Wellington mayor Andy Foster apologises for code of conduct breach after critical report

Tuesday, 11 May 2021

Councillor Jenny Condie was stopped from tabling allegations of underhand tactics by mayor Andy Foster ahead of a Shelly Bay land sale vote in November.

Wellington Mayor Andy Foster has apologised for breaching the council’s code of conduct by attempting to share confidential, and potentially defamatory, information about a former council staff member.

Foster tried to give the information to at least two councillors before a vote in November last year on whether to sell and lease council land for a planned $500 million development at Shelly Bay.

Councillor Jenny Condie lodged a code of conduct complaint about Foster’s attempt to share the information with her, and the subsequent investigation found Foster breached the code for elected members, although that the breach was at the “lower end of the scale”.

Foster (left) tried to share confidential information with at least two councillors before a crucial Shelly Bay vote. Fellow Shelly Bay development opponent Sir Peter Jackson (right) backed Foster’s mayoral campaign in 2019. (File photo)

Speaking to Stuffon Tuesday, Foster addressed the investigation’s findings for the first time.

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Councillor Jenny Condie lodged the code of conduct complaint against Foster after he tried to show her the confidential information. (File photo)

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“I want to take the opportunity to apologise for the actions which resulted in the code of conduct investigation, and I accept that I shouldn’t have shared the information as I did,” Foster said.

“I want to apologise to my council colleagues for the distraction that this has caused, which has been reasonably considerable for some of us,” he said. “And as mayor, I want us to put this behind everyone, and to be able to move forward and focus on the things that really matter to the city.”

Wellington Mayor Andy Foster (left) has apologised for breaching the council’s code of conduct. (File photo)

The information contained Foster’s notes from a phone conversation in April 2019 with a former staff member, in which that person alleged another former staff member had pressured council officers to deem the narrow Shelly Bay Rd suitable for the development.

Similar allegations were thrown out by the High Court in 2018.

The investigation, completed by Wellington-based lawyer Susan Hornsby-Geluk, recommended Foster be censured for the breach and apologise to the former staff member.

Councillors, excluding Foster and Condie, will vote on those recommendations on Thursday.

Foster said he did not believe he should be censured for the breach. When asked if he would apologise to the former staff member, Foster said he had not read all the report’s recommendations.

He said it was up to councillors to decide whether that was necessary.

Councillors will also discuss on Thursday whether the report should be made public.

Despite Foster’s attempts to sway the vote, councillors voted 9-6 in favour of selling its land for the development.