21/09/2026
And the s**t show goes on... at the cost of the rate payers... all while "Toxic Contaminate Exposure" causing harm and injury (causative of loss of life) has been allowed to continue, by our wonderful elected, councilors, mayor and CEO.
The Post...........................
Andrea Vance National Affairs Editor
21 Sep 2026
Upper Hutt ratepayers are picking up the legal tab for high-profile barrister Linda Clark, who has been hired by the council to help mayor Peri Zee fight court action brought by two of her critics.
Ex-journalist Clark is advising Zee in proceedings brought under the Harmful Digital Communications Act by Paul and Kate Fabian.
The Fabians are long-time ratepayer advocates who have been critical of council transparency, water reform and rates. They run NZ Empowered and regularly attend council meetings and publish commentary on local government issues.
At first, exchanges between the couple and Zee, who was voted in as mayor nearly a year ago, were cordial. In January, Zee offered to meet them for coffee to discuss community matters.
By June, the relationship had deteriorated.
Zee accused the couple of spreading “disinformation” about her role on the Tiaki Wai Metro Water Partners’ Committee and warned them about legal protections relating to statements that could deliberately harm her reputation.
The Fabians denied making the posts and subsequently pursued proceedings under the Harmful Digital Communications Act (HDCA).
The dispute also resulted in Zee making a complaint to police about the couple’s communications.
A community constable visited their home in July, but police later confirmed they had found the threshold for harassment had not been met and took no further action.
The Fabians’ HDCA application was accepted by a district court judge in July.
A council spokesperson confirmed it was meeting Zee's legal costs.
“The mayor initially sought advice from council’s in-house counsel. Given the nature of the proceedings, council engaged a specialist and experienced barrister in the usual way,” the spokesperson said.
The council has not disclosed how much has been spent on Clark’s services.
It says the legal bill is being paid by the council because the proceedings concern Zee acting in her official capacity.
“The applicant is a person well known to council and who has, over time, engaged extensively with council officers and councillors.
Mayor Zee opposes the application on the grounds that the communication was not harmful.”
The spokesperson said the council would seek to recover costs if the application was dismissed.
The council was asked to clarify what it means by engaging Clark “in the usual way”.
A procurement process was not required, the spokesperson said. This followed council process.
Clark has a history of working on local government disputes. In 2023, Upper Hutt City Council appointed her to review its handling of years of noise complaints about the Farrah’s bread factory in Silverstream.
She also conducted a code of conduct investigation for Wellington City Council into five councillors over the leaking of information about a controversial plan for the council to spend $32 million to buy the land under the closed, earthquake-prone Reading Cinema complex.
Clark also reviewed the fallout between the mayor, chief executive and councillors at Gore District Council.
Other high-profile cases have included representing disgraced former deputy police commissioner Jevon McSkimming and Julia Phillips, the mother of Tom Phillips, in proceedings seeking to restrict publication of information about his children.
‘Public scrutiny is part of the job as an elected person, but we should not have to put up with intimidation,’ Peri Zee told The Post in July. The Fabians deny intimidation.
Upper Hutt ratepayers are paying for mayor Peri Zee’s legal fight with two critics, who are taking her to court under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.
