ROSEMARY ABBOTT | National
TORY FROM TURNERS
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has been working overtime today—not at Wellington Council, but at Turner’s Cars.
A spreadsheet blinked ominously on her laptop as she crunched the numbers. How many cars could she offload before Chris Luxon and his “pretty concerned” government swept in to take control of Wellington City Council?
“I think if I sell five Mazdas by the end of the day, we’ll cover the shortfall in the library refurbishment,” she muttered, typing frantically into a demanding excel spreadsheet. “Maybe seven if I throw in some floor mats.”
It had been a tough few weeks for Mayor Whanau. First, her public revelation that she’d sold her own car to help pay bills had set off a media frenzy. Now, after the Council’s dramatic decision to block the sale of its 34% share in the airport, the PM is concerned that he and the National Government will have to step in.
“If I can just sell a few more of these Suzuki Swifts, we might be able to avoid another rates hike,” she said, flashing a hopeful smile at a couple browsing the lot, trying to appear unphased by Luxon and Simeon Brown calling her Council “a shambles”
“Government intervention?” she laughed, leaning on the hood of a Honda Civic. “Not on my watch. Not if I can sell 50 more cars by Friday.”
More to come.
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