Wellington mayor Tory Whanau confirms she did not sell car to ‘pay the bills’

Sunday, 22 September 2024

Tory Whanau dodges salary and car questions in an interview with The Post after sharing she sold her car in the cost of living crisis.

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has confirmed she did not sell her car to pay the bills before her office clarified that, in fact, she did.

Whanau, who is on a $189,000 salary, told Newstalk ZB last week she was “feeling the crunch” of the cost of living crisis and increased mortgage rates.

“I’ve just sold my car recently to help pay the bills and I walk to work again. My mortgage rates have doubled in the last few years,” she said.

“So I’m feeling the crunch as well but I do acknowledge the privilege I have.”

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau says she did not mislead people over her claims about selling her car.

But she told Jack Tame in an interview that screened on TVNZ on Sunday morning that she “actually didn’t” sell the car to help pay the bills. The real reason she sold the car was because Wellington was a “walkable city” and she did not need a car.

But she insisted she “didn’t mislead people” and it was a case of her being “very generous” with her time in granting an hour long interview to Newstalk ZB. The issue was a “distraction, she said.

Tame, after the interview, read a statement from Whanau’s office saying she sold the car to help with her mortgage, but also because she had moved to a townhouse and did not need a car.

Whanau also told Tame Wellington rates “will start to decrease over time”. In reality, the council’s 10-year plan shows percentage increases are planned for rates for each of the next 10 years. What will decrease if the amount they increase each year.

She also told Tame an October 10 vote to stop the sale of Wellington Airport shares would likely succeed, before later clarifying that it would likely fail.

Failure to get consensus to sell the shares would be a “failure” of her leadership, she said.