Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel admits conflict over husband's water bottling links

Thursday, 14 March 2019

Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel has back-tracked over her failure to disclose a family connection to water bottler Cloud Ocean Water, admitting there was a conflict of interest she 'should have managed'.

Dalziel has come under major public scrutiny since Stuff revealed on Monday that law firm Davidson Legal, run by her husband Rob Davidson, is representing Cloud Ocean and offered to use personal contacts to lobby politicians. That offer has since been revoked.

The mayor said she had 'never' been approached by her husband lobbying for his clients and that she had always managed conflicts of interest ethically, saying: 'We have clear boundaries and we have always maintained them.'

But she has now conceded that there was a conflict of interest over her knowledge about her husband's work, admitting she should have told colleagues.

Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel, pictured in December with her lawyer husband Rob Davidson, has conceded there is a conflict of interest over his firm's work for water bottler Cloud Ocean Water.

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Dalziel told Stuff this week that she learned 'earlier this year' that Davidson Legal was acting for Cloud Ocean, and that she 'can't recall' how she found out.

The law firm began working for the water bottler in October, dealing with employment issues.

Despite repeated requests for a sit-down interview, the mayor is yet to speak with Stuff in person about the matter.

After days of public scrutiny, and refusing to front for media, Dalziel says has now said she should have managed the situation better.

But writing in her column for Christchurch weekly newspaper The Star, Dalziel said: 'I didn't know my husband's law firm was acting for Cloud Ocean last year when I voted with the city council to oppose the application.

'I became aware earlier this year that they were acting for the company.

Cloud Ocean Water has permission to extract billions of litres of water from Christchurch's aquifers, a situation councillors - and Dalziel - are opposed to.

'However, as it was only in the field of industrial relations, I did not initially see it as a conflict.

'But I now feel that there is a conflict, and agree that I should have managed it by disclosing it to colleagues at the time a decision was in front of council.

'Now that I'm aware that an inappropriate offer for political lobbying was included in a proposal sent by Davidson Legal to Cloud Ocean, I am recusing myself from any decision that comes to council associated with the company.

'Sadly that includes the Aotearoa Water Action case, which I still support,' the Star column read.

Dalziel has repeatedly spoken of her concerns about water bottling and its potential impact on aquifers.

At a meeting in November when councillors opposed an application by Cloud Ocean to Environment Canterbury to use a deep bore she said the request could undermine the city's ability to meet future water demand, a risk the authority was not prepared to allow.

Rob Davidson, who is also the father of city councillor Mike Davidson, admitted his firm made the offer of lobbying but said he was unaware of it and that lobbying neither took place nor was requested by Cloud Ocean. He promised new documents would be issued to the company with the offer removed.

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