Councillor Ray Chung said he did not see his great-niece's name on the council paper when he voted. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Councillor Ray Chung said he did not see his great-niece's name on the council paper when he voted. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Wellington City councillor Ray Chung has been pulled up by the mayor after he voted for an arts grants package that included funding for a relative.
At the council’s grants subcommittee meeting last week, Chung supported a motion to allocate $126,617 of ratepayer-funded grants to 20 individuals and organisations underthe arts and culture fund.
Among the recipients was Cadence Chung, his great-niece, who was seeking $3525.88 towards a poetry publication and arts events. There is no suggestion Cadence Chung acted improperly.
Ray Chung did not declare a potential conflict of interest.
Asked by the Herald about whether it should have been declared, Chung said he had no relationship with his great-niece and had not seen her for 10-15 years.
He said he did not notice her name on the application, but insisted he had read the paper before voting on it.
“I went through the list of people and I went through the list of things that they’re actually applying for but yeah, her name didn’t jump out at me,” he said.
Last year Chung posted a news article profiling Cadence to his Facebook page, writing “extremely proud of my nephew’s daughter, Cadence”.
Chung said the matter had been raised after the meeting and he had sought advice from council officials as to whether the conflict should have been declared.
He later said he had been told by officials it was not a conflict given they do not have a close relationship.
A Wellington City Council spokesman said officers discussed the matter with Chung following the meeting, and advised him that conflicts have to be managed by councillors themselves, who must use their own judgement.
Cadence Chung said she applied for funding in her capacity as the financial officer of a magazine she co-edits with several other young poets.
“We applied using the funding portal like anyone else and did not try to curry favour with any counsellors,” Chung said.
She said both herself and the magazine’s editors “don’t agree with Ray Chung’s views”.
Wellington Mayor Andrew Little said Chung should have declared it.
Wellington Mayor Andrew Little called Ray Chung to state his expectations, saying Chung will now declare his potential conflict at the next committee meeting. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“Cr Chung did not declare a potential conflict of interest when this was discussed by the committee. In my view a declaration should have been made, but I do not think this would’ve warranted him being excluded from the meeting,” Little said in a statement.
“I’ve since spoken with Cr Chung about this and confirmed my expectations.”
“We have agreed that when the committee meets for the first time in 2026 a declaration will then be made,” Little said.
Grants subcommittee chair Nicola Young said it is “disappointing when councillors don’t read their papers thoroughly”.
Young said it is important conflicts are taken seriously, even when the amount of money involved is small.
Grants subcommittee chair Nicola Young says councillors should take potential conflicts seriously.
“Like Caesar’s wife, councillors must be above suspicion,” she said.
Contacted for a response to the mayor’s comments, Chung said he did not want to speak about the situation, saying the Herald had “done enough damage”, before hanging up.
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.
