Mayor had just 28 minutes to digest minister's demand letter before it went public

Wednesday, 24 January 2024

Wellington mayor Tory Whanau received a new MP’s demand letter just 28 minutes before it was released publicly in what is being seen as a souring relationship between local and central government.

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown wrote to Whanau and Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy on Friday saying that they had failed to supply Wellington Water chairperson Campbell Barry, also Hutt City mayor, with details of how they planned to deal with the region’s evolving water crisis. Barry was compiling the information at Brown’s request.

Whanau’s office on Tuesday said she had responded to the request by the January 17 deadline with specific measures about how the council was going to address leaks across the city, both in the short and long term.

Wellington, suffering from decades of under-investment in pipes, is facing the real risk of water cuts this summer with a ban on sprinklers and irrigation already in place. It is estimated that the Wellington region, excluding Wairarapa, loses 44% of its water to leaks.

Brown’s letter arrived in Whanau’s inbox at 6.09pm on Friday, her office confirmed. A media release was sent out from Brown’s office 28 minutes later at 6.37pm.

Wellington Central Green MP Tamatha Paul, a former city councillor, said the letter was “the kind of political point scoring you would expect from a government who has never had a clear plan on how they will fix failing infrastructure in a climate crisis”.

“What the people want now is for politicians to stop pointing the finger and start pulling finger on our serious water issues,” she said.

Brown’s letter formally requested, under section 257 of the Local Government Act, an array of information on how the councils were dealing with the issue of water shortages.

The section can be a precursor to the minister appointing a Crown Review Team to investigate a problem.

It is understood that Whanau has met with Brown only once since National came to power and that was to draft a statement announcing the end of the $7.4 billion Let’s Get Wellington Moving transport package, which she was a supporter of.

Councillor Ray Chung said there had been a breakdown in the relationship between the council and central government but it was a relationship that needed fixing as central government funding would be needed to fix pipes and transport in the capital.

“Tory, she doesn’t get on well with the government because their values and ideology are different,” Chung said.

Councillor Diane Calvert said the council was now on “formal notice of a higher level of intervention”.

“It’s clear that the minister understands that while successive councils have deferred addressing water infrastructure needs in the city to another day, this council has not been willing to make the necessary hard choices either when it had the full facts on hand.”

Whanau responded to Brown’s letter saying the council would compile the requested information and asked for a meeting with the minister.

Whanau’s office confirmed that meeting would be Monday.

Guppy said that Brown could have made “a quick phone call” rather than putting out a media statement. He is also meeting with Brown on Monday.

Brown said he was looking forward to meeting the mayors and to receiving the information he had asked for.

“I welcome their prompt engagement on these important matters, and I look forward to reviewing the information soon.”