Tamatha Paul accuses fellow Wellington councillor Diane Calvert of bullying and 'petty' behaviour

Monday, 20 April 2020

Bullying and bickering inside Wellington City Council is failing voters and making elected members look like 'idiots', councillor Tamatha Paul says.

Paul made the comments in a Facebook post on Sunday in which she accused fellow councillor Diane Calvert of bullying her during a recent council meeting.

The post comes at a time when the council is under intense scrutiny over a lack of leadership and unity in the face of the covid-19 crisis.

She said the incident, in which Calvert shot down Paul's proposal to tweak the council's policy for supporting businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, was a continuation of 'petty and immature' behaviour by some councillors since last October's election.

'The public have seen the public bullying and lying that some councillors exhibit,' she said in the post.

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'For example, councillor Diane Calvert stating I shouldn't move a business-related amendment because I have never 'worked with' businesses before, and then smirking and snickering when I interject because this is simply not true.'

Paul's amendment called for $8 million worth of council funding set aside for events to be redirected towards revitalisation and job creation through innovation and technology, and for the fund to be available to a wider range of businesses such as start-ups.

'The unfortunate thing with this [bullying] is that every councillor has been elected by people who believe in them and expect them to get stuff done,' Paul's post said.

'This won't happen if councillors can't work with others to get the magic eight number of votes [the majority] around the table.

'It's this kind of behaviour that undermines the public's belief in the council, and makes us all look like idiots.

When contacted by Stuff on Monday, Calvert said she was focused on ensuring Wellington came through the pandemic as best as possible.

She said she objected to Paul's amendments because they went against council staff advice.

'We take advice from our officials - that's what we pay our staff for.

'Sometimes we may go against that advice, but we do that in a very considered way.

'Last minute councillor amendments which are pre-determined behind the scenes, mainly based on political ideology, are not what the city needs now.'

Paul, 22, told Stuff on Monday she had been singled out by Calvert because of her age.

She said her comments beggared belief.

'How do these councillors think that governance works? What do they expect to achieve by burning bridges with your colleagues?'

Paul said she had done contract marketing work for several businesses, worked with Hospitality New Zealand on sexual violence prevention, and was often called on for a youth and Māori perspective on business.

Paul's amendments passed comfortably, with only Calvert, Malcolm Sparrow, Nicola Young, and Simon Woolf voting against broadening the scope of the fund. 

That group and mayor Andy Foster voted against redirecting the money towards job creation and revitalisation.

Calvert said she had a problem in general with bloc voting without meaningful debate.

She would not be drawn on Paul's allegations of bullying.

'I haven't thought any further about that. 

'But you've got to look at a comment in the context. The essence of any amendment is taking advice from people in the community, and it was going against what the business community wanted to happen.'