Mayor snubs ‘kangaroo court'

Michael Laws says Wanganui's code of conduct for elected representatives is 'potty'. Picture / Tracey Grant

The best show Wanganui has seen in years began yesterday, but the main actor didn't bother turning up.

Controversial Mayor Michael Laws decided to stay away from the investigation into his alleged breaches of the Wanganui District Council's code of conduct.

"I don't take it seriously," he said. "I think it is small-town politics gone mad."

But the six people who made complaints about him were certainly taking the matter seriously.

The unlikely bunch of complainants - made up of art lovers, Exclusive Brethren supporters, a businesswoman and a psychiatrist - were united in the belief that either they or the community had been insulted or aggrieved by Mr Laws and his abrasive comments.

Their complaints centred on the code of conduct's requirement that elected members must act in the best interests of Wanganui and respect other people.

Mr Laws - the first mayor to be investigated under the code of conduct - is alleged to have breached these requirements in a number of comments in his newspaper columns and on his talkback radio show.

Some of the comments that caused offence were that the Exclusive Brethren should "be bred out of the human race" and that "journalists love getting pissed".

Mr Laws had requested that yesterday's investigation by the council's audit and administration committee be held in private.

"Because what they [the complainants] want is a Mickey-Mouse kangaroo court".

But the complainants' lawyer, Rob Moodie, argued that it was in the public's interest that the investigation be open. The council agreed, voting in favour of an open meeting, but maintaining the right to deliberate in private.

One complainant, Dr Jay Kuten, who once headed the national forensic psychiatric unit, said Mr Laws was derisive and his role as a "shock-jock" on radio created a conflict of interest with his role as mayor.

Dr Kuten made numerous references to Mr Laws' mental state, saying he was "bedevilled by demons".

Mr Laws labelled the complaints "ridiculous" - "One of the major complaints was based on a statement I made four months before I was elected." He was referring to comments he made on Radio Pacific about the Exclusive Brethren religion last July.

Comments on the show - such as calling them "strange and weird and beasties" - resulted in the Broadcasting Standards Authority upholding a complaint against him.

They also resulted in Warwick Chapman and William Pearce - both of whom say they are not members of the church - laying code of conduct complaints.

Under the Local Government Act 2002, all district and regional councils must have a code of conduct governing elected members' behaviour.

Mr Laws said he had researched other councils' codes and they were all professional - except Wanganui's, which he described as "potty".

The council has unanimously voted to change the code, but the complaints were all made under the old code, so must be heard.

Last night the council began deliberating whether Mr Laws has a case to answer.