Former Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark insists Sir Tim still had support on the council. Photo / RNZ, Tess Brunton
By Tess Brunton of RNZ
Former Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark disputes claims made at Sir Tim Shadbolt’s funeral that his colleagues have blood on their hands.
Shadbolt’s partner, Asha Dutt, told mourners on Friday that his health turned due to the extreme stresses placed on him by people who should have had his back.
However, several councillors have questioned her account, saying Shadbolt was supported and had friends around the council table in his final term.
Dutt promised some parting shots, when she publicly farewelled her partner – and she did not hold back.
She described his final term as mayor – from 2019-22 – as truly awful and detailed accusations she promised Shadbolt she would raise, including that she believed the 2019 council had blood on their hands.
“It wasn’t Tim who failed and wasn’t capable of doing his job,” she said. “It was the extreme stresses that were placed upon him by people that should have supported him that turned his health and turned my own.”
A tumultuous term was marked by talk of possible government intervention, after rising tensions between elected members and a 2020 review finding a leadership void and saying Shadbolt was increasingly unable to do his job.
At the time, Shadbolt said the report scapegoated him for the failings of council, which was not giving him enough support.
Dutt said his colleagues should be ashamed.
Former mayor and Shadbolt’s deputy, Nobby Clark, disagreed that the long-serving mayor lacked support.
“That’s not the truth at all,” he said. “He had failing health and that’s just the fact of it.
“Everybody in Invercargill knows that. He struggled through the last term, so you try and help.”
He believed most councillors supported him, and pointed to the findings of the 2020 independent Thomson report as evidence of the leadership issues they faced and the steps they sought to take.
“The comments she made were inaccurate,” Clark said. “It just showed that she was angry right till the very end, which is a shame, because Tim was not like that.
“Tim was a really nice guy and a pleasure to sit with. He was a great orator.”
He described Shadbolt as a man who commanded the attention of everyone when he walked into a room and really connected with others, particularly people who were disadvantaged.
Former councillor Peter Kett, who considered himself a true friend of Shadbolt, even before he became mayor, said Dutt’s words were hard to hear.
“I’m really gutted at what she said,” Kett said. “Some councillors had blood on their hands, but the way it sounded that all of us had blood on our hands, like myself, I just wanted to help him.”
Some councillors treated Shadbolt like rubbish, but he did have friends in the council chambers, he said.
Kett was disappointed to be painted with the same brush.
“Just so sad that she had to say that, because she knows that I’m a true friend of his and, when he went in to fulltime care, Asha gave me permission with the people at the rest home to go and visit Tim whenever I liked.”
He described seeing Shadbolt shuffle out of one difficult council meeting, before going into the mayoral lounge.
“He was crying and I put my arm around him. I said, ‘Tim, what can I do?’
“He said, ‘Oh, get me a sandwich or something’. I said, ‘There are some sandwiches and cakes in the committee room’.
“He said, ‘I’m not going back in there, would you bring me some food please?’, so I went and got him some food, asked him if he wanted a drink and then I drove him home.”
Kett laid the lack of support and stress at the feet of then-chief executive Clare Hadley, saying she regularly met with committee chairs and deputy chairs, and decisions were made in those meetings, before being taken to council.
In response, Hadley said she was happy to leave that term behind her and she had no comment.
Former councillor Graham Lewis said he was surprised and hurt by Dutt’s remarks.
She did not mention that several councillors tried to help Shadbolt through some of the council agendas before meetings or that he would drive him home after meetings, he said.
“Asha was obviously going through a lot of grief and a lot of upset,” Lewis said. “I’m not putting her down, I’ve got a lot of respect for her and also had a huge amount of respect for Tim.
“That’s basically all I can say. It was troubling times.”
Councillor Allan Arnold did not believe Shadbolt lacked support, but declined to describe his final term.
“It’s water under the bridge, as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “I have fond memories of Sir Tim personally.”
Councillor Ian Pottinger said his only comment was “de mortuis nil nisi bonum - do not speak ill of the dead”.
The Invercargill City Council said it did not wish to make any comment.
- RNZ