For Austerity’s Sake: A panel event on the attempted sale of the Wellington Airport

In 2023, the Wellington City Council commissioned a review of its balance sheet which identified that the Council had a significant insurance risk associated with underinsurance in the context of a major disaster. The review recommended the sale of the full Wellington Airport shareholding and establishment of a perpetual investment fund to manage the Council’s underinsurance risk.

After an effective Unions Wellington-led community campaign and the determined resistance of several councillors – the so-called “Airport Three” Nureddin Abdurahman, Nīkau Wi Neera, and Ben McNulty – the sale of the airport was voted down.

Although opposition to asset sales has been a long-standing commitment of the left, this issue split Wellington progressives. Whereas the left were united in opposition when Auckland mayor Wayne Brown pressed ahead with his sale of the city’s shareholding in Auckland Airport, in Wellington the fact that the sale was led by a Green Party-endorsed “progressive” mayor appears to have complicated the issue in the minds of some.

This panel discussion with two members of the Airport Three, Nurredin and Nīkau, as well as Sabrina Rizos-Shaw from Unions Wellington will examine the issue of the airport sale and reflect on the campaign against it. As Aotearoa faces increasing pressure from rising sea levels and extreme weather due to climate change, this episode offers a window into the future, demonstrating how neoliberal managers and politicians may attempt to deal with emerging crises – by stubbornly refusing to abandon austerity, privatisation, and low taxation.

Nureddin Abdurahman is a Labour Party WCC councillor for the Paekawakawa/Southern Ward.

Nīkau Wi Neera (Ngāti Toarangatira, Kāi Tahu) is a Green Party WCC councillor for the Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori Ward.

Sabina Rizos-Shaw is a trade unionist based in Pōneke and co-convenor of Unions Wellington, the Wellington local affiliates council for the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi.
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Event Proceedings:
6:00 pm – Doors Open
6:30 pm – Introductions
6:40 pm – Panel discussion with Nureddin, Nīkau, and Sabina
7:20 pm – Intermission
7:30 pm – Audience Q&A

For those unable to attend we will have a live-stream on the Wellington Socialist Society Facebook page.

Drinks and food will be available to order from the bar. As always, we are thankful to Bedlam & Squalor for hosting us.