Green councillor’s move to halt airport share sale pits him against mayor

Wednesday, 29 May 2024

Nīkau Wi Neera talks about the importance of Wellington City Council not selling its shares in Wellington airport.

Wellington’s Green city councillors are finding themselves being told to toe the party line and oppose the capital’s Green mayor over sales of the council’s airport shares.

Councillor Nīkau Wi Neera will on Thursday put forward an amendment to the council’s long-term plan that would mean the council retaining its shares with some of the airport dividends directed into a perpetual investment fund.

The Wellington City Council is proposing selling its 34% stake in the airport in this year’s long-term plan to set up an insurance fund which could help the city in the event of a natural disaster.

Wi Neera (Green) along with councillors Laurie Foon (Green), Geordie Rogers (Green), Teri O’Neill (Labour-endorsed), Rebecca Matthews (Labour), Nureddin Abdurahman (Labour), and Ray Chung (independent) have already committed to opposing a sale, leaving them two votes short. All were asked to confirm they had not changed their mind on Wednesday.

Green Wellington City councillor Nīkau Wi Neera is finding himself up against the city’s Green mayor.

Meanwhile Iona Pannett, a former Green, on Wednesday said she was “sympathetic” to Wi Neera’s amendment, meaning he is one councillor off getting half the votes – which would give committee chairperson and sale-opponent Matthews the casting vote.

Wi Neera said he would be lobbying through Wednesday to get the votes he needed but expected all Green councillors to be true to the party’s firm opposition to asset sales.

Wellington Central Green MP Tamatha Paul said opposition to privatisation was “fundamental” to Green principles. Any Green elected member who voted for selling shares would “undermine the credibility” of the party and damage its relationship with unions, who also opposed selling the shares.

Wellington mayor Tory Whanau has found herself up against her own party over the sale of Wellington Airport shares.

The Green Party’s manifesto, signed by candidates in 2022, specified opposition to sales of shares. Whanau was not then a member of the party.

But there is a hitch: Mayor Tory Whanau ran as an independent candidate, with Green backing, though has since re-joined the Greens. She on Wednesday morning confirmed she would not support Wi Neera’s amendment and was favouring a full sale of the council airport shares.

Sarah Free, a former Green, supported the sale, which she said was swapping an investment in the airport to investment in a diversified fund. The council currently had no real power over the airport as was shown when it took the council to court over a Cobham Drive pedestrian crossing.

“We paid for both sides of that court case.”

Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul says opposing the sale of shares in Wellington Airport is fundamental to the Green party.

Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter, also a Green, said she supported public ownership of strategic infrastructure as a “general principle” but the council was in tricky position in order to be insured for a disaster.

“Decades of government ignoring the problem has caused a crunch for many councils, which Wellington is also now trying to deal with,” she said.

Councillor Tim Brown would not comment on claims he had a shareholding.

“Central government has the means to solve this problem, but I’ve yet to see the coalition solution for local government funding and financing.“

Following a Unions Wellington poll showing the majority of Wellingtonians opposed the sale, council staff last week warned councillors a no-sale could trigger a drop in the council’s credit rating (meaning increasing borrowing costs) and throw the entire long-term plan time frame into risk.

Capital projects, already consulted on in the council’s long-term plan, would have to go back to public consultation, staff warned. But the suggestion was rubbished by unions and dubbed “scaremongering” by Abdurahman.

No conflict, council boss says.

Wellington City Council boss Barbara McKerrow has confirmed “some elected members may have an interest” in Wellington’s airport’s parent company but says they don’t have a conflict of interest as the city looked to sell its stake.

Councillor Iona Pannett in a briefing last week suggested fellow councillor Tim Brown had a “large shareholding”. Brown refused to comment on Wednesday.

The airport is 66% owned by Infratil with the council owning the remaining 34%. Councillors will vote on Thursday about whether to sell the council portion.

McKerrow said elected members were required to declare pecuniary interests including shareholdings and trusts and these were put on the council website. The council would not identify the councillors involved.

Brown’s pecuniary interests do not show any direct Infratil shares. Infratil has disclosed about 60% of its total shareholders.

“Infratil Limited has issued over 838 million shares and is listed on the NZ stock exchange,” McKerrow said.

“Its holding in [the airport] constitutes 4% of its portfolio and there is no clear evidence that the value of any shares in Infratil would change as a result of a sale or partial sale by [the council].

“Given this, there is no indication that any elected member has a pecuniary conflict of interest and therefore there is nothing to prevent them from participating and voting on this matter.”