Today it was revealed that Arapata Reuben, a representative from Ngāi Tūāhuriri, has not attended two-year’s worth of meetings for the Canterbury Water Zone Committee. Despite this, he was still paid his full $8000 honorarium.

“Reuben’s absence is perfectly in breach of standing orders, but both councils have not bothered to act as they say the future of the committee itself is under review” said Sam Warren, Local Government Campaigns Manager for the Taxpayers’ Union.

“Between 2023-24, Mr Reuben was at zero of the fourteen meetings that he should have attended, not even sending an apology for the last seven of these. Does Council simply does not care if paid representatives show up? What exactly does it take to get fired here?”

“Now on the back foot, both councils are ‘following this up’. Unless an awfully good excuse is found, a refund is well in order for such an appalling display of contempt towards the ratepayers footing the bill.”

“Councils need to do better. And, while Rueben has shown us that apologies are clearly not his strong suit – one is certainly appropriate for the ratepayers forced to cover his honorarium.”

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