In July this year the country witnessed the tragic downfall of one our most senior government ministers. In fact, the situation made headlines all over the world. Our Minister of Justice had gone spectacularly off the rails and ended up taking a ride in the back of a police car. After multiple deferrals, Kiri Allan’s case is set to be heard in February next year.

As tends to be the case in these stories, information about her crash into a parked car while over the legal alcohol limit gradually came out. It became clear as we learned more that Allan had suffered some kind of acute breakdown.

Her long-term relationship had recently come to an end and through Allan’s long Instagram captions we learned that her ex-partner had swiftly moved onto someone else. Allan had also been accused publicly of bullying ministry staff, made inappropriate remarks at her then partner’s Radio New Zealand leaving party, and was under immense pressure as New Zealanders expressed more concern about the state of law and order.

In the following months, media outlets have published countless articles about Allan’s mental health struggles, including her new diagnoses and treatments. And while her position demanded she be held to account for her actions, overall she has been treated with empathy by the fourth estate.

Allan paid a heavy price for her behaviour that night and for her breakdown. She lost her place in Cabinet and then in Parliament. Her political career appears to be, for now at least, up in smoke.

Questions were asked of then Prime Minister Chris Hipkins about whether he had done enough to support his struggling minister. Rightly, journalists pressed him on whether Allan should have returned so soon to her high-stress job after the break she took just prior to everything falling apart.

Allan’s Cabinet colleague Willie Jackson said of the car crash: “She wasn’t good, she wasn’t good bro. If I’d been in Wellington, it might not have happened. She rang me about six o’clock, four hours before it all went wrong…because you can have a good korero with her - start off in a crazy sort of mode and then end up falling over and laughing, you know, which is where we were at on Sunday…then of course it all fell apart.”

On whether she should stand for Parliament in the 2023 election, Jackson said:

“I don’t think she should stand at all. I think she needs to have a time out and come back another day…She needs to get out of here and get away from politics…She’s passionate, she’s a beautiful person Kiri but she’s just, she’s sick and, and she needs that support.”

These remarks were supported and repeated by other Labour MPs, commentators and opposition. The consensus was: Kiri isn’t well and needs help.

It is shocking that only a handful of months later, when another unwell politician has emerged, it appears that no one has bothered to learn from Allan’s tragic situation.

Last week, the prospect of an alleged video of drunken and inappropriate behaviour being released by the media, led Wellington mayor Tory Whanau to release a frank statement about her struggles with alcohol. She admitted she has a problem and that suggested that she will be seeking help.

An earlier drunken incident was caught on camera and reports said the mayor frequently misses meetings and appearances due to her drinking. Since the latest reports, staff from her mayoral campaign have shared that she was missing appointments back then and they frequently had to “babysit” her to ensure she didn’t get too drunk.

Alcoholism is no joke. It is a debilitating disorder and one that can take a mammoth toll on professional and personal lives. Overcoming such an addiction takes hard work and a lot of support. It is simply unfathomable to think that Whanau will be able to do so while in such a high-pressure role and under such intense scrutiny. It is not a fair expectation.

If we learn from Allan’s experience, we should be setting aside all politics to help Whanau take the action that is best for her. That includes the politics of those who benefit from her remaining in office.

It was not the opposition who benefited from Allan soldiering on as minister, it was a Prime Minister who wanted to avoid another scandal, and the Labour party. Likewise, the comments from Whanau’s fellow Green and Labour councillors attempting to keep her as mayor are self-interested. They are thinking politically and not about her wellbeing.

The likely outcome of the mayor remaining in office is that her troubles will escalate just as they did with Allan. She will not have sufficient time and energy to dedicate to her recovery and so the unfortunate reality is that there will probably be more drunken incidents. The next month is the silly season and the most challenging time of year for anyone trying to abstain from alcohol.

Are her colleagues, friends and family going to sit back and watch as she struggles? Surely no one wants to be answering questions like Hipkins had to after Allan’s incident nor making regretful comments like Jackson did.

Whanau is not the first high profile politician to struggle with addiction. I suspect if Robert Muldoon was around today plenty of people would be calling for his resignation. That isn’t to say that those who have experienced alcoholism or mental health issues should be excluded from office. So long as they are in recovery and able to manage under high stress, there is no reason they can’t be an effective representative.

The key component in Whanau’s case is the repeated evidence that her struggles with alcohol are affecting her ability to carry out her duties. The right thing for all involved to do is to support the mayor to resign and focus on her wellbeing. It is right not only for her, but also for Wellington. The city is a shambles and desperately needs a mayor and council who aren’t distracted by scandals and pulling out of meetings.