Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills

Epizode

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  James Roberts: WCC Chief Operating Officer on the library website 15.09.2026 9min

  An admission Wellington Central Library's costly new website could have been done in-house A new report has found a lack of oversight and a rushed procurement process were to blame for the Wellington City Council spending up to half a million dollars more than it needed to on a website for the Central Library. Chief Operating Officer James Roberts says the council has up to 90 people in its IT team, and the website could have been developed internally. He told Newstalk ZB's Nick Mills officials got it wrong, and he takes the blame. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Newstalk ZB's Adam Cooper live at the Race of Champions event announcement 15.09.2026 6min

  Wellington's Hnry Stadium will be converted into a motorsport track in January, playing host to some world-leading drivers. The international Race of Champions showcase event will make its New Zealand debut in the capital on January 9 and 10. Formula One's Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, Supercars' Chaz Mostert and rally driver Hayden Paddon are confirmed on the starting grid. Organisers say more competitors are set to join the cast, and Race of Champions president Fredrik Johnsson confirmed to Newstalk ZB an invitation has been sent to Formula One's Liam Lawson. They'll link up in identical cars to go head-to-head on a purpose-built tarmac race track inside the venue. Nick crossed live to sports host Adam Cooper who was at the announcement. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Music Time: Kiwi star Tami Neilson nominated for Country Music Award 15.09.2026 9min

  Nick Mills is joined by music guru James Irwin for music time - and to celebrate Kiwi star Tami Neilson's Country Music Award nomination. Nick and James reminisce on throwbacks and one hit wonders and then hear the latest gig guide for the capital.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Nick Mills: Could you ever leave Wellington later in life? 14.09.2026 3min

  EDITORIAL:  I saw this story on TV about a week ago, last week, a Kiwi bloke called Simon McCartney. He's 65 years old, he moved to London to be closer to his grandkids, struggled to find work. 65, moved to London, struggled to find work. Oh, I wonder how, why? And eventually he thought, right, I'm going to try something completely different. Now he drives a big red double-decker bus. What a job. He drives across London Bridge, looks across to the Tower Bridge, sees St. Paul's Cathedral, and on diversions he goes past Picadilly Circus, Parliament, the London Eye and Leicester Square. How about that for an office at 65 years old? Then, yesterday I had coffee with a business acquaintance. He's from Auckland, but he's in Wellingtonian. Went to TawaCollege, not with me, a lot younger than me. Mid 50s, has a successful business doing well. He sits there telling me, I'm moving, selling up and moving. I said, selling the business? "No, I'm keeping the business, but selling my home.” “I live in Auckland on the North Shore and I'm going to the Gold Coast.” He said he'll keep his business going here. He can fly back four or five times a year, can do everything by Zoom or everything by phone. That's the modern world. But he's had enough of New Zealand. He reckons the Gold Coast will give him a better lifestyle. And that got me thinking about Wellington because I hear it consistently now. Rates, water bills, insurance, cost of doing business, cost of our council, cost of owning a home, the cost of absolutely everything. Wellington is becoming a very expensive city to live in. And then you look around and ask, is Wellington actually heading in the right direction? I love Wellington. I've invested my whole life in the city. My family's here, my business is here, my work is here. But actually, when I got into bed, because when you get into bed, and I was reading about someone the other day that was saying that thought when you hop into bed is kind of like the end of your day, it should be really your happy place and your happy thoughts. And I thought to myself last night, could I get to an age where, right, enough is enough, I'm off. Melbourne, absolutely. I'd love to live in the outskirts of Melbourne. Not in the expensive part, but in the outskirts where I could afford. Gold Coast, you know, the weather is so damn good there. It feels so exciting there. London, maybe, you know, a bit more expensive. You'd have to have a little bit more money, but a place in London? France, a little village way out in the ultimate of nowhere. Good wine, good food. Now we're getting somewhere. And I know people that have done it. And it scares me because 20 years ago, you never heard of people doing that in their 50s, 60s or 70s. That's it, I'm going, taking off. And maybe the new OE isn't at 21, but maybe it’s at 61. If money wasn't the issue, where would you go? Would you leave Wellington or would you stay right here? And despite everything that Wellington throws at us, would you, could you ever simply pack up, sell up and move out? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Nick Mills: Is a bus lane on Harbour Quays really the best option for Wellington? 14.09.2026 4min

  EDITORIAL: I want to start this morning with something that I genuinely cannot understand,  the more I think about it the more it frustrates me, and the more I look at it the more I don’t understand it.  The Harbour Quays bus corridor.   Think about that. An eleven million dollar price tag.  History will tell us that everything we’ve seen done in this part of the world, when you start with a price of eleven million dollars, you know it’s not going to end anything under that – and could be double that.  We’re talking about bus lanes down Customhouse Quay, Jervois Quay, Cable Street and Wakefield Street — taking road space away from general traffic to create a public transport corridor through the outskirts of the CBD in Wellington.  And I think it is nuts.  We do not need it.  This thing was conceived when Wellington was planning for substantial population growth, more commuters pouring into the CBD and enormous growth in public transport.  But circumstances have changed.  The Golden Mile project that it was supposed to complement has stopped.   The wider transport plan isn't settled.   The SH1 changes aren't settled.   And serious questions are now being asked - whether the population and passenger growth originally anticipated is actually going happen.  Yet we're still marching ahead with the solution.  Why?  Because we've already spent money planning it?  That’s not a good enough excuse.  That is possibly the worst reason imaginable to spend another dollar.  And anyone who actually drives along Jervois Quay, Wakefield St, Customhouse Quay and Cable Street at busy times knows exactly what happens when you start removing general traffic capacity.  Remember when we put those drainage systems down Wakefield St and what happened then.   Where do the cars go?  They don't magically disappear.  You create a thing called congestion.  And here's another thing.  We have tried for decades to convince Wellingtonians that the waterfront side of the city is somehow an extension of the Golden Mile.  Now a lot of us will remember the old Harbour City Centre.  Remember when that was conceived and built, at great fanfare?  It was going to be the massive city shopping centre.  It was supposed to be fantastic.  It even had a McDonalds in it!  Well it closed very quickly.  Getting people across several lanes of traffic, particularly on a cold, wet, windy Wellington day, was never particularly attractive.  Now we're apparently going to do it with bus passengers  and tell them somehow: Don't worry — you can walk across to the Golden Mile.  Seriously?  With horizontal Wellington rain? The wind? The cold weather?  And we're spending $11 million to do it, when we don’t need it!  Greater Wellington has endorsed it. Wellington City Council gets its turn on Thursday.  I desperately hope councillors have the courage to say:  No don’t do it, we don’t need it right now.  Forget what was predicted two years ago.  Look at Wellington today.  Do we need it?  Does it stack up?  And is removing road capacity from one of the busiest routes through our CBD really going to make Wellington better, quicker?  I think you know my answer to that.  Because from where I'm sitting, this has all the ingredients of another Wellington transport cock-up. A massive cock-up  Eleven million dollars. Remember I said it first here - they say eleven million dollars.  We don’t want to pay eleven million dollars to create another problem that’s not really there and could possibly make it a hell of a lot worse.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Regional Councillor Simon Woolf doesn't want another "I told you so" moment with the proposed Harbour Quays bus lane 14.09.2026 9min

  Greater Wellington Regional Councillor Simon Woolf joined Nick on the show this morning and shared his concerns for the Harbour Quays bus lane proposal. The proposal, which entails moving certain routes away from Lambton Quay and Willis Street to the waterfront Quays passed the Regional Council vote, and moves to a Wellington City Council vote this week. Councillor Woolf said this is the next in line of many failures from our council, "we need amalgamation". He said there are other possibilities that haven't been considered, like moving the bus lanes to Featherston St. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Friday Faceoff with Tim Brown and JD Trask: Should Wellington City Council senior officials be required to live in the region? 11.09.2026 33min

  For Friday Faceoff this week Nick Mills is joined in the studio by former Wellington City Councillor Tim Brown and entrepreneur JD Trask. Our panel get heated from the start as Nick heard a senior official at the Wellington City Council commutes to Wellington from Auckland. Is this acceptable for a high paid, infrastructure position? Does it matter what city they live in?  Then an issue raised in our Business Panel earlier this week brought up Wellington's lack of international flights. What effects are our panel seeing themselves and what paths do they want?  Brown, who was on the board of Wellington Airport said he'd be surprised if there weren't new airlines coming here "before the end of next year". The panel then faceoff over confidence in Tiaki Wai. They question Tiaki Wai's plans, costing, and if anything has changed since Wellington Water?  Trask and Brown go hard on the Zoo asking council for $13 million for lion enclosure upgrades, and pose the question - should Wellington even have a zoo? Plus was the PSA strike strictly political, and the panel share their hots and nots. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Friday Sports Kick-off with Jason Pine and Adam Cooper: Warriors and All Blacks play in the US 11.09.2026 11min

  For Friday Sport's Kick-off Jason Pine and Adam Cooper join Nick Mills to dissect the sports of the week, what's ahead this weekend.  The All Blacks play their fourth match against the Springboks in Baltimore on Sunday morning with some swaps to Rennie's team. What do our panel make of the team naming, and are we weaker without playing South Africa in Super Rugby? And Piney's biggest match of the weekend - Warriors vs Dolphins.  Piney, Coops and Nick give their predictions and debate what will be the better game Warriors or All Blacks? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Nick Mills: Is the WCC's Chief Infrastructure Officer commuting from Auckland? 10.09.2026 6min

  OPINION: I want to come back to Jenny Chetwynd today, because frankly, I think Wellington ratepayers deserve some answers. Chetwynd was appointed Wellington City Council’s Chief Infrastructure Officer in 2024. This was a big appointment.   The council talked up her experience, her leadership and the enormous job ahead of her — water, transport, waste, emergency management and major infrastructure projects. She was the infrastructure fixer. And she is being paid accordingly — around $440,000 a year. Then Moa Point happens. Fourteen billion litres or thereabouts of untreated sewage ends up being discharged into the marine environment, and we get a Crown Review trying to establish how the hell Wellington allowed this to happen. And what does our Chief Infrastructure Officer do? She doesn't sit down for an interview with the Crown Review. She provides written information. Review author Raveen Jaduram couldn't have been much clearer.   He said her not being available made the investigation more challenging and increased the chances of the reviewers getting something wrong. His point was incredibly simple: if you can interview somebody, you can ask them directly what happened and where the evidence is. Finance Minister Nicola Willis came on our programme on Thursday, and went even further. "I think she should be made to front up," Willis said. "And if I was the Mayor, I'd be saying 'Actually, we are publicly accountable," "You are paid well to take on significant responsibilities, your responsibility was to build a stronger relationship with Wellington Water. This Crown Inquiry waned to ask questions about that, and she didn't front.". Now, here's where this gets even more extraordinary. I am now being told Jenny Chetwynd doesn't actually live permanently in Wellington, and that she commutes from Auckland. Now, I want to be absolutely fair here, I have not been able to independently verify the details of that arrangement, and I want Wellington City Council to tell us exactly what the situation is, but several sources have told me it's true. It raises a number of questions for me: Does Wellington City Counicl’s $440,000-a-year Chief Infrastructure Officer live in Auckland? How many days a week is she physically working in Wellington? Who pays for the travel? And where was she for last night's Tiaki Wai public meeting? Because this is about accountability. You were hired into one of the most senior positions at Wellington City Council to help sort out our infrastructure. Our infrastructure fails catastrophically. A Crown Review wants to interview you — you don't front. The media wants to interview you — you don't front. There's a public meeting about our water infrastructure — you're not there. And now there are questions about whether you even live in the city you're being paid nearly half a million dollars a year to help fix. Enough. Wellington ratepayers aren't asking for anything unreasonable. Front up, Jenny Chetwynd, and answer the questions. After several days of requesting answers to some of these questions from the Wellington City Council media team, they responded minutes before the start of our show on Friday. "That is a highly unacceptable line of questioning that we will not dignify with an answer." A Council spokesperson said. I'm bewildered.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Politics Thursday with Ginny Andersen and Tim Costley after the PSA Strike 10.09.2026 19min

  It's Politics Thursday, and this week Nick Mills is joined by Labour's Ginny Andersen and National's Tim Costley to debate the top political issues of the week. The PSA strikes called for better pay, but Nick wonders if they got too political after Nicola Willis said union workers were told to wear red.  Our panel debate the necessity of the strike, with Costley pointing out the national average salary for public servants is $100k compared to $85k in the private sector.  Plus, does Wellington need a zoo, and should ratepayers have to pay nearly $14 million for a new lion enclosure? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Finance Minister Nicola Willis in the studio with Nick Mills 09.09.2026 20min

  With the election only two months out, Finance Minister Nicola Willis joins Nick Mills in the studio this morning to talk the economy and Wellington issues. When will ordinary people feel the economy begin to recover? With the latest OCR hike, Willis shares her predictions for the financial future. On the local front, pressure is building on WCC Chief Infrastructure Officer Jenny Chetwynd who did not interview for the Moa Point review.  Willis called on Chetwynd to "front up" and take accountability.  “Apparently they provided written information, but you and I both know the lawyers would have written that.” She said while the failures are spread across departments, it is clear the Wellington City Council did not do enough.  Mills and Willis discussed the public servants strike yesterday, and according to the Minister PSA union members were encouraged to wear red yesterday in support. Plus, Willis shares her thoughts on the Green's "KiwiMart", and the MSD admin error. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Tiaki Wai Chair Will Peet on Moa Point Review 09.09.2026 23min

  Tiaki Wai Board Chair Will Peet joins Nick Mills in the studio for an update after a hectic month with the Moa Point Review, first bills due and Commerce Commission oversight.  Mills questions Peet over the review and accountability. What has Tiaki Wai learnt so this will never happen again? Peet gives more detail on the new oversight from the Commerce Commission and refutes Mill's concern Tiaki Wai have no competition to regulate prices. They debate the price water meters, and Peet clarifies the councils calculate the bills - "we don't have billing system, we are completely reliant on the council's billing systems". LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  WOW CEO Meg Williams brings in a treat for Nick Mills 09.09.2026 13min

  We are just over a week out from one of Wellington's favourite events, World of WearableArt, GLO! at TSB Arena. To celebrate, WOW CEO Meg Williams joins Nick Mills in the studio to share how the team are gearing up for another hit year, and she brings along a special treat. This year there's a new addition to the WOW calendar - Taste of WOW. Two new experiences will be held at the Intercontinental to share edible art inspired by WOW's collection of garments. Check out the details on the WOW website, to see and taste a new side to Wellington's beloved event.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Nick Mills: How sick do you have to be before you stay home? 08.09.2026 4min

  EDITORIAL: I'd love to have this conversation this morning because I genuinely don't know where the line is anymore.  The Government's advice is that kids don't necessarily need to stay home just because they've got a cough, a headache, a runny nose or a blocked nose.   Holy hell, I think one of the four you stay home.  Not go to school with cough, a headache, a runny nose or a blocked nose.  Come on, that’s pretty tough.  If they haven't had a fever for 24 hours, they're eating and drinking normally, they're alert and capable of learning, then mild symptoms alone don't necessarily mean a day off school.  Now, I get that. We've got a terrible school attendance problem.  But haven't we learnt something from COVID?  I'm certainly more conscious now about sneezing, coughing, washing my hands and potentially giving something to somebody else an ailment.  And here's my confession: I don't feel 100 percent today.  I had a terrible night's sleep. I went to bed feeling a bit average.   Woke up in the middle of the night, been awake since about 1 or 2am feeling blocked up, headachy, generally a bit crap.  But here I am.  And you know what, after my coffee this morning I feel great.  Maybe that's generational. I'm probably old school about it.   Unless I'm really sick, I come to work. You push through it.  But is that actually the right thing to do?  Because I work with people who, at the slightest sniffle, they say Sorry, can't come in. The slightest headache, oh no they can’t come in.   And sometimes I think: Really? That's enough for a sick day?  Well, you’ve got 10 you may as well use them.  Then you've got the complete opposite.   Someone arrives looking absolutely dreadful.   Coughing, spluttering, clearly sick, and you think: Mate, I admire your commitment, but please go home because I don't want to get whatever you've got!  And that's the other side of this.  Going to work sick isn't necessarily heroic, you can infect five other people.  We've just come through an extraordinary flu season. It’s been pretty horrible.  Hospitals have been under enormous pressure and schools have had huge numbers of kids away.  Now I was at my dentist the other day and I said to her, I've got a pretty open, friendly relationship with her, I said, how's it been?   And she said “it's been terrible”,  I looked at her and I said, it takes me a month to get in to see you, how can it be terrible?  Everyone's always sick, cancellations, bang, bang, bang.  Now that affects a lot of people.  So I want to get into the middle ground here.  I don't want to sit on the fence, but I want you to determine, I want you to determine how sick you have to be to have a sick day.  Is it a temperature? Vomiting? A terrible cough? Not being able to get out of bed?  Tick, tick, tick, tick should be days off work or school.  Or is simply feeling lousy enough?  And parents — where's the line with your kids?  Now I was a pretty lenient parent, must admit.  “I don't feel like going to school today, dad, I'm not feeling great.”  Stay home, I’m okay with that.   Because surely we don't want a generation believing every sniffle means a day on the couch, day in front of Netflix, a day on the machines.   But equally, we don't want genuinely sick kids being sent into classrooms because we're obsessed with attendance figures.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Business Panel: Hayley Horan and Mark Oldershaw on creating a buzz around Wellington 07.09.2026 32min

  For this week's Business Panel, Nick was joined by Chamber of Commerce CEO Hayley Horan, and WellingtonNZ Chief Executive Mark Oldershaw.  They discussed how the region is tracking approaching summer time, and tackled issues such as attracting events, business investment, and the safety of city streets. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Henry Hutcheon: Upper Hutt grocery store owner on the Green Party's grocery policy 07.09.2026 6min

  An independent supermarket owner says state-owned stores are feasible, with some work. The Green Party's pledging to tackle grocery prices by breaking up our duopoly with KiwiMart - costing 2.8 billion dollars.  It'd force Woolworths and Foodstuffs to divest 120 branches into public ownership, and two distribution centres.  Upper Hutt's Plenty Foods owner, Henry Hutcheon told Nick Mills it's a realistic idea, that'll need fine tuning. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Friday Faceoff with Yadana Saw and Bryce Edwards 04.09.2026 33min

  It's Friday Faceoff and this week Nick Mills is joined by Regional Councillor Yadana Saw and political commentator and academic Dr Bryce Edwards to debate the biggest stories of the week. Our panel get heated over the Moa Point review, who's to blame and who's avoiding accountability?  After Nick's disagreement with Mayor Andrew Little over "exceptional circumstances" for the opportunity to stall Tiaki Wai, we hear what the panel think about the debate and the speed of setting up the entity.  And would water metres be worth it? Also, this week Mayor Little called out Deloitte, accusing them of using AI on the council report. Saw and Dr Edwards discuss the reliance on "the big four" consultants in the public sector. Plus, move on orders have been dulled down, should reckless driving resulting in death end with stricter punishment, and should Nick publish the footage of thieves from his restaurant. Then our guests give two hots of the week to end on a high. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Friday Sports Kick-off with Jason Pine and Adam Cooper: Third South Africa test 04.09.2026 9min

  It's time for the third test between the All Blacks and the Springboks, and on Friday Sports Kick-off this week Nick, Coops and Piney talk the most importance test of the on the Greatest Rivalry tour. The crew analyse Rennie's team "rotation", his performance as a coach so far, and give their score predictions for this "game of chess". And is there still hope for the Wellington Lions for their upcoming game against Tasman? Have our panel been too harsh on the team? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  Politics Thursday with Ayesha Verrall and Tim Costley: Who should take accountability for Moa Point? 03.09.2026 22min

  For Politics Thursday this week Nick Mills is joined by Labour's Ayesha Verrall and National's Tim Costley to debate the top political issues of the week. The highly anticipated Moa Point review is out, showing multiple organisations were at fault over many years. Nick asks our politicians - how can we trust the plant will improve in the future when no group wants to take accountability? They also discuss a review into changing careless/dangerous driving legislation. This comes as the parents of Jade Evans call for action after the preventable death of the 18-year-old. Plus, the panel debate Labour's new policy which would guarantee all nursing graduates a job, and should e-scooter/bikes require a license? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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  What's next for departing MP Greg O'Connor? 03.09.2026 9min

  Labour MP for Ōhāriu Greg O'Connor delivered his valedictory speech to Parliament last night and joined Nick Mills this morning to reflect on his time as an MP and what comes next. Mills attempted to get the reason O'Connor will not return to parliament with Labour, with O'Connor suggesting it was relevant to his age.  When asked if a run for Council was in his future, O'Connor responded, "the answer does not yet exist".  O'Connor reflected on his proudest moments in his parliamentary career, including his time as Deputy Speaker of the House.  O'Connor would not say whether he regretted standing for Labour. "Some might say they became the right party when I stood for them Nick." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.