NRC chair Geoff Crawford and deputy chair Tui Shortland. Photo: NZME
Complaints of stalking, racial discrimination and privacy breaches made against Northland Regional Council's chair have all been dismissed.
Council deputy-chair Tui Shortland made two April and June 2025 codes of conduct complaints against chair Geoff Crawford.
Lawyer Lizzy Wiessing's two reviews into Shortland's allegations have now been released under an official information request.
Crawford, in response to the reviews' findings, said it was disappointing the situation had reached the code of conduct complaints process which took large amounts of time and cost ratepayers money.
He said as NRC chairman he had always believed his dealings with the matters raised had been fair and reasonable and this has been validated by the reviews.
Shortland, commenting last week in response to the reviews' findings, said the council's code of conduct was the formal mechanism available to elected members to address conflict and ensure accountability.
"While these processes are not easy, they are part of maintaining respectful and transparent governance," Shortland said.
Shortland said she had since resolved matters directly with Crawford.
"We've moved forward, as strong governance requires for our region."
She said ratepayers deserved safe, respectful and accountable governance.
Wiessing, a local government law expert, dismissed outright Shortland's first complaint from April saying it could not be substantiated.
She also dismissed all but one of the around half a dozen allegations in Shortland's second complaint in June..
Shortland alleged in this second complaint that Crawford showed a sustained pattern of behaviour towards her that she believed "constitutes harassment, racial discrimination, defamation and breaches of privacy".
Wiessing rejected Shortland's allegations of racial discrimination, defamation and privacy breaches outright.
The lawyer said she had not found a pattern of sustained harassment on Crawford's part that breached the council's code of conduct. There was therefore no harassment in that sense.
Aspects of Shortland's June allegations were alleged to have happened in a 10 June council TeTiriti health check workshop.
Wiessing found that a full investigation was required regarding the allegations relating to Crawford's workshop behaviour.
"The allegations in relation to the (council) Te Tiriti health check workshop are material - if proven - they would bring the respondent into disrepute or, it not addressed- reflect adversely on the council," Wiessing said.
Shortland claimed Crawford shouted and used an aggressive tone with her during the workshop.
Crawford denied that was the case and said he had not "lost it" at any point in the meeting.
Wiessing said that in her investigation she had been unable to fully verify the workshop's circumstances included in Shortland's allegations.
She left open whether the workshop's events alone constituted harassment.
Shortland decided after Wiessing's review findings that she did not wish to proceed to the next stage of formal investigation.
Proceedings were therefore closed.
What the reviews found
Wiessing's two review reports to NRC chief executive Jonathan Gibbard outlined her initial investigations and any follow-up recommendations into the two codes of conduct complaints.
The reports were released to Local Democracy Reporting Northland under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA).
The reviews aimed to inform council decision making on what to do about their further handling, including proceeding to full public council meeting consideration.
In her first 6 May review, Wiessing said Shortland's April allegations against Crawford over asking for her council fleet vehicle use data via a LGOIMA request should be dismissed.
In that review, Wiessing described the relationship between the two NRC leaders as having broken down.
"In light of the local elections for council later this year, I decline to make any recommendations relating to the working relationship between the complainant and respondent which has broken down," Wiessing said.
Stalking allegation
Shortland's vehicle use continued as a major thread in her second code of conduct complaint allegations in June.
She claimed she was the subject of stalking on Crawford's part when he sought her council fleet vehicle use data.
Crawford asked for the information when she was acting NRC chair while he was overseas, and again for her attendance at this year's Ngāti Hine festival.
Wiessing said this had been sought twice via email but it had not been provided so the data was requested under the LGOIMA.
Crawford said Shortland made more frequent requests for council vehicles than her elected peers because she didn't have a private vehicle and lived somewhere without public transport.
Wiessing said in her review of the second complaint she did not uphold that stalking-type behaviour allegation.
In her review conclusion she said she had considered whether the pair should be directed to mediation, in the first instance.
"However my interviews with the parties leads me to assess that mediation would be unsuccessful even if it could be arranged before the local elections this year, and thus I have not recommended it as next steps."
The other allegations
Other dismissed allegations include Shortland claiming racial discrimination on Crawford's part after he queried her expenses, including for attending Waitangi Day celebrations.
Shortland also took issue with Crawford distributing information about her expenses to the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and Local Government New Zealand.
Crawford claimed this had been sent in the context of seeking governance guidance.
At the time of the complaint he had also been required to report to the Minister of Local Government via the DIA every time there was a council governance issue.
Shortland said sharing them breached her privacy and was unethical.
Wiessing said the expenses related to Shortland's role and were council business, which therefore concerned council money.
"I do not consider they are sensitive financial information, but they are official information." Wiessing said.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
