Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has issued five of her councillors with a code of conduct complaint, alleging they breached confidentiality.

Whanau confirmed she received a complaint about the conduct of five councillors from Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon and, after seeking advice, decided to proceed with issuing the complaint.

“To assist me in my consideration of these allegations, I have initiated an independent review to establish if any breach has occurred. That review will be undertaken by Linda Clark, partner at law firm Dentons Kensington Swan.

“Given my role under the Code of Conduct, I do not intend to make any further comment on this matter until the independent review has been completed.”

Four of the councillors - Diane Calvert, Ray Chung, Tony Randle and Nicola Young - issued a joint press release this afternoon outlining the nature of the complaint.

One other unnamed councillor has also reportedly been issued with the complaint.

The councillors say the complaint comes after a public-excluded meeting earlier in October where Wellington City Council discussed the future of the Reading Cinema complex on Courtenay Place.

Despite the meeting being held behind closed doors, the Herald understands a multimillion-dollar deal, involving the council buying the land underneath the Reading Cinema, was under consideration.

It was discussed in a public-excluded part of the meeting. Reasons given for this included allowing the local authority to carry on negotiations, including commercial and industrial negotiations, without prejudice or disadvantage.

At the time, Whanau said it was “getting really boring” that some of her councillors continued to speak to the media about confidential council meetings.

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“It creates an environment where the public does not have the full picture and loses faith in our processes and decision-making,” Whanau said.

The councillors say Whanau left “a clear breadcrumb trail about a deal with Reading Cinema making it easy for the media to identify the project”.

“So why is she attacking and blaming us?”

Councillor Diane Calvert said the complaint is an attempt to silence councillors.

Councillor Diane Calvert. Photo / Mark Mitchell

“The mayor and chief executive are trying to silence and discredit the independent councillors; the ones who are most concerned about the city’s finances. It is an orchestrated attack on democracy.”

The complaint also references the councillors’ concerns about the Town Hall’s cost blow-out and the financial challenges facing Wellington.

The Town Hall budget recently exploded from $182 million to a possible $329m.

Since the Town Hall was declared earthquake-prone and closed in 2013, the cost of the work has grown from $43m to $60m to $90m to $112m and most recently to $182m in 2022.

Vita Molyneux is a Wellington-based journalist who covers breaking news and stories from the capital. She has been a journalist since 2018 and joined the Herald in 2021.