First-term councillor clocks up (another) Code of Conduct complaint

Tuesday, 9 June 2026

Cr Benedict Ong storms out of code of conduct meeting claiming he was barred. He wasn't.

He has put tape on his face, read Kafka in a council meeting, been escorted out of meeting, and leaked confidential information. Now, first-term councillor Benedict Ong has just received another Code of Conduct complaint.

On Tuesday, Ong received an email marked ‘CONFIDENTIAL’, and 17 minutes later sent it to Stuff.

That email was from Dunedin City Council (DCC) city services general manager Scott MacLean, who confirmed that he had received a Code of Conduct complaint from Deputy Mayor Cherry Lucas over a May 16 Facebook post.

That post included comments from Mayor Sophie Barker, who had requested Ong remove the post immediately as it related to a confidential matter.

That post concerned legal action involving a former employee, with that information provided to councillors in a closed door meeting.

Ong did not remove the post.

Councillor Benedict Ong reads from Franz Kafka’s 'The Trial' during an earlier council meeting.

MacLean confirmed he had referred the complaint to a lawyer at Dhyberg Drayton Employment Law.

That investigator will make a preliminary assessment of the complaint, with Ong told “this matter should not be litigated in public or in the media”.

“It is important that any investigation that may be required is not compromised.”

A DCC spokesperson confirmed “a Code of Conduct complaint has been received and will be considered according to established process”.

Benedict Ong previously wore duct tape over his mouth when he gatecrashed a meeting he was not invited to.

“We won’t be making any further comment while the investigation is underway.”

Ong was previously involved in Code of Conduct complaint over leaking confidential information about a proposed hotel for Forsyth Barr Stadium to media.

He had earlier been suspended from all committees and subcommittees for a period of nine months, while his access to confidential material is now supervised.

While he had now received three Code of Conduct complaints since he had become a councillor, including one over leaking sensitive information about a council employee, an earlier Code of Conduct complaint he made over a fellow councillor was thrown out.