This is edition 2026/064 of the Ten@10 newsletter.
Hi all,
This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.
Enjoy!
1. Who really runs Wellington?
Bryce Edwards
- 🏙️ Danyl McLauchlan’s Listener cover story argues Wellington’s crisis isn’t just failing infrastructure—but systemic mismanagement of funds meant to maintain it
- 💸 The council consistently collected money for infrastructure through rates, then diverted it into flashy, non-essential projects instead
- 📉 The “renewals gap” shows chronic underinvestment in water systems, dropping from adequate levels in 2005 to just 30% under Mayor Tory Whanau
- 💰 Despite claims of constraint, the council ran large surpluses and increased debt—meaning the infrastructure crisis was avoidable
- 🏗️ Massive spending went into high-profile projects like the town hall, library, convention centre, and Let’s Get Wellington Moving, often with huge cost blowouts
- 🚰 Core assets like pipes and sewage systems were neglected, even as new, expensive projects (e.g. Moa Point sludge plant) were prioritised
- 🧾 Bureaucratic spending ballooned, with communications and governance costs exceeding actual infrastructure renewals
- 🕳️ A 2019 taskforce found funds had been diverted and made 48 recommendations—none of which were implemented
- 🐇 The “Order of the Rabbit” scandal suggests a long-standing culture of bureaucratic dominance over elected officials, with echoes still visible today
- 🏛️ Councillors were often misled or kept in the dark, with key information withheld or framed to favour bureaucratic preferences
- ⚙️ Outsourcing to Wellington Water hollowed out in-house expertise, creating layers of contractors and reducing accountability
- 🔗 Complex subcontracting chains made it difficult to track spending, while costs skyrocketed without clear justification
- 🚨 Investigations found potential conflicts of interest, inflated costs, and even suspected fraud within contractor relationships
- 📊 Reports showed Wellington was paying up to three times more than other councils for similar infrastructure work
- 🧠 The situation reflects economist Mariana Mazzucato’s idea of the state becoming a “dumb client” after outsourcing core capabilities
- 🔥 Overall, the piece paints Wellington’s decline as a failure of governance, accountability, and priorities—not a lack of resources
