Letter demands mayor takes action after ‘aggressive outburst’, Simeon Brown responds

Monday, 11 November 2024

A letter has gone to Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau formally asking her to “take appropriate action' and demand an apology from a mana whenua representative after an 'aggressive' outburst at a council meeting.

The furore, involving pouiwi Liz Kelly and right-leaning councillor Diane Calvert, has been noticed by Local Government Minister Simeon Brown who says it only strengthens his resolve to install a Crown observer at the Wellington City Council.

The incident resulted in councillors Nicola Young and Tony Randle writing to Whanau outlining what they alleged happened after cameras cut at last Thursday’s long term plan committee meeting.

Brown, who is in the process of appointing a Crown observer, responded to questions from The Post about the incident, saying: “When announcing my intention to appoint a Crown observer, I noted some of the recent incidents such as walk-outs, refusal to participate in votes, and representatives engaging in repeated public criticism of one another and council staff.”

He said such an environment was not conducive to the council effectively managing the long-term plan amendment and adoption process.

“Resolving these issues is one of the key reasons why we intend to appoint a Crown observer in the near future.”

The councillors’ letter to Whanau, said Kelly’s behaviour was “aggressive and confrontational”. It also criticised the way councillor Rebecca Matthews chaired the meeting and the lack of response from the mayor.

The letter said Kelly directed comments aggressively towards council members - “raising her voice, standing, calling Calvert a liar, and moving toward Calvert in a threatening manner”.

Kelly denied threatening or abusive behaviour, and rejected the allegation that she called Calvert a liar.

She said she was annoyed at the false information that continued to be injected intodebate about council decisions.

“What I am going to do is call out the false information that has been circulated all the time and keeps getting injected into our debates,” she said. “I will no longer remain quiet and will now call out false information when it occurs albeit more calmly.”

The pressure is on the council as they await Brown’s Crown observer.

It follows the fallout of the airport share sale, where the council must amend its 10-year long-term plan and make tough calls on capital cuts to plug a multimillion dollar budget hole.

Conversation on Thursday became tense when councillors began discussing possible ways to save money within the council’s social housing programme Te Toi Mahana.

Calvert and Kelly have significantly different interpretations of the council’s spending obligations for social housing.

Calvert, as well as councillor Sarah Free, addressed its affordability in light of the long-term plan amendment.

When Kelly took the microphone, she said she was trying to calm herself down, and reminded the room of their deal with the government, which meant the council would be $220m in debt if they sold social housing.

Back in 2007, council signed a $220m deal with the Government to invest in public housing. The contract was binding until 2037.

In the meeting Calvert claimed Kelly was sharing “incorrect information”.

Kelly then stood to face her and asked “What’s the incorrect information?”

Throughout the meeting, several councillors were declined their raised points of orders by Matthews. .

Randle and Young’s letter said Matthews “chastised members for raising points of order and challenging her ruling, which appeared to unfairly discourage procedural concerns raised by Councillor Calvert and others”.

The letter reported the conversation continued after the live stream ended.

“At the end of the public meeting, Pouiwi Kelly again approached Councillor Calvert in an agitated and aggressive manner,” the letter to Whanau said. “Councillor Calvert said she would discuss the matter once Pouiwi Kelly had calmed down, and later told colleagues she had felt unsafe with Pouiwi Kelly’s behaviour.

“As you guided Pouiwi Kelly out of the room, she turned back and aggressively berated Councillor Calvert from across the room, with further accusations of lying and threats to undermine her.”

The letter called for a public apology from Kelly and sought clarification on how the council intended to reinforce a culture of “professionalism, impartiality, and mutual respect to support us all in our work to serve Wellingtonians”.

Randle described the behaviour as appalling.

“We have a lot of robust debates around the table, it’s one of the reasons we have got a crown observer, but the sort of behaviour that Pouiwi Kelly exhibited was not acceptable.”

Whanau would not say if she was going to take disciplinary action

The code of conduct says councillors, when dealing with one another, should 'avoid aggressive, offensive or abusive conduct'.

'I support [ chairperson Rebecca Matthew's] comments, made in the meeting, reminding councillors to engage in respectful debate,' Whanau said.

Council spokesperson Richard MacLean confirmed the council was not considering disciplinary action against Kelly.