Local lawyer Garth Mathieson has been investigating.
A Tauranga man’s 11-month mission to find out who advocated for keeping the city’s commissioners has resulted in an investigation, an apology, and criticism from the Chief Ombudsman’s office.
But local lawyer Garth Mathieson says there are still unanswered questions about the decision to “cancel the 2022 local body election”.
He wrote to the Department of Internal Affairs in December 2022, asking under the Official Information Act for a list of all persons and organisations who supported the commission’s reappointment.
The department responded to Mathieson in January 2023, saying it did not hold such records.
A subsequent Ombudsman’s investigation found the department did hold the information.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier recommended the department apologise to Mathieson and make a new decision on his request.
On July 11, Boshier wrote to Mathieson saying the department explained to him it did hold the information sought but not in the form of a list, as requested.
Boshier said he was not satisfied with the department’s response to Mathieson, as Mathieson was “clearly seeking to understand” who Mahuta was referring to when referencing the commission’s trust and support from within the community.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier.
Asked why a list could not be collated from the letters held by the department, it advised Boshier this would require creating information rather than providing official information.
Under the Official Information Act, “official information” is defined as “any information held” by an agency or minister subject to the act.
Boshier said he did not accept the reasoning as “the information is clearly held by the department”.
“I consider the department took an unreasonable narrow interpretation of the request.”
Boshier said he was also concerned the department told Mathieson it did not “hold records of persons or organisations who supported the appointment of the commissioners for a further term”.
“It seems the department’s comments to you were, at best, inadvertently misleading,” he said.
“I consider the department has failed in its obligations to consider consulting you and to provide you with reasonable assistance.”
On July 19, Internal Affairs director of ministerial, monitoring and capability Jeremy Cauchi wrote to Mathieson to inform him of the new decision and apology. These were “necessary” due to Boshier’s opinion, he said.
The department should have contacted Mathieson to better understand the scope of the request, he said.
Cauchie revealed the organisations that expressed support for the commissioners were the Urban Task Force for Tauranga, the Property Council of New Zealand and Ngā Pōtiki ā Tamapahore Trust.
Tauranga City Council commissioners (from left) Shadrach Rolleston, Bill Wasley, Stephen Selwood and Anne Tolley. Photos / NZME
The organisations expressed concern that some of the progress made by the commissioners would be undone. There was also a desire to see the progression of long-term infrastructure projects such as the Cameron Rd upgrade, which would help Tauranga catch up a and be repositioned as a city of strategic importance to the country.
A further 15 individuals wrote to the minister in support of the commissions’ extension but these people were not named, with Cauchi citing privacy reasons.
Mathieson said he was appealing this.
He told the Bay of Plenty Times that people playing a role in influencing what he described as “the cancellation of an election” should do so publicly, given the decision had removed “the right of people to vote”.
He also believed any perceived potential conflict of interest should be disclosed.
He said the council was committing Tauranga residents to helping pay for “significant and expensive projects” but people had not been able to have a say on how the council was governed.
“I don’t think that election should have been cancelled.”
In his view, the department’s apology was not sincere, he said.
Mathieson said he was not stopping and would pursue more information on who offered support for reappointing the commission.
“My main goal is to disclose to the public the people behind extending the commission’s term, or cancelling the 2022 local body election,” he said.
“I believe in democracy as a principle. I think a homeless person has as much right to vote as the richest person in town. The only time when everyone is truly equal is on voting day.”
In response to Mathieson’s comment about the apology, Cauchi said the department had since assessed its practices and “implemented further processes to ensure due diligence”.
During its first term, the commission developed an exit plan aimed at creating a smooth transition back to an elected council.
The plan recommended a commission be retained beyond October 2022.
Delivering a 2024-34 Long-Term Plan that prioritises the needs of the community, city and region was among its key priorities.
The commission’s term was expected to end the day after the date elected members of the next council were declared, following elections in July 2024.
Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.
