Advertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\nWillis accepted that in part, saying the Government\u2019s savings targets \u201cno doubt\u201d had an impact, but the city needed a better and more pro-business city council \u201cto get that buzz back in Wellington\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Wellington Regional Leadership Committee (WRLC), made up of local government leaders and iwi representatives, said \u201cmultiple contributing factors\u201d are to blame for Wellington\u2019s grim economic results, and it stood by the work it is doing to improve the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsistent, clear direction is important for long-term resilience and growth and the WRLC is confident in the potential of the Wellington region and our long-term direction,\u201d committee chair Darrin Apanui said.<\/p>\n
![\"Finance]()
Finance Minister Nicola Willis says local leadership is needed for help solve Wellington’s woes. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n
He said the public sector cuts, the cost of living and a lack of infrastructure projects are responsible.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus is on building the right foundations for private sector investment and to make the region attractive. This includes land availability, housing supply and core infrastructure. The regional pipeline of investment is significant and will support a more diverse and resilient economy,\u201d Apanui said.<\/p>\n
The committee notably also has three seats available for ministers of the Crown, but these have sat empty since October 2023, with the current Government not appointing anyone to join the group.<\/p>\n
![\"Public]()
Public sector cuts have been widely blamed for Wellington’s economic malaise. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n
WellingtonNZ, the city\u2019s agency tasked with promoting economic development, is also defending its record, with CEO Mark Oldershaw pointing to the $200 million of benefits from its activities and interventions in the 2024\/25 year.<\/p>\n
Oldershaw said while Wellington continues to grapple with the impacts of the Government\u2019s cuts, the city is \u201cso much more than the public sector\u201d.<\/p>\n
He echoed Willis\u2019 sentiment that Wellington\u2019s creative, digital technology, screen, tourism and events industries are the city\u2019s way out of its economic hole.<\/p>\n
\u201cWellington\u2019s future is looking bright,\u201d Oldershaw said. \u201cWe have a number of major civic developments opening in 2026, including Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Central Library and Te Ng\u0101kau Civic Precinct in March, followed by Te Whare Whakarauika Wellington Town Hall in early 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ethan Manera is a <\/b>New Zealand Herald<\/b> journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 as a broadcast journalist with Newstalk ZB and is interested in local issues, politics, and property in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cShe\u2019s the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Economic Growth but we\u2019re yet to see concrete ideas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[21986,21995,14996,21990,21988,21999,79,21984,1578,21997,21996,21989,21982,5781,179,18,21987,4080,21994,19,17,2335,1946,21991,21980,22000,21983,21979,21998,21992,21978,21993,21981,2046,21985,4200],"class_list":{"0":"post-26931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-another","9":"tag-back","10":"tag-bears","11":"tag-beehive","12":"tag-between","13":"tag-blame","14":"tag-business","15":"tag-capitals","16":"tag-city","17":"tag-citys","18":"tag-claims","19":"tag-council","20":"tag-deflecting","21":"tag-economic","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-eire","24":"tag-erupted","25":"tag-for","26":"tag-hitting","27":"tag-ie","28":"tag-ireland","29":"tag-leaders","30":"tag-leadership","31":"tag-mayor","32":"tag-nicola","33":"tag-predicament","34":"tag-responsibility","35":"tag-say","36":"tag-some","37":"tag-tory","38":"tag-wellington","39":"tag-whanau","40":"tag-willis","41":"tag-with","42":"tag-woes","43":"tag-words"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}