Tim Brown: Wellington City Councillor pushes back on the Government's potential intervention

A Wellington City Councillor is not convinced the Government will intervene - and is defending the Council.

The Local Government Minister's taking advice on potential intervention.

Councillors must find cost savings after u-turning on plans to sell the 34 percent stake in Wellington Airport - estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Councillor Tim Brown says there is no ongoing dysfunction.

"I would definitely bet a beer on them not intervening - but that depends on us being able to sort the problem ourselves. If we can sort the problem, why would they intervene?"

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, good afternoon.

Speaker 2 (00:00):
It sounds increasingly like the government is planning to intervene
in Wellington City Council after the council's failure to pass
the long term plan. Now, a series of government ministers
have been pretty clear on what a mess they think
the place is.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
Well, it's the shambles.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
We're pretty concerned about it. If I'm honest, it doesn't
look great. Their long term plan looks at risk.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Will continue to monitor it and if we have to
make an intervention we will. Well, I think shamozzle is
the best description of it, and I think well and tiny.
It's a pretty concerned about it.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, I think the first step is the government can
put an observer on there. That would be a good start.
Toriy Fano didn't want to talk about this today. She
dodged our questions in a statement saying she's focused on
delivering a long term plan and we'll be meeting with
counselors this week to work on it. Wellington City councilor
Tim Brown is with us, Hey, Tim, good after.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
What do you reckon? Sounds like they're going to intervene, No.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
It doesn't. It sounds like they go to observe what's
going on, and they go to see whether we could
fix it the problems.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Ourselves with a crown observer.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Without a crown observer, a crown observer is just a
gallery that some of the politicians around our sol table
will play to. So a crowd observer would be a
major disruption. It would not have any way help the
councilors solve the problem. The councilors need to sit down
and arrive at a majority vote for a district plan
and then remember that that of course be sorry long

(01:16):
term plan. Remember that we actually did get the vote.
We're back in May. We all voted and we passed
a long term plan. And unfortunately last week that our
long term plan was unsettled by the decision about the
airport shares. But what's Tory and is going to have
to try and do is actually get a majority of

(01:37):
counselors to agree on the cuts necessary to effectively balance
the budget.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
So you think you don't think they're going to put
a Crown observer and observer.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
I would say, listening to what those comments which you
just heard, would indicate to me that the Council's future
is in its own hands. If the council laws can
solve the problem and can actually arrive at the numbers
fifty one percent of the voted. Other words, to actually
get a new long term plan through, then the government
will sit back and let us do it ourselves.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
What are you basing on? Is this just a vibe
if you talk to someone.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
I haven't spoken to anyone, but.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Because it looks like they're gonna intervene.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
Him, Okay, Well, I mean you know, I of course
don't won't have anybody if they're intervene because if they
fire us, all I won't be paid. I'll definitely look,
I mean I would have to say that I would
definitely better bear on them not intervening, and and but
but that depends on us being able to sort out

(02:41):
the problem ourselves. If we can sort out the problem,
why would they intervene.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, this is a good point, although I wonder if
it's a bigger problem than just the long term plan,
and it's the ongoing dysfunction I suspect is the problem.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
But it's not. No, no, no, there is no long
term There is no ongoing dysfunction. I mean that's just
political state three are looking about.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Look at the situation with the reading cinemas where you
had the council basically trying to stop counselors allegedly leaking
the information, trying to hold meetings behind the scenes away
from the public's prett dysfunctional.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Mate.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Look, you've got a small group of counselors who have
behaved extremely badly throughout the entire two years of this
council and and you know, full power them. They regard
that as their political mandate to actually sort of try
to break the rules and generally sort of vot all
over blaming them.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
And I understand that you might be upset at their behavior,
but that would suggest that you're totally comfortable then with
the shenanigans that was going on with Reading Cinema.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
So what shedeigans? They're leaking information that was that was
expressly provided on a confidential basis.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Okay, sheneigans like like like wanting to give this money
to a Nasdaq listed company to be able to renovate
its building.

Speaker 4 (03:53):
That's bullshit, that's bullshit, as you are. No, No, No,
that's not shedanigans. Are you serious that that was never
the deal? The deal there was that Wellington City Council
would effectively provide a subsidy if Reading could actually get
the could produce one hundred million dollars to actually redevelop
that complex. It was a very cheap way for the

(04:16):
Wellington City to actually vitalize in order to find which Yeah,
so we were selling one ground lease that we're.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
Buying another ground.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Your rate going to fund it.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
Do you know how much mooty we put into the St.
James Theater which is across the road. I don't sixty
where the Washington City Council. The Wellington City Council put
sixty million dollars into the Saint James Theatre so that opera,
lovers and the light can actually go along in the
lovely theater. We were going to put a total the
present value of the subsidy that we were going to

(04:49):
put in Reading was about seven million, and so a
completely different demographic would be able to actually enjoy that entertainment.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
But even if you could, even if you think that's
a good decision, that decision was going to be kept
from the public. It was going to.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
Be It was never going to be kept from the public.
It was the process, the process of agreeing to provide
council offices with a mandate to be able to actually
go ahead and negotiate. The final decision was going to
be completely public. Everything was going to be on the table.
And how are you.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Okay with this?

Speaker 1 (05:21):
Mate?

Speaker 2 (05:21):
You are a businessman and you're saying it's okay that
rate payers only find.

Speaker 3 (05:26):
Out when it's a fad, a complete No, it was
not going to be fat a cop. Well yeah it
wasn't it might have been, It might have been.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
But I mean, but okay, you're making a case for
having observer coming this This place sounds.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
Like no, no, no, no, you're going Look, I mean
this is like you go through you go through the
rubbish bent and you're finding something that last year it's
fish and chip paper. I mean, talk about what's in
front of us now, and justifying government at the veating
and disregarding the democratic rights of Wellingtonians to actually have
been a bitterly a bunch of clowns around the Nelson.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
It is rich how from you that you are saying
anything about democratic rights when you people are prepared to
hide your decisions until the decision is made.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
There was a look about it. Can you find something
new to complain complain about?

Speaker 2 (06:13):
You want something else here? What about this which council
in the Wellington region is putting less money into fixing
the pipes than Wellington City Council.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
Let me just point out that I am the Wellington people. Okay, okay,
which Wellington City, which Wellington Regional Council has provided, is
fully funded Wellington Water limited to actually correct its leaks.
Wellington City Council. If you happen to look at the
most recent report which they provided us, we are one
of only two councils who is fully funded their requests

(06:44):
and respective leg reduction. Let me finish, and we have
the lowest level of leaks on our network of any
other city in the Wellington region. We have the lowest
level of leaks. We have fully funded.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
Our telling me, are you telling me.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
I've got to did their report?

Speaker 2 (07:03):
I've got to do Therefore, because because you're here and
I can ask you, are you telling me that you
have fewer leaks in Wellington than carpety.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
As we have. We have lower hands, we leak less water,
We leak less water, a lot less water than the
other councils. We have the lot we are also in
terms of our reductions, we have a target. Wellington City
has a target of reducing our water consumption by seven

(07:34):
million leaders a day. We are on target to achieve
that outcome. We are the only city in the Wellington
region on target to achieve its water reduction goals.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
Tim, thank you for talking to me and and you
better start put your money aside for that beer, because
you're going to have.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
To buy me one.

Speaker 3 (07:51):
You're gonna have to buy me one.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Thank you to appreciated Tim Brown, Wellington City Councilor for
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