Wellington mayor Tory Whanau says attendance criticism is ‘gendered’
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau has labelled criticism of her leadership as “attempts at trying to attack my character”.
Whanau has faced scrutiny for her absence at civic events and meetings, including a meeting of the regional mayor’s forum.
But the mayor thinks the focus on her attendance is undue, and largely because people don’t like what she represents as a young Māori woman in council.
“Actually, I gave an apology to a couple of big meetings for quite serious reasons and now it’s turned into ‘absent Mayor’ when that is absolutely not the case,” she said in an interview with Newshub Nation.
Oh dear.
The moment you start blaming resentment towards your leadership along purely Identity lines, it’s kinda the beginning of the end.
Tory’s ill judged interview on The Nation (why does anyone go The Nation – it is poorly watched and will only hurt you if they get a ‘gotcha’), Tory laments not being able to party and sees any criticism of her as targeted because she is a Māori woman.
While there certainly is a segment of NZ who are naked bigots, the culture war resentments that her former Green Party are stoking is a wider issue here than Tory’s gender.
Now while those allegations can be made towards 90% of the feral abuse thrown at Jacinda, Tory ain’t no Jacinda and her attempt to martyr herself in this manner is eye rolling in the extreme.
As the former Green Party Chief of Staff, she is connected to their woke crusades whether she likes it or not, but it is her desire to party and justify her absences from her Mayoral duties that are going to be the biggest problem for Tory…
“I’m 40, I’m single, I love our hospitality scene and every couple of weeks I love to head out with my mates and hit a couple of bars and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that,” she told Newshub Nation.
“Saturday night should I be in the office? Well no, that’s just silly.
“I’m entitled to a private life. I’m entitled to have a little fun with my mates and there are some people who take issue with that,” she said.
…As Mayor, she is a public servant and defending her absences from official duties because she needs a social life will antagonise her electorate as much as her claim that any criticism of her is because she is a Māori woman.
If she is making these excuses this early in her Mayoralty, it is a bad omen for the future.
The interview was very ill judged, how she has decided to defend herself is poorly judged and her justification for not making appearances, while painfully Millennial, will go down like a lead balloon with everyone else.
Who are her advisors? The Green Party?
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Only watched part of her interview. When mayors start defending themselves effusively or aggressively on television, it’s not a good look, especially when seemingly based on the identity politics which have become not just wearying, but socially divisive. I blame the Greens for this.
But it was the meagre grants of apparently $500 each from the Mayoral Relief Fund, to the damaged and deprived survivors of the terrible Loafers Lodge fire, which shocked me too. It’s winter now, and becoming colder by the day. Op Shops can provide great buys, but not when items of clothing and shoes are needed instantly, and second- hand underwear is never available, let alone the very personal requirements which individuals may need for themselves, as well as the sudden unexpected expenses involved in finding and establishing a new place to call home. The City Mission appears to be providing much-needed support, but the seemingly culpable Wellington City Council should be more realistic, and the so-called Ministry of Social Development, cannot be relied upon to to perform in the responsible and compassionate way which one would expect in a decent society. Tory is young, and perhaps that’s why she hasn’t appreciated the big picture here. She’s welcome to enjoy herself and to party, but kindness and generosity to intensely vulnerable persons whose lives have been so shattered, would be the hallmark of a good mayor, IMO.
Being Green, woke crusades are part of her DNA. And who could not see this coming?
Obviously the shit has hit the fan when the Nazi’s of the 21st century, “white men”, started asking questions about road closures, parking loss, 30km/hr speed limits, “pop up” Marcel Marseau slams closing main roads and bike lanes everywhere. I.e. Green/urban liberal aging – uni student – orgasmic nirvana that Auckland came perilously close to experiencing, especially if Simon Wilsons fantasies were anything to go by. All the while smashing these Nazi’s and any other person remotely affected with 12% rate rises she promised she wouldn’t do and dedicating only a 3rd of the budget she promised, for water infrastructure replacement. Cost of living crisis anyone?
You know she’s toast when she started trotting out the gender race cards. She ain’t got nothing!
Tory is simply ‘living her truth’ as the adolescents say, and all criticism is because of her identity (sarc).
Liz Gordon used to pull the same stunt here on TDB. If the woke nonsense she posted met with negative reactions, she’d complain about a “gendered discourse”.
Yes, agreed PPII…Tory/Liz Gordon/ALL women posting on The Standard especially the vile Weka, plus many others have the ‘shield of sanctimony’ (I’m a woman, do not dare disagree) and use it aplenty when a male disagrees with their view point (‘mysoginy’ and ‘mansplaining’ is useful to them when it’s a male frequently also).
If a woman disagrees….ohhh my, she is a traitor to their gender (yes, the irony) and a National supporter lol
Tory has played the Maori card early, it’s downhill from here now.
The problem in Auckland and Wellington is e a toy the same.
The media says the problem is an old white sis male and his mates and in Wellington it is old white sis male and …. females.
Interesting, a more diverse problem I Wellington …..
I miss Liz Gordon here!
Martyn – She won Wellington Mayorship by default, due to the Right fielding 2 strong candidates which cancelled themselves, while the left had her…she is on very thin ice….
Nathan I recall that In her first electioneering picture, Tory posted cheesecake, as Green femmes tend to do in their photographs. If the then Wellington mayor, Andy Foster, or any other male candidate had done likewise, they would have been laughed out of town. But it worked for her.
Agreed
“What don’t I just get a massive salary for winning an election? You mean I have to do stuff too? That’s just racist!”
Look. Shes bloody useless. Whatever gender she is or wants to be.
PS. I suppose the obvious clue is in her name. A contradiction in both name and meaning.
She is all about her publicity and image and not about the mayoralty. Show her an photo-opportunity and she is out there.
Wellington’s Green Party mayors have been disastrous. What have they actually achieved? (Other than inexplicably ripping out the trolleybus lines.) I can only think of the failures, and continued decay and decline, not any actual achievements.
Unfortunately Tori needs to understand that women in politics are always hated no matter the colour, creed or ideation. They especially hate the left leaners and barely tolerate the rest.
Queeny. Fran Wilde did well as both Mayor of Wellington and as a Parliamentary politician was not hated, and critiqued only for her support of the gay community, a far cry from the lunacy of the current transgender scenarios. Whetu Tirakatene-Sullivan was an admired, dignified and elegant long- serving Maori woman politician, who also successful combined motherhood with her political duties and produced accomplished offspring. Mabel Howard was held in great affection, and I think occupied a mundane state house in the eastern suburbs as a minister; Elizabeth McCombs was another, who I think replaced her deceased husband, and in her electorate was regarded as replacing him well. These were all left-wing Labour politicians, and there’ll be others. Tori disengaged herself from the Green Party, but the leanings of the Greens are not easily identifiable, even by themselves.
Very cool
Is Tory Maori? I hadn’t noticed.
I had so much hope for this young woman. A new era in local body politics and the absolute antithesis of what is happening in Auckland with the fragile and mentally unwell, Wayne Brown. Wellington did so well. She is smart, she is woman and she is Maori. What is not to love? Why does she have to ruin it all by having the same cavalier approach to her role as the aforesaid Mayor of Auckland? I lost patience with the silly, self serving Labour MP who defected in addition to the pompous Green member. Get over yourselves!! Be a little humble. You opted to be a public servant – a PUBLIC GOOD a SERVANT LEADER – now PROVE IT.
Booohoohoo sob sob they gave me a hard time because I want to fuck up Wellington with my woke plans and now I’m sad and upset and they shouldn’t give me a hard time because I’m maori and I’m single and I’m a woman and I’m a greenie boohoohoohoo sob sob.
Maybe she should swap and be mayor of Auckland? Or maybe she should start eating some concrete.
I think it’s important to note that all of the negative downstream effects of this cultural psychosis only impact woman. Males aren’t worried about woman entering male sports divisions. Malese are not worried about females entering male prisons. Males aren’t worried about woman entering male toilets or running as mayor or prime minister. The same is not true the other way around and why? Because sexes is not the same and everyone knows it. I don’t know if anyone knows this but male prisoners are getting into female prisons and suddenly female prisoners are getting pregnant.
Woman just can’t work to the same standards as men. They can’t do 80 hour weeks. Jacinda could cause she had a whole family playing the role of mother woman who hate men don’t have that luxury. Tory Whanau is super delusional. She may have her shit together. She may have children. She may go out with her friends at 40 years old and do whatever she wants but she’s going to be ruled out as a long term partner.
We are allowed to believe in whatever we want whether that belief is acceptable or not. But whate you’re not allowed to do is force everyone else to believe in that. It goes for absolutely everything it goes way beyond scheduling issues it’s our religious beliefs, political beliefs and so on. But if I was to come and now try and to force everyone to believe that single mothers can work to the same standards as a two parent household and force all the beliefs of single women I wouldn’t have the right to believe in the work ethic of single mothers when everyone can see Tory Whanau is cancelling high profile meetings with people who control greater portions of wealth.
She’s just absolutely delusional and has no accountability.
Yes she sounds like she could be Wayne Brown, apart from it being partying not tennis. He gets asked about flood response and retorts that it’s not his job to grab a bucket?????His defence for being a complete wanker is the left and the media. Tory’s is race and gender.
Eventually when you go all the right, and all the way left you realise it’s a circle. I think Hitler is a great example of this.
Like old white men don’t hit the gin and tonic at the gentlemen’s club when they ran the city.
They did not blame their failure on their critics.
What is it with many women and Maori in leadership positions.
Especially elected ones with a left leaning.
Anything not positive is met with victimhood statements.
Jacinda was a prime example. To be fair she was not the apologist , but many, including Bomber trotted out the…you are picking on her because she is a women…
What a load of bollocks.
Harden up or dont play in the sandpit.
Wayne Brown is getting shit because he is a white male.
Dont see anybody moaning about…. he is being picked on because of his gender or race.
I am so sick of women getting into prominence trying to play the strong effective woman showing concern for all vulnerable with great force; and at same time the victim woman with people not being fair to her, and demanding that everyone be in obeisance to the woman goddess who can never be wrong, never be criticised. The play ends up being a function of the ‘it’s all about me and getting my rights that I have just determined’, and if you aren’t with me, you’re against me. Method can also be applied, with added quirks, to other genders, and gender-benders.
End of rant!
Grey Warbler Playing the victim is very much a woke ploy, with all sorts of people like Prince Harry and spouse doing it, including tossing out racist accusations and gender machinations to try and garner sympathy, and power. It’s a dynamic we neither need nor can afford in local government. They all need to grow up or go.
I know a lot of people who work in community support roles for a fraction of what Tory gets with her generous package and work long hours including weekends to make ends meet. A social life is fine provided you have done the work required. Only people on a mayor’s , MP’s , or Wellington woke management six figure salaries can afford to socialise in bars and eat in restaurants without having to put the bill on after pay.
I saw her for the first time when she was interviewed after the hostel fire that claimed six lives. I picked up no real empathy or answers for the destitution that forced these men to be in a building that was unsafe and did not know how many other in Wellington were the same.
It was a typical out of touch neo liberal speech that Chipkins and Luxon and their entourage gave when they came down for their publicity appearance.
Obviously not all aspects of the mayor’s job including attending meetings is a priority for Tory.
Good to see she is supporting Wellington’s expensive hospitality scene by her famous appearances and definitely no after pay needed here.
No feral abuse here just accountability.
Mosa. A bizarre thing about Whanau’s and Hipkins’ initial response to this terrible fire, was their rabbiting on about how diverse Newtown is. Diversity is a current political buzzword, but it didn’t gel in the circumstances. James Shaw’s anger came much closer to how good men do react.
Good observation.
Hopefully much of that anger was directed inward. That is the test of the man.
I would rather watch the Platform with Mike Laws on one of his shifts than the Nation. Hey at least she was honest.
What relevance is there, in Tory being a woman?
The only reason I can think of, is so Chippy is aware.
Otherwise irrelevant! Get on and do your job, which by the way involves listening to your constituents, not dictating to them.
Voting is no joke. The people who raised her up and elected her have equal blame are they are of such high quality I know Auckland rate payers aren’t those scummy landlords.
I watched the first part of the interview; I did not get that she was partying instead of attending council meetings , just that she felt disapproved of for the former and criticised for the latter.but not that she was partying when any meeting was in progress. Two seperate issues I think.
I’m sure there’s plenty of criticisms to make but lets restrict them to reality eh!
D J S
David Stone. Whanau featured in some publication partying for her 40th in a specially made slightly revealing frock; Ardern accepted freebie designer clothes allegedly to showcase New Zealand frocksters when she could have showcased them equally well by paying for them. This is celeb type behaviour which it’s hard to imagine Fran Wilde or Annette King indulging in, although I think ghastly Paula B also came close, boasting to a National Party conference about the high cost of her shoes. Newly elected Golda Meier turned up to address the UNO wearing the only reasonable dress which she owned, an old shabby black verging on green; looks like she had different priorities.
Andrea Vance reported on Tory missing meetings and events in Stuff.
The Nation interview was an attempt to whitewash Tory.
She must do better.
The frock and a party! It is a diversion.
Few begrudge her, her privilege. I thought she looked glamorous.
Tory, you can be glamorous and do your job.
it looks like another pollie who has spent years sitting in the ‘right’ commitees and has at last got the lollies.
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