Brown cries foul

Wayne Brown is far from happy with criticism from Auditor-General Lyn Provost in her review of the dispute between the FNDC and Mr Brown's company Waahi Paraone Ltd.

That criticism included suggesting that the "blurring" of Mr Brown's personal and official roles was unwise (he had used his council executive assistant to follow up on his company's rating issues with council staff, and had written to the CEO on his mayoral letterhead.

Mr Brown's role as Mayor did not create a shortcut for resolving legal or other disputes about rates, she added.

Mr Brown claimed in return that the report was "riddled with errors," and he believed the Attorney-General's office had sent it to media rather than simply posting it on its website because he was a Mayor. (The Northland Age obtained the document from the website, not as a release).

"I don't get the same crack of the whip as an average man," he added.

"They haven't treated me like a developer - they've treated me like a Mayor."

He was also annoyed that the disputed sum had effectively been split down the middle.

"The council and I could have done that a year ago," he said.