A phone recording reveals the discovery of sensitive files was reported to a council call centre worker.
The fallout from a privacy investigation at the Wellington City Council continues after an audio recording confirms the accidental release of the confidential documents was reported by the man who found them in an old mayoral desk.
The council says the recording shows officers did take it seriously, and followed protocol to investigate the issue.
The Herald obtained thousands of pages of secret council files that were accidentally sent to the Southern Landfill Tip Shop, sold off in drawers of the old desk to a local man.
The furniture was purchased by Raymond Morgan, who called the council on September 24 to report it, while following up about a prior query, before taking to social media asking locals what he should do with the sensitive papers.
When first contacted by the Herald about Morgan’s post on September 25, a council spokesman said officials made some phone calls but ultimately did not believe it to be legitimate, saying it was likely social media “mischief”, and encouraged the Herald to come back when it had found evidence.
The Herald, within hours, visited Breaker Bay and tracked down Morgan, who, frustrated with the council’s response, provided our newsroom with the confidential cache.
He said he called the council the day before to report it and follow up on an earlier query about cycle lanes, but claims officials “didn’t really take much notice at all”.
The Herald went back to the council, which then said it was launching an official investigation.
Asked why the council did not act on the matter when alerted to it by Morgan, a council spokesman said, “Our contact centre staffer had no idea what your source was talking about when he called earlier this week - so to say we didn’t take him seriously or fobbed him off is deeply wrong.”
The spokesman suggested the issue was not seriously raised by Morgan when he called.
The Herald has now heard a recording of the call, which suggests that Morgan did raise the alarm, with a council call centre worker saying they would escalate it.
Below is an edited transcript of Morgan’s phone call:
Morgan: Hi, yeah, it’s Raymond Morgan speaking, following up on a service request from about seven weeks ago now. I’ve had no response from the muppets.
Council: What’s going on, ummmm I think I can see, is this the one about the cycleways?
Morgan: Yeah, that’s right.
Council: How is this, I can even see in my notes saying no one has responded. What’s going on?
Morgan: Yeah, I’m pretty f***** off – excuse my language ... the Wellington City Council treasure shop [is] disposing of stuff from out of the civic building. [Unintelligible] I got the old mayoral desk out of that building from the treasure shop legitimately, right?
Council: Right.
Morgan: It had a treasure trove of confidential files in it about employee dismissals and all sorts of things, allegations about councillors, [unintelligible] chief executives going back a number of years. I’ve got all of these documents at home [unintelligible].
Council: Oh boy. I will go, I will chase these people up, and I will see if I can get a TL [team-leader] on it as well. This is well overdue. Is this still the best contact for you?
Morgan: Yeah, I’m pretty pissed off about it, actually, because, you know -
Council: Yeah, fair enough, it’s been two months now.
Morgan: Yeah. So I just thought I would give you that latest bit of information, might get you to go a bit faster ... I tell you what, it was so funny when I opened the cupboard up and I discovered what was in there, I thought this is quite hilarious.
Council: Yeah, oh boy. Well, I will mention that as well.
Morgan was then called later that day by a member of the cycleway team about his initial query, but said he was not contacted further about the documents.
Asked about the recording, a council spokesman has now said it is clear that the caller was taken seriously, and “that the issue was escalated according to our standard processes”.
“Due to the late hour that the call was received, work to assess and investigate this situation carried over into the next day.
“Media who called that evening and the next morning were told that, to the best of the council’s knowledge, there were no secret documents in any furniture,“ the spokesman said.
The Herald’s reporting has since led to the Wellington City Council’s chief executive launching an official investigation.
The council has apologised to those whose confidential information has been leaked, and has publicly notified of a privacy breach.
It has also had to call in the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which said the fallout from the breach could spell “serious harm” to those involved.
The spokesman said the investigation would look into the events that led to the documents falling into public hands “with a view to ensuring such an incident doesn’t happen again”.
Asked whether there is a chance further sensitive material was incorrectly discarded alongside the document-filled desk, the spokesman said the council does not believe so, but has halted all further sales of items from the Town Hall while the investigation is under way.
The shocking contents included a sexual harassment claim against a former councillor, sensitive pay details, a personal grievance claim, claims of an abusive and misogynistic workplace, and unsavoury correspondence between councillors.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz