of Māori words in books for children learning to read. Literacy experts told RNZ this week Māori words were part of everyday New Zealand English and did not present problems for beginning readers because their spelling was regular and their vowel sounds matched some of the English vowels. The document said 26 of the 75 Ready to Read books had up to three Māori words and a 27th, 'At the Marae', had six Māori words. ADVERTISEMENT The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including the legal fight to get a New Zealand woman and her child out of US immigration detention, sliding house prices, and Taylor Swift's big reveal. (Source: 1News) A hand-written note on the document showed the minister wanted te reo Māori introduced when children stopped using "decodable" books like the Ready to Read series, usually at the end of their first year at school or early in their second year. "I want to include in the NZC (English) a section on Te Reo vowel sounds and pronunciation to ready students for reading te reo words in school journals as previously discussed," she wrote. Stanford also noted that: "Interestingly — I asked kura leaders if they would accept English words in te reo Māori decodable books and they no. So it would be consistent to keep one language only in very early Year 1 decodable books, except for names." The ministry's paper said the Ready to Read series was designed to teach the reading of English "and the sound-letter correspondences in English". "Our advice to schools is to teach kupu Māori in RtRPP books as "told" words. The foundational skill of phonic decoding within the resources is based on the English language and students are not expected to decode the kupu Māori," it said. The paper warned the options could result in pushback from schools. ADVERTISEMENT "If we discontinue the use of kupu Māori (apart from character names) in RtRPP books, there may be a negative response and media attention. [REDACTED] In particular, recalling existing books has the potential to generate pushback." The minister wrote in response: "It's only in Year 1 decodable books that teach English and it would align with the approach taken in te reo decodables. Te Reo would be introduced immediately after the use of decodable stops which is typically end of Year 1 early Year 2 where students move on to journals."
