At a meeting on Tuesday, the city council unanimously supported the Notice of Motion filed by Cr Ian Pottinger which demanded accountability from Great South’s executive.
Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark said the communication around the issue had been "very poor" which had created a "whole lot of question marks" for the council and public.
It needed to explain its position, why it chose to notify the councils when it did and what the impacts of staying involved with New Zealand Functional Foods (NZFF) would be.
He also wanted more specifics including when the decision was made, how Mr Collier voted as a board member and how well Great South was positioned if additional capital investors came on board.
"There are some real tough questions around that, and I expect answers to those."
Cr Trish Boyle said she did not like the way council had been "sideswiped by the communication".
Cr Ria Bond said the most disappointing aspect was how the sudden "backtrack" came only a week after Great South’s chief executive had advised council of how well the factory project was developing.
"It is essential that we do require them here, they need to be accountable for what’s happened and it needs to be completely transparent with this council."
Mr Clark also wanted it made clear to the public the council had not directly invested money in NZFF, but it did fund Great South.
"We’ve probably, through operating funds, put a significant amount of money into developing this project."
Great South, a council-controlled organisation, initially established NZFF, that was now 51% owned by Stephen Tindall’s K One W One company while Great South held 49%. Mr Clark said it might need to be a Public Excluded (PE) meeting because NZFF was amid sensitive commercial negotiations with additional capital investors.
"I’ve told Ian Collier that if it’s still commercially sensitive, we will have it in PE, and if not, then we will have it out on the table where everybody can understand what is going on."
Great South would have to decide if it stayed as a part owner of the company or leave, he said.
Cr Pottinger said Great South was a joint council-owned entity which needed to be held accountable for breaching its ‘No Surprises’ policy and ‘Public Accountability’ policy set out in its Statement of Intent.
"I believe the council and the public have the right to know, has Great South complied with its Statement of Intent."
A public-excluded meeting was not necessary to answer that question.
The public deserved proper transparency from the council funded entity, he said.
Cr Lesley Soper said while she supported the inquiry, she also cautioned council about how it had its discussions with Great South as she believed the council gave the economic development agency Venture Southland the mandate to operate as a more independent commercially-focused organisation many years ago and any discussions should only be held at a public-excluded meeting on September 26.
"We asked Great South to make commercial decisions — the oat milk project has got to that stage.
"I just would not like the public to believe that there is going to be a fully public grilling of the board of Great South ... that may not be the reality ... " she said.
While the motion had the full support from council, Cr Tom Campbell urged caution until they heard Mr Collier’s explanation.
- By Toni McDonald
