Tory Whanau is Out of Touch with Struggling Ratepayers

Responding to Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau’s comments regarding Chief Executive Barbara McKerrow on NewstalkZB this morning, Taxpayers’ Union Policy Adviser, James Ross, said:

“The incompetent Wellington City Council Chief Executive was last year granted an almost $50,000 pay rise, and Mayor Whanau has the gall to claim that this amount “really is nothing”.

“Tory Whanau would do well to remind herself that 16 residential ratepayers’ entire rates bill for the year is not “nothing”. Wellington residents struggling through a cost-of-living crisis need to look no further than this to see the disdain in which they are held by senior figures at their own council.

“Defending this inexcusable payout by claiming that Chief Executive Barbara McKerrow is a high performer simply doesn’t stack up. Instead, McKerrow has time and again prevented the flow of official information to elected representatives in what seem to be attempts to push her own agenda, leading to repeated budget blowouts such as the extra $147 million rushed through for the Town Hall in October.

“Whanau insists the council has been well managed, but the crumbling roads, leaking pipes and dying high street whilst hundreds of millions are wasted on senseless vanity projects tell a completely different story.”