Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

For everyone in Auckland who bemoans our Mayor, and actually I’m not sure there are many of them left anymore or maybe they’ve just gone quiet, it could be worse. We could have Wellington’s Mayor. Now Tory Whanau has had her fair share of headlines and bad press since her arrival. There was the infamous “don’t you know who I am” alleged drunken incident at a Wellington restaurant, as well as leaving without paying the bill. She also made headlines back in June when she faced criticism for not attending meetings or events. In other words, claiming to be a busy Mayor but having a very empty diary. Apparently the events she did attend, she only stayed very briefly, or cancelled at the last minute. Then there’s her council. It has had issues with data breaches - two in fact: breaching the privacy of submitters to the Golden Mile proposal, and inadvertently releasing the names of more than 4000 people involved in road crashes. Now this is not a seasoned politician. We are talking about someone who completed