Wellington Water boss shuts down talks of finding how much ratepayers overpaid

Monday, 10 March 2025

Wellington Water CEO Pat Dougherty speaks to reporters after the Wellington Water Committee held an extraordinary meeting on Monday.

Wellingtonians may never know how much they overpaid water contractors but Wellington Water’s boss says he has already found $5 million in savings.

The Wellington Water Committee, made up mostly of the region’s mayors, had an extraordinary meeting on Monday afternoon in the wake of two reports leading to allegations of contractors being overpaid.

Before the meeting, Wellington Water chief operations officer Charles Barker confirmed there was previously potential in Wellington Water for contractors and consultants to approve their own work then approve payment to themselves.

“Our primary concern though was the creation of large annual purchase orders and monthly invoices being paid automatically, irrespective of whether Wellington Water personnel have approved them as being accurate, which were findings highlighted in the report,” Barker said.

Wellington Water’s Pat Dougherty (left) has given a ringing endorsement to Wellington Water board chairperson Nick Leggett, who has faced a week of calls to resign.

Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty told the meeting he had already found about $5m in cost savings, including about $1m a year by breaking up consultant and contractor panels.

“We have been paying contract and consultant panels to liaise with us, work with other contractors and work with health and safety,” he said.

That should have been “the cost of doing business”, he said.

But multiple councils said their ratepayers wanted to know how much they had overpaid so far. It was an idea dismissed by Dougherty, who said it would be too much work and he was focused on stopping more issues rather than looking at history.

Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty and board chairperson Nick Leggett address the meeting on Monday.

He did, though, reiterate a previous statement from Wellington Water that a claim from one of the report summaries that contractors were charging three times what they should was incorrect. He could not give a correct figure, but said a picture should form once it started a more competitive tender process.

Dougherty also gave a ringing endorsement to Wellington Water board chairperson Nick Leggett, who has faced a week of calls to resign. Dougherty labelled Leggett a “beacon of light” in the organisation who whistle-blowing staff felt they could come forward to.

The meeting came a week to the day since the two reports, by Deloitte and AECOM, led to allegations of overpayments to contractors and an organisation prone to fraud.

From left to right, Hutt City councillor Simon Edwards, Porirua mayor Anita Baker and Wellington mayor Tory Whanau at the meeting

But chairman Campbell Barry was unable to make the meeting after being stranded in Australia due to Cyclone Alfred. This was one of the reasons Wellington mayor Tory Whanau held off tabling an official call from a majority of Wellington City councillors calling for Leggett to go. Another meeting was scheduled for Friday.

Speaking after the meeting, Whanau said she had read the room and it was clear that she did not have the necessary 100% of the committee behind her to get Leggett to go.

Wellington Water Committee papers show the organisation had since made changes that meant Wellington Water staff had to approve invoices prior to payment and only they could approve work for consultants and contractors.

Civil Contractors NZ chief executive Alan Pollard earlier said he had not seen any evidence in the reports of contractors overcharging.

“We do feel there needs to be better understanding of difference in costs, as these will inevitably vary between regions,” he said.