Perspective with Ryan Bridge: Wellington is in for a tempestuous election campaign

The Wellington Mayoral race was supposed to be winding down into boring town. 

Tory went wild, had a tipsy whirlwind on Courtenay Place. A bit of booze, a bit of dine and dashing. It was salacious, it was scandalous. 

As stories of late-night escapades and unpaid bills and missed council meetings flooded the newspapers, the streets flooded, literally. Every time a scandal burst onto the front page of The Post, so did a pipe. It was as if Wellington’s infrastructure were protesting the incompetence at City Hall. 

Poonamis. An onslaught of cycleways. Crime. And still no second Mount Victoria tunnel. 

It all came to a head, of course. Andrew Little entered the chat. Tory pulls out. 

And from here it was meant to get boring. You know in an action movie when all the crazy stuff happens, there's half an hour left on the clock, but the world's been saved by superhero XYZ? All the main cast is safe and well and life goes on happily ever after? 

That's where I thought we were with Wellington's Mayoral Race. 

Well, Wellington, you're getting a sequel – within the original.  

Mayoral candidate Ray Chung sent his colleagues an email, regaling them with a story a friend told him while he was out walking his dog. In it, he says, Tory Whanau had drug-fuelled tempestuous sex with a bunch of young guys. He also claims he was told that she had pendulous soft breasts.  

It's starting to smell a little bit like Ontario in Canada. Remember the mayor who was accused of smoking crack? Just scandal through a local election campaign. 

To get real for a minute, two things. One: Tory denies the story completely and utterly rejects it.  

Two: Ray sent this to three fellow councillors on their personal email addresses. So, it was a private email, he claims. And Ray reckons that one of those people has leaked it to Tory, who has leaked it to the press.  

So then you start to wonder, is one of Ray’s former fellow council mates now turning on him, perhaps for political reasons? I don't know the answer to that question. All I really know is that Wellington, you need some popcorn because you're in for one hell of a tempestuous election campaign.   

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Brian Breadshe so Wellington's male race was supposed to get
boring from here on out, It was supposed to get
really lame. Tory Farno came in, of course, like a
wrecking ball, her tipsy Courtney Place Wilwind took the capital
by storm. It was sallacious, it was juicy, it was bizarre.
It captivated the country. There was the don't you know

(00:21):
who I am? There was the dining and dashing at
restaurant bills. This was a movie script worthy of production.
Across the road in miramar As, stories about late night
incidents and missed council meetings flooded the newspapers. Wellington's streets
were flooding, literally, the broken and leaky pipes cracked out
of the ground, almost like the city's infrastructure was creaking

(00:44):
and moaning on behalf of all Wellingtonians. The rates rises,
the airport's sales, the broken promises, the cycle ways, still
no second tunnel through Mount vic by the way. But
then it all came to a head. Andrew Little entered
the chat Tory pools out and from here on in
it was meant to get boring. You know when you're

(01:05):
watching a movie and it reaches the climax and the
world is saved by the superhero. Everything's a little shaken up,
but the main cast is safe and happy ever after.
But then there's basically no more plot. You know, no
more juicy stuff. The plot basically ends, Well Wellington, You're
getting a sequel within the original. Meryl candidate Ray Chung

(01:25):
sent his colleagues an email regaling them with a story
a friend told him while he was out walking his dog.
In it, he says Tory Farno had drug fueled, tempestuous
sex with a bunch of young guys. He also claims
he was told that she had pendulous soft breasts. It's
starting to smell a little bit like Ontario and Canada.

(01:48):
Remember that the mayor who was accused of smoking crack.
I mean, just scandal, just scandal through an election campaign,
a local election campaign. To get real for a minute.
Two things. One, Tory denies the story completely and utterly
rejects it. Two Ray sent this to three fellow counselors
on their personal email addresses, so it was a private email,

(02:12):
he claims, and Ray reckons that one of those people
has leaked it to Tory, who has leaked it to
the press. So then you start to wonder, is one
of Ray's former fellow council mates now turning on him,
perhaps for political reasons. I don't know the answer to
that question. All I really know is that Wellington you

(02:33):
need some popcorn because you're in for one hell of
a tempestuous election campaign. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive,
listen live to news Talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.