Complaint after Wellington City councillor’s ‘racist’ comment
Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Wellington City councillor Ray Chung is laying a code of conduct complaint against a colleague ‒ and considering further legal action ‒ after having his comments called racist.
The fracas broke at the Wellington City Council’s final meeting of the year on Tuesday where the council was voting on whether to submit to Parliament opposing ACT’s Principles of Treaty of Waitangi Bill.
Chung, along with councillors Tony Randle and Nicola Young, voted against it, with Chung arguing the community he talked to was not interested in him opposing the bill, that it was a waste of ratepayer money and was out of the council remit.
“The council has no mandate to make any submission on behalf of all the citizens of Wellington,” he said. He encouraged other councillors to submit if they wanted independently. Cries of “shame” came from the public gallery after he spoke.
Councillor Teri O’Neill said the 42,000 people who marched through Wellington in a hīkoi opposing the bill was much more than anyone around the council table got in votes when they were elected.
“Councillor Chung will vote for several other submissions to government but not this one, specifically I would suggest because it advocates for the rights of Māori,” she said.
“What appears neutral or benign on the surface … signals discriminatory or exclusionary views towards a specific [group].
“The councillors … that vote against this submission should be ashamed.
“This is giving in to racist rhetoric and it is for the sake of a cheap vote.
“It is sinister to pretend that your opposition to this submission is anything other than racist.”
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown cited a number of reasons when he recently appointed Lindsay Mckenzie to watch over the council. Councillors’ “repeated criticism of one another and council staff” was one of them.
McKenzie watched the Tuesday exchange play out and on Wednesday said he “discussed the exchange” with O’Neill.
Randle, who was also seemingly called racist, said the comment was “pretty on the nose”, but he had not considered complaining about it.
Young had not signalled which way she planned to vote at the time the “racist” claim was made.
Chung on Wednesday confirmed he was going to file a code of conduct complaint against O’Neill for the “racist” comment. He was also talking to a lawyer about other legal action he could take.
The council’s code of conduct says councillors, when dealing with each other, should focus on issues rather than personalities and avoid “aggressive, offensive or abusive conduct”.
Breaches need to be reported to mayor Tory Whanau who, with the chief executive, considers the complaint and can take “any appropriate lawful action including censure”.
If the action is considered serious enough it can be referred to the council to decide if there was a breach and, if so, what action to take.
But it comes at a time of flux for the council’s chief executive with the current boss, Barbara McKerrow off for Christmas and finishing her job at the end of January. It means the council’s current chief financial officer, Andrea Reeves, will take the helm on an interim basis until a permanent replacement, Matt Prosser, takes over on April 1.
Whanau said she would talk to O’Neill and investigate if necessary.
O’Neill said in a statement the comments made were her opinion and a topic of significant public interest.
“I believe it’s my duty as pākehā to speak honestly and advocate for fairness and inclusion, especially where our tangata whenua and Māori rights and voices are being eroded away by this Government.”
Robust debate and freedom of speech were essential in politics, O’Neill said. She wasn't of any formal complaints, “but I stand by the principles of what I said in debate”.
“I’ve had a brief kōrero with the mayor about this, and I’m keen to sit down with councillor Chung and talk it out. It’s important to have honest conversations, and I think we can work through this together, for the good of our community.”