Andrew Little has formally launched his bid to be Wellington's next mayor.
Andrew Little has formally launched his bid to be Wellington's next mayor.
Former Cabinet Minister and ex-leader of the Opposition Andrew Little has formally turned his focus to local government, officially launching his campaign for the Wellington mayoralty.
Wellingtonians have until October to make their mind up.
Little has announced “key commitments” as he aims to win the trust of the Wellington voting bloc ahead of the city’s local elections.
The Labour-backed candidate is vowing to “genuinely engage with the public on major decisions” and require all decisions under that title to be subject to community impact statements.
A number of contentious policies that sparked public outrage are addressed in Little’s campaign, amid a promise of “no cuts to library and swimming pool hours”. He is opposing some proposals on the table from the current council by promising to “save” Khandallah Pool and the Begonia House and commit an additional $1.3 million to finish the Karori Events Centre.
Current councillor Diane Calvert, who has previously run for the mayoralty, told NZME she was “shocked and frankly appalled” to see a last-minute recommendation from council officials to close Khandallah Pool.
The buildings, which have been proposed for demolition or cuts, were described as “places that bring people together” by Little in his speech.
Investment in community facilities makes up a main portion of his proposal to voters. The first projects proposed for action would be an upgrade to Kilbirnie community facilities and ensuring the Tawa library becomes a “modern community hub”.
Little has labelled spending on the facilities a “drop in the ocean”, saying the council is dealing with a nearly $5 billion capital budget over the next decade.
Speaking to a room of Labour faithful, journalists and members of the public, Little outlined his passion for “housing, climate change and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”
Little said he had spent his time listening since his decision to run for Wellington City Council’s top job, adding it was “disheartening” that many locals had gone to the council for support and have had “no real engagement”.
Putting every major council decision to a community impact statement would show who was consulted, their comments and how it impacted the outcome.
The ex-Labour MP suggested there had been “rushed decisions” and people had been shut out.
“I’ll open the doors,” the mayoral hopeful told supporters. “Under my leadership, the days of excluding the public from council meetings will be over.”
He is proposing to put the axe through the “misuse” of commercial confidentiality, claiming it often shows the council does not want to be transparent about its spending.
If he is elected, a public accountability report would be delivered each year.
Little’s campaign launch was attended by current Labour-backed councillors, along with Labour MPs Ayesha Verrall, Greg O’Connor, Ginny Andersen and Barbara Edmonds.
Former Mayor Justin Lester was in attendance, alongside ex-Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer.
Verrall, Labour’s Wellington issues spokeswoman, addressed the crowd, saying she was “very proud to call Andrew Little a friend”.
Labour MP Ayesha Verrall endorsed Andrew Little and spoke at his campaign launch, saying he had a "strong sense of commitment" to serving the public. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Before the event, current Labour councillor Ben McNulty promised Little would have policy announcements at the campaign launch to stop the city council’s “shenanigans”.
In a post to social media site X, he said people outside what he deemed a “hellsite” loathed the current council, adding “elected members have nurtured this culture”.
Little secured endorsement from the local Labour branch last month, vowing to run a “people-powered” campaign.
Azaria Howell is a multimedia reporter working from Parliament’s Press Gallery. She joined NZME in 2022 and became a Newstalk ZB political reporter in late 2024, with a keen interest in public service agency reform and Government spending.
