Deputy mayor Phil Halse is retiring from politics. Photo / NZME
A group of Whangārei district councillors has addressed a report claiming outgoing deputy mayor Phil Halse called them a “woke block”.
Halse opted not to comment to the Northern Advocate except to say he wished to have a council that represents ratepayers and citizens.
Councillors Deb Harding, Scott McKenzie, Nicholas Connop, Patrick Holmes, Phoenix Ruka, Carol Peters and Ken Couper were named by Halse in response to a question about who in council was driving a “woke agenda”.
" ... Every time it gets hard, they take the soft option," the retiring deputy was quoted as saying.
Halse’s comments were reported in an August 10 edition of Letterbox, a free publication whose editor is Democracy Northland’s Frank Newman.
The article claimed to have obtained a copy of a “tell-all” interview Halse had with Concerned Residents of Whangārei [Crow], a self-described grassroots movement of residents.
Newman said a full transcript of the interview between Halse and Crow was distributed at Crow’s inaugural meeting on June 25, which he attended.
Letterbox reported Halse as saying Bream Bay and General Ward councillor Couper, a current mayoral candidate, was not supposed to be a “greenie/wokie” so was not doing what he was voted in to do.
Halse was reported as saying urban general ward councillor Connop was better fitted for the Northland Regional Council, given his focus on the environment.
Couper met Halse after seeing the reported comments.
He said Halse apologised to him, saying the facts had been “cherry-picked” and the conversation had been taken out of context.
“I think it’s fair to say he wasn’t happy that the comments had been used,” Couper said.
Newman said before publishing the extracts he sought and received confirmation that the extracts were accurate and not taken out of context.
Couper said well over 1000 resolutions had been put to WDC in the past six years and the “woke” group quoted didn’t all agree all the time.
Connop said Halse had not spoken with him about the comments.
He and the six other councillors named were not always aligned and there were times he would vote for something on his own, he said.
Urban general ward councillor Carol Peters did not know if Halse had made the comments but believed he wouldn’t have if he knew how they would have been used.
She described him as a good man.
“He doesn’t believe that. He knows that everyone goes into the council room with positions and ideas...but the decision happens in the room.”
Māori ward councillor Deb Harding did not want to comment other than to say Halse was a “Trojan” determined to work for Takahiwai and the wider community.
Hikurangi coastal general ward councillor Scott McKenzie said Halse had been “really good to work with”. He respected the outgoing deputy as a long-standing councillor.
Outgoing Whangārei Heads general ward councillor Patrick Holmes was proud of his voting record.
“If standing up for the environment and voting against wild conspiracy theories is considered woke... I’ll proudly wear that badge too.”
Crow founder Ian Melrose told the Northern Advocate Halse’s interview with the group was in the public domain.
“Crow has no association with Letterbox or Voices for Freedom. As far as we understand, the interview was a public service announcement.”
Mayor Vince Cocurullo said Halse was entitled to his opinion, and had not breached the council’s Code of Conduct.
Halse retires after 33 years in local body politics, which led to him being made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2022.
Phoenix Ruka did not respond to requests for comment.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.