Mayor’s tipsy night on the town is not a private affair
Being in a public role and in charge means always being in the spotlight
The thing about being the Mayor of Wellington is that you’re always the mayor, whether you’re chairing a council meeting, speaking at an event or getting tipsy at a restaurant and forgetting to pay the bill.
It’s difficult to take off this hat unless you are in the privacy of your own home. The same goes for the prime minister, government ministers or any politician for that matter.
Even a private event with friends presents a risk — look at what happened to former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and the videos of her dancing and partying that got leaked to the public.
Elected members have always accepted an attenuated right to privacy when they take public office. The hint is in the title — public office.
We also rightfully hold these politicians to high standards because we have elected them to represent us. So, when Mayor Tory Whanau said she was having a private dinner with a friend on Friday night she surely knows by now the reality of what that means.
It means she will be recognised by some patrons as soon as she steps foot in the restaurant, that she might be interrupted by someone wanting to talk to her or take a selfie, and that she will be judged as the mayor and not as a private individual.
Whanau has admitted being tipsy that night and said failing to pay the bill was a “miscommunication” between friends. It was paid the next day as soon as they realised.
She has “strenuously” denied claims about drunken behaviour including asking a waiter “do you know who I am?” after being cut off.
Before this incident, Whanau had already been labelled a “party mayor”.
“I’m 40, I’m single, I love our hospitality scene and every couple of weeks I love to head out with my mates and hit a couple of bars and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that,” she told Newshub Nation.
“I’m entitled to a private life. I’m entitled to have a little fun with my mates and there are some people who take issue with that.”
Councillor Rebecca Matthews came to Whanau’s defence and said on Twitter: “Public office should not require actual sainthood or we will run out of candidates v quickly”.
The Cabinet Manual for Ministers doesn’t require sainthood but it does make it clear “ministers must conduct themselves at all times in the knowledge that their role is a public one”, and the expectation that they “exercise a professional approach and good judgment in their interactions with the public and officials, and in all their communications, personal and professional”.
Cabinet minister Kiri Allan learned this lesson after criticising RNZ’s culture and treatment of Mā ori staff during a farewell event for her former partner, Mā ni Dunlop. Allan said she was speaking in a personal capacity but acknowledged that “I am a senior government minister, and as such that there is not such a delineation in terms of public perception”.
The council’s code of conduct says “members should not place themselves in situations where their honesty and integrity may be questioned, should not behave improperly and should on all occasions avoid the appearance of such behaviour”.
In many ways, it is refreshing to have a leader who does actually have a couple of wines at a bar and is familiar with the nightlife younger Wellingtonians enjoy. Whanau certainly isn’t the only politician who has been “tipsy” in public nor will she be the last. But it’s always risky, especially in the age of social media and smartphones.
In this case, the risk materialised on the front page of the local newspaper and in national media on Monday.
It played into the narrative that Whanau is a party mayor. It was a distraction from the win Whanau was probably celebrating — that her majority around the council table managed to vote down a bid to declare no confidence in the $7.4 billion Let’s Get Wellington Moving transport plan. The council instead voted to push forward with changes to the Golden Mile including the removal of private vehicles from Lambton Quay to Courtenay Place.
Whanau has said she has no regrets about that Friday night. Asked if the incident will change her behaviour, she said it would knowing people were recording her on their phones. “That I actually don’t have a private life, that adds a bit of I suppose adjusting to being out in the public. So, probably yes but only because of that reason.”
Whanau is entitled to a private life but Friday’s dinner is a lesson in the parameters of the privacy she can expect as a public official.