Vic Crone’s legal threat as Indigo saga escalates

"My silence to date has not been implied consent," Vic Crone said. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Former Callaghan Innovation chief executive Victoria Crone has entered the fray in the escalating saga of Auckland consultancy We Are Indigo’s (WAI’s) fitness to be awarded large-scale government contracts.

Late on Friday, Crone declared through her LinkedIn social media channel: “Today I speak up, commencing legal action towards We Are Indigo / We Are Manaaki, and personally against its directors Andrew Hamilton, Monty Betham and Patrick MacFie.

“My silence to date has not been implied consent,” said Crone, who has declined to elaborate further to media on her next move or the basis for her intended legal action.

Crone is no longer the CEO of Callaghan, where she was earlier this year when WAI was rejected as a bidder for a large Callaghan contract, based on concerns about the consultancy’s business practices.

Accordingly, it appears her most likely grounds for action may be to seek damages for alleged defamation, based on comments made by WAI principals and supporters in the course of media coverage since late October.

WAI has also threatened to take defamation action against various of its accusers, including San Francisco-based entrepreneur Robett Hollis and media outlets that repeat allegations against the Auckland-based agency. It has been using a former solicitor-general, Mike Heron KC, to represent its interests.

The issue lit up again last week after Creative New Zealand awarded a four-year $5.3 million contract to WAI for a new digital arts commissioning portal, taking to about $10.8m the total value of contracts awarded since WAI was formed and began seeking funds disbursed as part of the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic since 2020.

Creative NZ’s deliberations on awarding the latest contract occurred the same time as the row between Callaghan and WAI was getting widespread media coverage.

Creative NZ did pause the process of awarding the digital arts commissioning portal to WAI while it reviewed its due diligence of the Auckland-based agency but dismissed the media reports as based on social media gripes led by Hollis.

For his part, Hollis said he was standing up for Māori and Pasifika tech and arts sector business founders and was also seeking legal advice on WAI’s public statements about him.

The escalating contretemps has both divided the small and usually more tight-knit NZ startup, tech and creative community and is playing out on social media platforms and in blogs such as the RugbyMother site run by early-stage company adviser and chair of the KiwiNet investment committee Debra Hall, according to her LinkedIn profile.

BusinessDesk understands the issue is prompting behind-the-scenes inquiries from Government ministers, including arts and culture minister Carmen Sepuloni and her associate minister, Kiri Allan, as well as National party MPs.

Anonymous leaks

That interest has ramped up in part because of the wide distribution from an anonymised email address of confidential reports by a private investigation firm, Isacorp, into WAI’s dealings with sub-contractors involved in a business, innovation and employment ministry Digital Boost programme.

Among high-profile figures involved in the Digital Boost controversy was MindLab founder Frances Valentine, who responded to Crone’s Friday LinkedIn post by writing: “When one brave soul steps out of the shadows, others who watched on in anonymity begin to gather.”

BusinessDesk approached WAI’s Hamilton about Crone’s post but he declined to comment.

-BusinessDesk