Wi Neera said today that the process had been “horrible” and he feared that by selling its airport shares the council would “betray that promise” to keep its assets.
The situation has caused some councillors who have always been opposed to selling to feel they are unable to support the council’s long-term plan.
The plan passed by nine to seven. The nine members of the council in favour were Mayor Tory Whanau, John Apanowicz, Tim Brown, Laurie Foon, Sarah Free, Rebecca Matthews, Teri O’Neill, Iona Pannett and new councillor Geordie Rogers.
Brown suggested the “disunity” around the council table in recent weeks was disappointing.
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has previously warned it would be a “significant issue” if the council could not pass its budget. O’Neill commented that the Government had been keeping “an eye” on the situation, with a risk of intervention had the plan not passed.
On the plan passing, minister Brown said today: “Ultimately councils are elected to make decisions around their budgets. They’ve done their job today.”
On whether councils should own airport shares at all, Simeon Brown said: “Those are all decisions for councils to make. And when they’re looking at decisions around the long-term plan, asset recycling, all of those issues should be on the table as they make those decisions.”
Brown congratulated the Wellington council for getting its long-term plan passed.
Randle said he was “not proud” of being in a progressive council, due to relatively high rates increases, responding to praise of the city from O’Neill. Randle called for “more information” on big-ticket items.
While speaking in favour of her changes to the long-term plan, to set out proposals for rephrasing potential expenditure, councillor Diane Calvert suggested some people on the council were “exploiting democracy”. Her bid to make the changes was not voted through.
Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman, who has been opposing the sale of the airport shares, suggested the process at the council table has been “grubby”, “undemocratic”, and “poisonous”. Fellow councillor Ben McNulty, who also opposed the sale, suggested this day was the “beginning of the end” of several political careers. He suggested Green Party supporters would not support Whanau’s re-election.
McNulty called the long-term plan a “political obituary” in a fiery speech opposing the blueprints.
Matthews suggested people had been acting like “a d**k” in recent weeks. O’Neill said it was a “damn shame” seeing the behaviour, which she feared would cause “employment disputes”.
Airport share sale could be stopped later this year
At yesterday’s committee meeting, McNulty asked council officials what options were available to stop the airport sale.
Chief financial officer Andrea Reeves said if the long-term plan was signed off, including the airport sale, officials would report back to the council in December with recommendations outlining the process to sell the shares.
She confirmed councillors would have an opportunity at this time to say they didn’t want to progress.
Calvert successfully passed an amendment to “note that an agreement to sell the council’s shareholding in Wellington International Airport Limited remains subject to recommendations and a final decision”.
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022, and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform, and transport.
