Tory Whanau is probably the local body poster child for ineptitude. She's given her bye-bye speech.
She was a shambles. She may still be back, as she is standing in the Māori ward.
She seems like a person who if she wasn’t in local politics, might have trouble finding work.
She admitted, after it was too late, that she really should have done her homework before chasing the big mayoral job.
She won because too many people stood for mayor and split the vote, so by the time you deal with the appalling turnout and split the vote several times over, you need not a lot of support to get a job you weren't even qualified for any way.
But that’s local body politics, isn't it, at least at national level. Whether list or electorate, a group of experienced operators give you the once over.
Locally literally anyone can have a go and that, if you haven't worked it out yet, is a problem.
It wasn’t all her fault of course. A mayor is not a president and is but one vote. But a mayor's job shouldn’t be a "funsies" party trick because you are bored or unemployable.
There were the personal issues. That is another problem in the lack of vetting. Some people are basically just a shambles and she is clearly one of those.
That's not a crime, we all have issues. It's just advisable not to have them on display while you are trying to run things like a city.
The city is pretty much a reflection of her leadership – a mess.
Infrastructurally it's an embarrassment; level one water restriction when we are barely out of autumn, a devastated CBD and angst, fury and backstabbing having been a feature of decision making. That particular trait aired yet again in her farewell speech.
We seem to be in an era where quality in so many parts of life has gone by the wayside.
Tory Whanau is certainly an example of that. She came, she cocked it up, she flailed and flapped about like we were her psychologists as she aired her many and varied problems, then poof! She's off! Until she wasn’t.
They, sadly, rarely are.
But honestly, in a city of Kitts, Fowler, Belich (maybe even Wilde and Prendergast), ol' Tory is hardly one for the record books.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
She admitted, after it was too late, that she really should have done her homework before chasing the big mayoral job.
She won because too many people stood for mayor and split the vote, so by the time you deal with the appalling turnout and split the vote several times over, you need not a lot of support to get a job you weren't even qualified for any way.
But that’s local body politics, isn't it, at least at national level. Whether list or electorate, a group of experienced operators give you the once over.
Locally literally anyone can have a go and that, if you haven't worked it out yet, is a problem.
It wasn’t all her fault of course. A mayor is not a president and is but one vote. But a mayor's job shouldn’t be a "funsies" party trick because you are bored or unemployable.
There were the personal issues. That is another problem in the lack of vetting. Some people are basically just a shambles and she is clearly one of those.
That's not a crime, we all have issues. It's just advisable not to have them on display while you are trying to run things like a city.
The city is pretty much a reflection of her leadership – a mess.
Infrastructurally it's an embarrassment; level one water restriction when we are barely out of autumn, a devastated CBD and angst, fury and backstabbing having been a feature of decision making. That particular trait aired yet again in her farewell speech.
We seem to be in an era where quality in so many parts of life has gone by the wayside.
Tory Whanau is certainly an example of that. She came, she cocked it up, she flailed and flapped about like we were her psychologists as she aired her many and varied problems, then poof! She's off! Until she wasn’t.
They, sadly, rarely are.
But honestly, in a city of Kitts, Fowler, Belich (maybe even Wilde and Prendergast), ol' Tory is hardly one for the record books.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
5 comments:
She probably wasn’t great for Wellington but damn, I enjoyed the whole show. From hilarious beginning to laughable end - she was NZs most entertaining politician. Raise your glass for Tory and cheers love.
Yes, what a legacy, but then It could have been worse. Let's not forget she was a proponent of Adhān, the broadcasting of a call to prayer and had Council Officers investigate the cost and practicalities. Thankfully, it didn't get off the ground, unlike the cycle lanes that have made the 'Windy (and hilly) City's' tortuous traffic network even worse.
So, a case of good riddance in my book!
You could throw in incompetence, poor fiscal , people, time management. She has next to no perception of what it might look like to the voting public being pissed in public and deciding not to pay bills that shes racked up. She clearly suffers from dunning Kruger syndrome like pretty much everyone on the left side of politics does.
However despite all this Mike, as far as lefties go, she's one of the more competent. That's the scary thing about all of this. I would not be surprised if she thinks she would make a good prime Minister she's such a leftie deluded train wreck.
While radio chatter obsessively dissects Tory Whanau’s flailing farewell, the true architects of consequence operate quietly in Wellington, almost imperceptibly, yet far more potently. The Law Commission, Local Government Commission, the Waitangi Tribunal, the judiciary, and the wokistani bureaucrats do not flail. They regulate, adjudicate, and frame the moral argument, leaving traces that outlast any mayoral misstep. Supporting them are the academics who craft the narratives, the think tanks that translate ideology into policy, and the mainstream media that broadcast it with a sheen of inevitability, presenting structural change as progressive, fair, and unavoidable.
The Waitangi Tribunal insists that Māori self-determination be recognised in modern governance. This is no academic theatre; it is a blueprint for who counts, whose voices are amplified, and whose authority is acknowledged in decision-making. The Law Commission seeks to weave tikanga Māori into the very fabric of legal process, creating specialist court panels, expanding Māori Land Court powers, and embedding expert lay members to guide judges. Every case, every ruling subtly reshapes the boundaries of law and legitimacy. Meanwhile, the Local Government Commission is pushing councils to embed Māori perspectives in day-to-day operations—from planning and zoning to infrastructure and rates—ensuring ideology seeps into decisions once considered purely technical.
These institutional moves leave quieter but far more lasting impressions than a messy mayoralty. Tory Whanau may have flailed, airing personal grievances and misjudgements for the cameras, but her antics are ephemeral. The Tribunal, the Commissions, the judiciary, the academy, the mainstream media, and academics make their influence seep in like an invisible current, absorbed almost organically by the audience, who applauds without question. They move silently, yet their choices ripple outward, altering the rules, the hierarchies, and the levers of authority in ways citizens absorb unconsciously, until one day the scoreboard is not just messy—it is skewed.
The repercussions are not level-one water restrictions or a bruised CBD. They are pervasive and generational: policy frameworks that prioritise identity over competence, governance structures that elevate virtue signalling above tangible outcomes, and a civic culture where narrative consistently outweighs mastery. The consequences of embedding tikanga and tino rangatiratanga are profound and far from benign. Infrastructure, planning, rates, and the ordinary workings of councils can all be reframed by these imperceptible shifts—like gender identity being pushed in primary schools—often leaving little room for dissenting voices or practical pushback.
A city, a nation, can be quietly reoriented without fanfare, without headline-grabbing missteps, by hands far steadier, far less accountable, and far more consequential than any floundering mayor could ever be. Tory Whanau may have been the fireball of misery we all noticed, the messy exit that made for radio fodder, but the real transformation has been happening, invisible yet inexorably shaping the stage. With academics and the mainstream media playing strong supporting roles, applauding the script, it ensures nobody dares question the authors of the new civic order.
Mike, you need to tackle the issues that actually need tackling now—not dally over a soon-to-be ex-mayor sipping her favourite tipple, perhaps from her Maori ward, while plotting her next ride on the grifters’ waka.
Glib smooth tongued maori get very accustomed within maoridom to fawning unquestioning acceptance of their platitudes. To the extent that they gain considerable confiidence but without the sound critical base to cut it in the real world.
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