1. Tory Awatere Whanau was born on 1983 and is a New Zealand politician.
22 Facts About Tory Whanau
1. 2.
Tory Whanau was elected mayor of Wellington at the 2022 election.
3.
Tory Whanau was born in Porirua in 1983 and grew up in Cannons Creek, Porirua.
4.
Tory Whanau moved with her family to Patea at the age of 8, later attending New Plymouth Girls' High School.
5.
Tory Whanau graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in media studies from Victoria University of Wellington in 2006 and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business and Administration in Communication Management from Massey University in 2012.
6.
Tory Whanau's career was mainly in marketing and digital communications, with roles with financial services firms such as Axa, TWUSUPER, and Cigna, as well as the New Zealand charity Plunket.
7.
Tory Whanau entered politics in 2015 when she worked for the parliamentary wing of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.
8.
Tory Whanau resigned as chief of staff in August 2021, intending to form a public relations consultancy firm with Matthew Tukaki, Deborah Mahuta-Coyle and Nevada Halbert, but instead joined the firm Capital Government Relations.
9.
Tory Whanau announced her intention on 18 November 2021 to run for the Wellington mayoralty in the 2022 election, and formally launched her campaign on 30 June 2022.
10.
Tory Whanau ran as an independent, endorsed by the Green party.
11.
Tory Whanau did not renew her Green membership when it came up for renewal in November 2022.
12.
Tory Whanau later reversed this decision and rejoined the Green Party in 2024.
13.
In November 2023, Tory Whanau reversed her previous opposition to the Wellington City Council selling its 34 percent stake in Wellington Airport to cover the Council's financial deficit.
14.
In mid-March 2024, Tory Whanau supported a plan to permit for more housing construction in Wellington by upzoning vast areas of the city.
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Tory Whanau said this would make housing more affordable and lower emissions.
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Tory Whanau expressed disappointment with the outcome but said she respected her fellow councillors' decision.
17.
In early February 2025, Tory Whanau confirmed that the Wellington City Council would be making a major announcement on the "Golden Mile" area the following week.
18.
In early February 2025, Tory Whanau stated that she would run for re-election in the 2025 Wellington mayoral election.
19.
On 30 June 2023, a Friday evening, Tory Whanau appeared to employees to be intoxicated upon entry to The Old Quarter restaurant in Dixon Street.
20.
Tory Whanau admitted not paying her bill and being "tipsy" but denied that she had acted confrontationally towards staff members, including asking if they knew who she was.
21.
On 18 November 2023, Tory Whanau was seen intoxicated at Wellington's Havana Bar.
22.
In September 2024, Tory Whanau said on radio that she had sold her car "to help pay the bills", despite her mayoral salary of $189,799.