Tory Whanau And Why People Love A Comeback Story

How Tory Whanau Can Turn It Around… As Unlikely As That Sounds.

Sports and media are full of comeback stories, people triumphing over adversity.

These ‘rise from the ashes' narratives are extremely popular because they remind all of us to never lose hope or give up on our dreams even when doing so seems like the only logical choice.

Sure, these stories are predictable and often saccharine, but people eat them up because they want to feel hope in a world where that is in increasingly short supply.

This formula is what turned Oprah from a slightly shlocky daytime talk show host parroting Springer-style sleaze in her early years, into the inspirational self-help peddling billionaire she became.

The Pursuit Of Happyness is one of the cheesiest and most paint-by-numbers films of this genre, but I still cried when Will Smith's character - homeless and raising his son on the streets of New York - had to force the door closed on the public toilet so his son could sleep in safety.

We're all human - even jaded ex-hacks raised by jaded hacks to continue a new family tradition of being jaded hacks - and we want good things to happen to good people.

Therein lies the challenge for some people who find themselves facing hard times. What if they aren't this perfectly pure soul but instead people of great privilege who burnt bridges and fumbled opportunities gifted to them.

What if the only adversity they faced was self-imposed?

How do you tell a heartwarming story about Veruca Salt, the girl whose father used his wealth and many workers to manipulate the system and gift her a golden ticket?

For every one genuinely 'self made man’ I've met, there's nine blokes who claim that title but who have backstories of being given the world and fumbling it into less than what they inherited (and far less than what someone with more talent and determination could have made of it).

These stories rely on their inspirational leads being more than human, they need to be worthy of canonisation, and that's not realistic for most of us.

The fall of Tory Whanau has been told many times at this point, and it's not one of a saint.

It's the story of a person determined to stand on every rake in sight. A person who refuses to learn or humble themselves in-spite of public ridicule and disdain.

While people love a comeback story, we also perversely love a fall from grace.

In this way, hers is a very common and very boring story. One only being repeated because she keeps pitching it, and because producers know she'll embarrass herself in an entertaining and viral fashion.

I know dozens of people whose life story would make for far more fascinating reading than Tory's - genuinely saintly humanitarians whose net worth will never rise above ‘bugger all’ - but she continues to chase redemption in a vain attempt to make herself appear to be the untarnished gem she briefly was before the public and media knew her better.

Her aim is not realistic, and it speaks to a kind of arrogance that you can't have as the lead of a great comeback story.

Tory needs a new storyteller, someone without her terrible political instincts, willing to throw her past failures and lazy excuses in trash and to pivot towards something more achievable.

She needs an old fashioned fixer. Someone who can change the narrative, and steer her away from the rakes she loves laying out in her path.

She needs someone like me.

So let's get a bit creative and turn this flop into a surprise semi-redemption. Maybe not a classic of the genre, but at least a passing grade.

A solid C+.

How Tory Turns It Around

Step One: Just Do The Job!

It may feel like she has been in power forever, but she has half of her mayoral term left to go. That's a good place to start.

With someone to ensure she doesn't continue to dig deeper and deeper holes to fall into, she could manage to enact some useful changes that will help change the narrative from 'unmitigated disaster' to 'flawed person, but unfairly maligned’.

By fighting against NIMBYism, slashing unnecessary spending on all consultants (except me) and avoiding legal battles, not biting on any more big risk ventures (like nationalising a historically unpopular suburban mall in the 2020’s), and actually attending meetings of both local businesses and renters, she can leave a mixed legacy.

My understanding is that she can't pull back from the $330m Town Hall repairs at this late stage, but she can avoid further screw-ups and generally calm public sentiment by hearing out her detractors and showing a bit of contrition.

Step Two: Rebuild Some Friendships

Ask anyone who has worked in politics - former politicians and former staffers, like Tory once was - what they enjoyed most about their time inside the beltway and you'll often hear about the lifetime friendships made amongst the chaos.

I've been told by friends close to her that Tory was really well liked amongst Green Party Parliamentary staffers.

She was a boss, but not a cold or egotistical one, and it is notable that the infighting which has dogged the Greens recently wasn't as much of an issue during her time. That is mostly down to the leadership vacuum left by the departure of James Shaw, but Tory seemed to play her part as well.

The decision to sell the council’s airport shares both cost her preexisting relationships and failed to grow fruitful new ones.

If I was Wellington mayor I would sell the shares, but as her fixer, I'd advise she does the opposite.

Wellington voted for Green candidates in massive numbers, but the council's left wing has never looked so divided and shaky.

Tory can use her time bringing them back together by scrapping the share sale and refocusing them on supporting renters rights and working class communities.

What that would entail in terms of policy, and whether it would actually help or hurt Wellington in the long run, I won't give away here (for free!), but there are options that would unite her old friends and make her the leftist she campaigned on being.

Step Three: Own It!

The rarest characteristic in politics and public life is humility.

This makes sense broadly - no one truly humble wants to stand in front of a city or the nation and talk about how they're better than everyone else - but it's not always the case.

Sometimes humility is just realism.

It's being intelligent enough to know that there are limits to what can be achieved and being honest enough to admit this openly.

A brief, self-important aside: I got to the very vetting stage for a very lucrative job with a high profile public relations firm, only to miss out because the managing director - a very blustering political commentator - thought I was too calm and humble to make it big in the cutthroat world of corporate PR.

She thought I lacked aggression, lacked the kind of big ego, all-talk bravado that she thinks you need to make it.

To her, as it is to all people who think being the loudest person in the room is an impressive feat, the job of the spin doctor, or lobbyist, or mayor, is to bulldoze and bullshit your way through life.

It's a Trumpian world view, one that makes sense if that's all you've got going for you, but you don't need to bullshit when what you're selling isn't just shit (or is ‘The Shit’, however you choose to frame it).

Some people talk endlessly to avoid getting found out, others wait for their moment because they know they'll never get found out - Their huge, asks people to become paid subscribers because they know their writing is worth every dollar, egos accurately reflect their value and place.

Having spoken with people who have worked Tory, and who Tory has worked for, it's become clear that she doesn't need to be bullshitting.

She's intelligent, articulate, capable of being funny, but also capable of capturing an audience.

None of that comes across in interviews or in her actions as Mayor, but that's because she appears to be playing a character - half matey, half weaselly - and appears desperate to forge a false persona.

She needs to play the cards she actually holds. She'll never be the basis of a blockbuster tearjerker about overcoming great adversity to become the New Zealand Oprah, but she can be the person she was until the pressure and ego of it all became too much.

A humble Tory, someone able to laugh at herself and acknowledge past errors, while not adding new ones by trying to control the narrative, would be a massive improvement.

It's too late for Tory to salvage her mayoralty, that phase of her life is over, but it's not too late for the real Tory to show herself and save some face.

I genuinely wish her well.