South Waikato council meeting adjourned after mayor challenged on camera ban

South Waikato Mayor Gary Petley. Photo / Supplied

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include responses from councillor Zed Latinovic and Bruce Simpson. The initial article included claims that councillors had yelled at the mayor. This should have been clearly attributed to the mayor. The headlines have been updated to remove the terms “shouting match” and “walkout”. NZME apologises to councillors Latinovic and Dave Shaw.

A South Waikato District council meeting was called off after two elected members challenged the mayor about a YouTuber being told not to film the meeting.

South Waikato District Council abandoned its meeting on Thursday, February 26.

Mayor Gary Petley had asked a member of the public, Bruce Simpson, to put his camera away, saying he did not have permission to film.

Some councillors tried to argue that filming was within Simpson’s rights.

Councillor Zed Latinovic tried to raise a point of order and proceeded to cite section 12.4 of the Standing Orders, while the chair was still talking.

Standing Order 12.4 states that members of the public may make electronic or digital recordings of meetings which are open to the public.

It also says any recording of meetings should be notified to the chairperson at the commencement of the meeting to ensure the recording does not distract the meeting from fulfilling its business.

It says that, where circumstances require, the chairperson may direct the recording to stop for a period of time.

Mayor Petley said in a statement he had asked Simpson to put away his camera as he had not sought prior permission to film, which he said was required in the council’s Standing Orders.

“As I was communicating with a member of the public, councillor Zed Latinovic, followed by councillor Dave Shaw, attempted to raise a point of order, which wasn’t possible as the meeting had not started,” Petley said.

He said, in his view: “It’s very hard to start a meeting while your elected members are yelling over the top of you.”

Talking to the Waikato Herald, Latinovic referred to video footage of the meeting.

“The video footage shows that I raised a point of order in a normal speaking tone and read directly from the Standing Orders in a procedural manner.”

Talking to the Waikato Herald, Latinovic said he tried to raise a point of order to seek clarification “regarding the application of Standing Orders at the time the request to stop filming was made”.

“I moved a procedural motion that Standing Orders be suspended so the matter could be discussed. That motion was seconded by councillor Dave Shaw,” Latinovic said.

“Immediately after the motion was seconded, the mayor adjourned the meeting.”

The video shows members of the public calling out, voicing their displeasure after the adjournment. “Grow some balls, Gary,” one said loudly. “Start being a mayor and look after this community.”

Latinovic said: “After the adjournment was announced, some members of the public in the gallery became upset as it became clear that the meeting would not proceed. I asked members of the public not to use foul language.”

He said that given the existence of a video recording of the meeting, characterisations suggesting “chaos”, “yelling”, “unruly behaviour”, or similar descriptions did not, in his view, accurately reflect what occurred.

When asked why the mayor referred to yelling in a council statement on the day of the meeting, a spokesperson said it was because “that was the mayor’s view of what happened”.

“There were repeated refusals of the chair’s ruling.”

Petley said in a statement: “We were unable to proceed with a meeting in which we were scheduled to discuss a number of topics which are crucial to our community – including the upcoming Annual Plan and Fees and Charges.”

In his view: “The behaviour of councillor Latinovic and sections of the public gallery were unacceptable on this occasion.”

Simpson told Waikato Herald he had emailed Petley “several days” before the meeting to say he would be attending to record.

“[Petley replied and] said that he was not granting me permission [to film]. But I did not ... need his permission because of [section] 12.4 of the standing orders.”

Simpson said he wanted to film the council meetings in addition to them being livestreamed, because he wanted there to be “an independent recording of events”.

A council spokesperson said Simpson had been told on a number of occasions that he was required to seek permission before filming. On this occasion, he was once again explicitly told he did not have permission.

The incident was not the first interaction between Simpson and the council, with the Waikato Times previously reporting a similar incident in 2025, where Simpson also refused to turn his camera off.

Councillor Dave Shaw has been contacted for comment.

The council meeting, initially scheduled for February 26, was held on March 5.