Legal threats, demands and mud-slinging as Wellington council mega-vote tension heats up

Tuesday, 25 June 2024

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

Comments are now open on this story, have your say below

One of the Wellington City Council’s biggest votes in years is turning into a mud-slinging match between councillors amid legal threats and concerns the mayor has put herself in legal jeopardy.

Underlying the fracas – revealed in leaked internal emails – are two linked and thorny issues: The power of the two unelected mana whenua representatives on the council and whether the council sells its 34% stake in Wellington Airport.

Those two mana whenua representatives, or pouiwi, can vote on council committee meetings but, being appointed rather than elected, do not have voting rights on the full council. The two pouiwi earlier, in committee, voted for the airport sale.

A series of heated emails between councillors since Friday included allegations some were derelict in their duties, failed to pay attention, and an email from Ray Chung to fellow councillor John Apanowicz asked, “are all bean counters as stroppy as you?”.

Mayor Tory Whanau was ill-advised to call one of the city’s biggest votes a rubber stamp exercise, a law experts says.

Chung also emailed pouiwi Holden Hohaia: “Thank goodness you’re ineligible to vote then Holden! I consider this [long-term plan] to be the height of irresponsibility for the majority of Wellingtonians and the huge rate increases are making it unaffordable to live in Wellington!”

‘What a crock,’ councillor Ray Chung fired back over the mayor’s comments.

The airport share sale, which ignited the showdown, is tied to Mayor Tory Whanau’s once-a-triennium long-term plan. It is a plan for how the council will spend and charge rates in the next decade, and begins with a rates increase of around 18% for the coming year and smaller, but hefty, rises in the following years. But also tied to it is more money for failing pipes and a myriad of other city projects.

Underlining all of it is the growing fear that the council is now so dysfunctional that the government could appoint a commissioner to take over its running.

“Be careful what you wish for – if a commissioner comes in – goodbye to democracy ask those in Tauranga how that went and continues today,” pouiwi Liz Kelly emailed councillors.

Whanau entered the email fray on Monday asking that councillors respected staff and each other and highlighted the agreement with mana whenua.

‘Be careful what you wish for – if a commissioner comes in – goodbye to democracy’: Pouiwi Liz Kelly.

“While discussions will be happening about how we manage committee and council this week, the vote on Thursday is intended as a rubber stamping exercise,” she wrote.

Chung fired back: “What a crock! Any responsible councillor should understand that this statement is further from the truth that we’d hope that the mayor would understand but obviously not!.”

Dean Knight, a Victoria University expert in public and government law, said the rubber stamp comment was “unfortunate and legally risky” as legislation made it clear a long-term plan could only be adopted by a full council, not a subordinate committee.

“It’s a pretty basic principle that decision-makers must properly exercise their decision-making power with an open mind and not surrender the decision to others by merely rubber-stamping their recommendations,” he said.

Meanwhile, Unions Wellington, which opposes the airport share sale, has written to councillor Tim Brown, asking him to withdraw from two votes this week because of an alleged conflict of interest on the issue. They are a Wednesday committee vote to send the plan to the full council, which is down to vote on it on Thursday.

Councillor John Apanowicz, an accountant by trade, was asked, ‘are all bean counters as stroppy as you?’.

“It is understood that you or as a beneficiary of a trust, hold shares in Infratil,” the letter said.

“Infratil’s 66% stake in Wellington International Airport currently makes up a substantive part of its shareholding and is regularly cited as a key investment as part of its investor bond offering presentations.”

Brown has previously refused to comment on the issue.

A Unions Wellington lawyer also wrote to council chief executive Barbara McKerrow, claiming that staff were wrongly blocking a vote on the airport share sale separate from the long-term plan vote.

The letter demanded information – on why it was being blocked – by midday on Tuesday.

“If it is not provided, further steps will be necessary that day,” the letter warned.

But Whanau, in a written statement on Monday afternoon, ruled out taking the vote separately.

'It would be unprecedented and go against our commitment to te tiriti if elected members attempted to relitigate democratically made decisions without our [mana whenua] voice at council.“

Back in 2021, then-councillor Sean Rush switched sides and voted for mana whenua on council. He later explained his reasoning, which included the fact that the mana whenua representatives could only vote in committees.

“The full elected council always has the final decision-making authority, thereby preserving democratic accountability in any event,” he said.