By Matthew Littlewood of 
Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis. Photo: Supplied: Dunedin City Council
Outspoken Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis is facing a code of conduct complaint for allegedly "anti-Māori" comments.
A council spokesman confirmed an investigator's report, together with a report from the chief executive, would be considered in the public part of the council meeting on 31 July.
The spokesman could not confirm whether the report had been shared among councillors yet, but said costs associated with the investigation totalled more than $10,000.
Vandervis had previously revealed the existence of the complaint himself and posted a copy of it, as well as related material, on his website.
The material showed he objected to marae protocol "compliance requirements", a hui agenda that was "not understandable" by non-Māori speakers and to an expectation he sing waiata.
Vandervis also took issue with Claude Monet's La Debacle work being accompanied by "irrelevant Māorified text" at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
The complaint has been laid by councillor Marie Laufiso.
Laufiso confirmed she had received the report, but said she would wait until it was officially released before commenting on the findings.
In lodging her complaint in November, Laufiso wrote: "In the wake of the March 15th (2019) terror attacks in which 51 Ōtautahi Christchurch Muslims were murdered and 40 injured, council adopted a position of 'zero tolerance' towards racism."
She raised concerns about what she said was an enduring pattern of behaviour from Vandervis, including mispronouncing the word "Māori".
The council had a forum called Te Pae Māori.
By refusing to participate, Vandervis was failing in his duty to be available to listen and respond openly and honestly to community concerns, she said.
A key point of disharmony goes back to meetings of Te Pae Māori in July and October and commentary from Vandervis in the leadup, the Otago Daily Times has previously reported.
Vandervis could not be reached for comment on Friday.
This story was originally published by the Otago Daily Times.
