Rotorua councillors Fisher Wang and Robert Lee clashed during a debate on a museum exhibition funding decision. Photos / Laura Smith
A council discussion on adding funds to Rotorua Museum’s exhibition project morphed into a debate over whether the city’s “true history” would be displayed.
One councillor claims another told him to “f*** off” after the meeting. The accused says he did not say those words but his message was correctly inferred.
Rotorua Lakes Council decided in a meeting on Wednesday to fund a further $181,700 through debt to progress the exhibition project, to be matched by Rotorua Trust, to cover a funding shortfall.
The project is preparing the exhibitions for the museum, which is set to start reopening in 2027 at the earliest, after more than a decade closed for earthquake strengthening renovations.
The council had secured $1.062 million of $9.51m in funding needed for the exhibitions.
Wednesday’s unanimous decision means exhibition funding would not be 100% external as previously planned, but progressing the exhibition work secured other funding agreements, including $17.1m towards construction.
Councillors debated a recommendation from the exhibition project steering group to accept a concept design and progress to a developed design.
Councillor Robert Lee voted against this and began asking whether Rotorua’s “true history” would be portrayed once the museum opened. He disputed that iwi gifted the land for the town.
Fisher Wang interrupted with a point of order on irrelevance, and Deputy Mayor Sandra Kai Fong asked Lee to rephrase his question several times.
Karen Barker repeated Wang’s call. Kai Fong said they’d had previous discussions on the matter and called for other questions.
“I think you have an opinion on that and I’m sure everyone has a different recollection and view on history and events,” Kai Fong said.
Lee later raised it again.
“I’ve been told that assurance [of historical accuracy] is not going to be forthcoming.”
Wang called for a point of order for misrepresentation, which Kai Fong agreed to.
Lee said there were nine sections in the permanent exhibition wing of the museum dedicated to “tell Rotorua’s story”.
He believed this was told in a 1948 commission of inquiry that heard “various grievances” from Ngāti Whakaue, and the iwi accepted a settlement offer.
“It does say here this exhibition is to enable Te Arawa storytelling in a sympathetic way.
“That’s fine but if the history is not going to be told, it’s not a museum exhibition I can endorse.”
Rawiri Waru “wholeheartedly” supported getting things moving to provide the community and those working on the project some assurance.
He addressed Lee’s comments on historical accuracy.
“If you knew the people we are working with, their integrity is unquestionable.
“They will tell it, warts and all.”
Regarding the 1948 commission, he said Ngāti Whakaue could not even choose their own representatives or have involvement in the report.
His grandfather was present at the time, he said. “Maybe there’s some history there that would be nice to hear.”
After the meeting, Wang posted to social media he and Lee later argued about the call of misrepresentation.
He said Lee belittled him, called him “boy”, and said “if you can’t back up your claim of misrepresentation ... then you can f*** off”.
Wang said he could back it up, as Kai Fong ruled in his favour.
“It’s sad to say this isn’t the first time this kind of behaviour has happened, and I know it won’t be the last, but I can only bite my tongue for so long. Integrity matters.”
Lee told Local Democracy Reporting he hadn’t actually said the words “f*** off”, but had trailed off.
He said Wang inferred his meaning correctly, however.
Lee said it started as a courteous and quiet conversation but alleged Wang became “increasingly agitated” when pressed him on the validity of the misrepresentation dispute.
Lee believed it was invalid, as he had not received the assurance he asked for.
If he had received it, he said he would have changed his vote.
Last year Lee and Wang clashed over a Rainbow Storytime event at the library, which Wang supported but Lee viewed as inappropriate for children.
The council will consider options for when and how to reopen the museum late this year or early next year, once it had more information about the design and funding.
Of the $72.35m construction cost, $56.85m is externally funded.
If the museum was to reopen all at once rather than in stages, the exhibition fitout would likely be ready for a June 2028 opening.
To offset the further exhibition borrowing, the council’s community experience group will reduce its 2024/25 financial year operational expenditures by $181,700.
The Rotorua Trust portion would be repaid if there was money left over when the project finished.
Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.