2 May 2022
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Application for judicial review of Council decision to submit representation Local Bill
Enquiry
I am working on a story about Robert Lee's High Court application for a judicial review of the decision of the council "to submit the Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill to Parliament". [SEE DOCUMENT HERE]
I have attached Mr Lee's filing documents for the council and or the mayor to respond to for the right of reply, as well as some comments from Mr Lee below and a RDRR press release.
Could the council please comment on:
- Clarify if the council has received these papers and what the next step is for the council in this matter?
- How much this action is expected to impact the council financially (of course you wont know yet the exact cost but can you please comment broadly on the cost impact of something like this?)
- Any other comment the council wishes to make on this issue.
For the mayor:
- What is your view of this action?
COMMENTS
On Monday, Lee said the council’s decision to pause the bill on Thursday was “meaningless” and his action asked the court to have the bill removed from Parliament.
“[I'm] challenging the decision that was made on the 19th of November last year and [I’m] asking the court to invalidate that decision. With the decision invalidated by the court, that bill cannot stay in Parliament. It’s that decision that gives authority for that bill to be in Parliament.”
He said there would not be a need for a judicial review if the bill had been withdrawn by the council last week.
“Aspects of this decision were made with an improper procedure and aspects of the bill are illegal.”
He said as the interim injunction request was urgent, he would likely hear back about the decision this week, but it was possible there could be a future hearing on the matter.
“The council has got itself into some very bad habits in terms of how it conducts meetings, how it makes decisions. It might be very helpful for Rotorua’s benefit to understand that you cannot run a council this way.”
Lee said he had drafted the legal paperwork himself, without the help of legal counsel. The application had cost him $540.
Lee said money raised by Rotorua Residents and Ratepayers – on which he was on the board - for the action was in case expenses like if he lost the case and had to pay costs.
He intended to continue representing himself.
He understood the case would cost the council but said the council had “already spent a fortune” - about $74,000 – on pursuing the bill.
“This is seeking an end to this kind of expense.
“Even more important, it’s instilling a discipline only the court can instill into this council.”
He said the council was “currently lacking” discipline and he hoped it would send a message of what was expected.
“It’s not good enough to sit on the sidelines and say ‘hey that’s unlawful’, we need to get the council to jump to attention and only the court can do that.”
He said compensation for a breach of the Bill of Rights Act – one of the remedies sought – would most likely come to him if awarded.
“I’ve had to go to a considerable amount of time and effort and trouble to do this and if the council had acted lawfully and followed the proper process it wouldn’t have been required.”
He believed his claim was “very strong” and said it was “a last resort”.
He said the action wasn’t about publicity for his political campaign.
“The council are making their own publicity with their appalling decisions. I’m just holding them to account.”
URGENT JUDICIAL REVIEW TO KILL THE BILL
Press Release: Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers, 29 April 2022
On 19 November 2021, Rotorua District Council decided to submit a Local Bill to Parliament proposing three councillor seats in a Māori Ward, three seats in a General Ward and four seats to be elected At Large. It proved very controversial. On 28 April 2022, the Mayor had to use her casting vote to prevent Council withdrawing the Bill from Parliament.
“Council’s elected members are as divided as our community is over the Bill,” said Cr Reynold Macpherson, also RDRR Chairman and Mayoral Candidate. “Cr Peter Bentley’s resignation shows that our local government of disunity is willing to use elder abuse to silence critics. They want to replace democratic equal suffrage with voter parity to get co-governance. But the Attorney-General has found that the Bill would discriminate on ethnic lines, cannot be justified, and like many others, believes that any such legislation may be better considered in full by central government and Parliament.”
The so-called ‘pause’ in Parliament could give the Bill’s promoters time to revise it and possibly ram it through ‘under urgency’, he said. To safeguard democracy, RDRR wants to kill the bill. They are supporting a private citizen’s call for an urgent judicial review of the 19 November 2021 decision.
“The appropriate papers have been served on Council and in the High Court seeking urgent injunctive relief to set aside the Council’s decision to seek statutory reform,” said Robert Lee, an RDRR-endorsed candidate for Rotorua District Council. “In our view the process was procedurally unfair because it was predetermined, and the majority of elected members were biased in favour of this type of electoral model (co-governance).”
It was also illegal, he said, because Council had an improper purpose of seeking to rig the election, did not follow the statutory principles of consultation, sought to limit rights and freedoms set out in the New Zealand Bill of Rights, and the Fenton Agreement, Te Tiriti and co-governance were irrelevant considerations.
The judicial review has just been filed in the High Court and served on Council. The Statement of Claim and Application for Injunctive Relief are available. RDRR invites all members, associates, and friends, especially those in Saving Springfield and Restore Rotorua, to help by donating $30 or multiples of $30 to its ANZ account 06 0413 0524259 00. Thank you. It is imperative that Rotorua has a free and fair democratic election in October.
Response
From CE Geoff Williams:
This is a legal process that has been filed with the Court and the organisation will respond to that process in due course, as required.
Comment provided by Mayor Chadwick:
People in our community want certainty about how they will be voting in this year’s local elections and because of the request to pause the Bill process, I believe it will be the model determined by the Local Government Commission for the 2022 elections. This application to the High Court is a distraction.