Wellington mayor Tory Whanau has announced she isn't seeking another term as Mayor and instead will run for the city's Maori ward council seat. What's her legacy as mayor, and has she made the right call?

Also, Act leader David Seymour says there are too many ministerial portfolios and government departments in New Zealand. Is he right, and what should we slash? 

To answer those questions, former Wellington mayor and DotLovesData director Justin Lester and Wellington City Councillor Nicola Young joined Nick Mills for Friday Faceoff.

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The Indian Panthers have been suspended from the NBL effective immediately - after allegations players weren't paid and were left to ask for food from a foodbank. 

The Panthers – owned by India’s INBL Pro league and CEO Parveen Batish – have had a turbulent tenure off the court since announcing they would join the New Zealand competition late last year, which in turn has led to a winless start to the season from nine games.

How does this happen - and did the NBL do their due diligence?

Weekend Sport host Jason Pine and All Sport Breakfast host Adam Cooper joined Nick Mills for the Friday Sport Kickoff. 

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It was 50 years ago today that the New Zealand Official Music Charts were launched - which also coincides with New Zealand's first official number one hit. 

Produced by Recorded Music NZ, the charts reflect the most popular singles and albums in Aotearoa each week. They are the only charts endorsed by the music industry and are compiled according to globally recognised guidelines.

The first Kiwi musician to take the top spot was Mark Williams, with his 1975 hit 'Yesterday Was Just The Begginning of My Life'. 

The artist, who now lives in Australia and performs as the frontman of Dragon, joined Nick Mills to discuss the milestone. 

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News that Kiwirail is retiring the Aratere this year has sparked questions about just how soon we will have contracts for the new Interisland ferries. 

To answer those questions, the man in charge of negotiating the new contracts, Ferry Holdings Ltd chair Chris Mackenzie, joined Nick Mills to discuss the progress. 

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Kiwirail has announced the Interislander Aratere will be retired – leaving us with just two ferries until new ones arrive in 2029. Can the country cope with a reduced ferry fleet?

Also, Finance Minister Nicola Willis has given herself barely any new money this budget,  and most of the money she has got has already been spent. Are we likely to see substantial cuts?

To answer those questions, Labour's police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and National's Wairarapa MP Mike Butterick joined Nick Mills for Politics Thursday.

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There’s a very exciting gig coming up in Wellington next week. 

Atomic 2.0 will see an all-women group of Kiwi music stars performing the hits of some of history’s greatest female artists, including Blondie, Eurythmics, Pretenders, Patti Smith, Garbage, Alanis Morissette, Hole, Joan Jett and more.

Atomic 2.0 is made up of Vera Allen, Julia Deans, Diane Swann and Boh Runga - all acclaimed Kiwi artists in their own right. 

Runga, the lead singer of Stellar, joined Nick Mills to discuss the concert. 

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Wellington is in for a month full of laughs as the New Zealand International Comedy Festival returns for another year. 

There are more than 150 shows across the month, including renowned New Zealand comedian Josh Thomson and his show Old Mate. 

Thomson, as seen on 7 Days, Taskmaster NZ, The Project and the Australian adaption of The Office, told Nick Mills the show is about how he is slowly finding himself becoming an old man - far from the young buck he used to be. 

The show comes to Wellington on the 15th and 16th of May at Te Auaha. Tickets from comedyfestival.co.nz. 

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OPINION

Tory Whanau has said no.

She's said no to standing for Wellington mayor for the three terms she always said she’d run for. She's out; she's thrown in the towel.

We won't get the exciting election campaign of Tory Whanau v Andrew Little, which I must say I was looking forward to.

And I’ll be honest; I wanted her to run. I wanted to know if Wellington as a city really believes in the green idealisms she promotes.

This election was going to tell me whether it was a flash in the pan or whether it was real. But Tory has pulled out.

What I can't quite work out is why this was announced on the same day that she stood on Courtenay Place with her brand new Bunnings shovel, digging up the ground to celebrate the start of the Golden Mile redevelopment works.

Clearly, the hole she dug was simply too big. She couldn't climb out of it.

Tory says her decision not to run is a better outcome for everybody involved. She now wants to run for the Māori ward on council.

She also told the Herald this morning she’d like to be a government Minister one day. You can make your own mind up on that one.

Now there have been rumours around Tory pulling out for a while now. Firstly, the rumour was she was going to pull out to let Justin Lester have a crack. Then Andrew Little stepped out of the shadows, and the rest is history.

So now all we can do is reflect on her legacy. And what a legacy it is.

Tory will always talk about the Golden Mile and her ambition to get the work underway. She’ll always mention the amount of work the council has done on our pipes.

She’ll mention her fight to upgrade the council's social housing, and of course she'll praise her work on building the cycleways that split the city in more ways than one. She told me she rates her mayoralty a nine out of ten.

But that’s her saying those things.

Wellington as a city will reflect on some more colourful aspects of her leadership.

The drinking; Whanau admitted to being a bit tipsy when she left The Old Quarter restaurant without paying her bill, and how can we forget the alleged 'do you know who I am' comment.

Who will forget Whanau bringing her dog into the council office. That was a no no.

And in November 2023 she publicly acknowledged having an alcohol problem following a drunken incident at a bar.

Then there was that interview on Wellington Mornings that made national news. Whanau, who earns $180,000 a year, mentioned she was selling her car to help pay her bills.

She later admitted that the car had been sold months earlier, and her comments were supposedly taken out of context.

But that’s her personal legacy. What’s her political legacy?

Well she pushed the terrible Reading Cinema deal that was going to cost Wellington City Council $32 million in a corporate welfare deal. That failed.

She advocated for the sale of the Wellington City Council’s 34% stake in the Wellington International Airport. That failed.

She got her Bunnings shovel out yesterday to dig up the Golden Mile, but most contracts still haven’t been signed and it may never fully go ahead.

I think it's fair to say most people in this city feel Wellington has gone backwards in the last three years.

That’s her legacy.

Personally, I have always had a good relationship with Tory.

Yes, she cut her connections with our programme. She felt it wasn't talking to her people, and she probably thought I was too tough on her.

But we got along. I respected her, and while I didn’t like a lot of what she did as mayor, she was a character. I did like the fact we had a character as mayor.

Unfortunately for us, it went too far. We started to be the butt of everybody's jokes.

Her decision yesterday is a bad good thing for Wellington. I’m sad we won’t have an exciting race or a strong contest of ideas.

But it means the city is guaranteed a new direction - something a lot of us have wanted for a long time.

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Tory Whanau is bowing out of Wellington's mayoral race. 

The incumbent's confirmed she'll instead stand for the council's Māori ward seat to give former Labour Leader Andrew Little a clear run. 

She says Little will do a good job, and she hopes people see her withdrawal as a gracious move. 

Whanau told Nick Mills she had to consider what was going to deliver the best outcomes for Wellington, and that meant shifting to running for council. 

She says she’ll still very much be there fighting for Wellington. 

Whanau says that while she does have a few regrets from her term as Mayor, she’s mostly proud of what she’s done.

When asked to rate her performance, she gave herself a high score.  

“If I look back on what I campaigned on, what I said I would deliver to the city, you know, I’d give myself a 9/10.  

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The Government has admitted the number of families it said would be eligible for the full $75 a week benefit of its flagship childcare tax policy was wrong. 

The government said 21,000 families would be eligible - but just 249 families had received the full entitlement since the policy came into force last year. So who is responsible for the blunder? 

Also, police have launched a wide-ranging investigation of hundreds of police recruit applicants after learning some prospective cops who failed physical tests got approval to start police college anyway. How many officers are impacted?

To answer those questions, Newstalk ZB political reporter Azaria Howell joined Nick Mills for the Beehive Buzz. 

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