Ryan Bridge: Cycle bridges to nowhere and consultant money scrambles don't feel like love to me

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Tory Whanau's admission she sold her car to help keep on top of the bills is ironic, given she's the mayor of a city now famous for its double-digit rate hikes.

Wellington City Council saw an 18.5% rise this year and 13% the year before. Wellington Regional Council is up 25% this year.

They reckon over the next four years many will be paying an extra $3000 a year.

I hope the Mayor's got a bike she can sell, or some furniture, or a nice handbag - something she can whack on Trade Me to stay afloat.

People are commenting that a salary of $190,000 a year is more than enough to live on in Wellington. I don't know her personal information and frankly I don't want to, this is not about her. This is about us, voters. Taxpayers and ratepayers.

We're all in this forced ship being sailed by captains half of us didn't vote for on what can sometimes feel a bit like the Titanic.

We can all work more, work smarter, invest more, grow our eggs a bit more, and many of us do. The median net worth of a kiwi household in 2021 was around $400,000.

Some take great risks to grow theirs, and they deserve the rewards. Many fail and we don't talk about that much.

Many have mortgaged their family home, and you'll find them inside there at night time, light on in the bedroom, not sleeping with the stress of how they'll make it work. Keep the lights on, innovate, keep staff on, hire more staff, even.

Others work one, two, three or more jobs to improve their lot.

And most people aspire to create more wealth, not out of shear selfishness, well some do, sure. But for most it's about providing for their family. Leaving something behind for their kids. Being set-up so their husband or wife is taken care of if they die early.

For most, wealth is not evil, it's actually the act of loving those around you, those you care for.

Which is why when politicians come knocking, demanding the so-called 'wealthy' pay more not just in income tax, but also taxes on imaginary money i.e. wealth taxes and the like, we get so tetchy.

We're like my dog when you try get close while she's eating dinner – bark. Get away. It's mine. Hands off.

The irony in this story is that Tory Whanau is part of the Greens who advocate for exactly this type of approach.

They say tax is love, not wealth is love. And sure, when money is spent well and services delivered, maybe tax is love.

But cycle bridges to nowhere, half a million-dollar bike racks, contractor and consultant money scrambles, they don't feel like love to me. They feel like abuse.

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