Former Wellington mayor Tory Whanau is back as a political party staffer – this time in Australia as the campaign manager for a Green candidate in Victoria’s state election.
By Justin Wong, Local Democracy Reporter
Whanau, who was the New Zealand Greens’ parliamentary chief of staff for six years before stepping out from behind the scenes and elected as Wellington’s mayor in 2022, said on social media on Friday she had been elected to the state council of the Victorian Greens – the party’s primary governing body.
She has also become the campaign manager for Izzy Scherrer, the Greens’ candidate in the electorate of South Barwon – which covers Geelong’s southern suburbs – in the state elections in November.
“It feels good to be back behind the scenes,” Whanau said, adding she would also be supporting the Greens in New Zealand.
She decided not to run for re-election as mayor in last year’s election and lost to Labour’s Matthew Reweti for the Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori ward, later confirming she was moving across the Tasman to Melbourne.
– Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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