Cr Michael Laws said he needed official information requests to uncover details of the financial arrangements between local iwi authorities and the Otago Regional Council.
He formally asked the council to detail its payments to iwi authorities back to the 2020-21 financial year and its response showed $3.5m had been paid and another $1.8m was due to be paid.
About $3.5m of that was payments to mana whenua-owned consultancy Aukaha.
"In essence, these are secret payments," Cr Laws said. "They’re not recorded in any papers to council, nor reported in any official council documents.
"Until my Lgoima [Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act] request, they would have remained hidden away from councillor, media or public scrutiny."
Cr Gary Kelliher agreed the payments revealed a lack of transparency — he had been unable to find them in the council’s annual reports, nor in the financial detail provided to councillors in workshops or reports for annual and long-term plans.
"Some councillors including myself have been concerned for some time of the growing influence Aukaha and other iwi representatives have been having with ORC staff in planning Otago policy direction which is then presented as ORC staff position."
Cr Kate Wilson said the issue of transparency was in part caused by the council not clearly showing the outcomes of its investment with its iwi partners.
"I can’t see what we’re investing in, because there are not line items in our plans, and it seems to be a staff-driven rather than governance-driven relationship," she said.
"So we don’t get the value we’re adding.
"[Council staff] are not showing the value they’re adding, and that’s not fair on iwi."
Council chief executive Richard Saunders said Cr Laws’ figure of $5.3m since 2020-21 included $1.5m of grant funding from Ministry for the Environment and Department of Conservation, and $1.8m that was "largely proposed spending" out to 2027.
"We don’t provide detailed project-level budgeting in our planning documents, which is why these payments aren’t visible," Mr Saunders said.
"However, they were budgeted for and provided for as part of the overall project costs.
"While the line costs aren’t reported, we actively talk about the work we’re doing together in public and it’s not secret."
Chairwoman Cr Gretchen Robertson said the council’s work with mana whenua was essential, both in terms of delivering on the council’s strategic priorities and meeting its legal obligations.
"Many consultants contribute to our projects, including iwi agencies. They are treated consistently in reporting; we don’t single out specific groups for separate reporting.
"The numbers are not hidden," she said.
Cr Alan Somerville said he was "astonished that anyone thought that ORC payments to iwi authorities are secret".
"The ORC has a long-standing commitment to partnership with mana whenua," he said.
"This was most recently affirmed [in June] when councillors approved the ORC strategic directions, with its clear statement on partnership."
Cr Elliot Weir said the council’s "growing Te Tiriti partnership with mana whenua" had myriad benefits across the council’s work programme and the region at large.
The council had budgeted $131m in spending this year and on average over the past five years paid about $680,000 to iwi authorities a year — "most of which has been spent in developing the land and water management plan that has been prevented from being notified", Cr Tim Mepham said.
"Cr Laws is an attention-seeker stirring the pot with his anti-Māori sentiments; he probably hasn’t read the annual report which is a public document that is prepared on the basis of public accounting standards ensuring public transparency and accountability for the spending of public money."
Mr Laws said he would "continue to demand openness and transparency from the ORC".
"That’s my job."
