When first contacted by the Herald about Morgan\u2019s post on September 25, a council spokesman said officials made some phone calls but ultimately did not believe it to be legitimate, saying it was likely social media \u201cmischief\u201d, and encouraged the Herald to come back when it had found evidence.<\/p>\n
The Herald, within hours, visited Breaker Bay and tracked down Morgan, who, frustrated with the council\u2019s response, provided our newsroom with the confidential cache.<\/p>\n
Raymond Morgan accidentally obtained highly confidential Wellington City Council documents. Photo \/ Ethan Manera<\/p>\n
He said he called the council the day before to report it and follow up on an earlier query about cycle lanes, but claims officials \u201cdidn\u2019t really take much notice at all\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Herald went back to the council, which then said it was launching an official investigation.<\/p>\n
Asked why the council did not act on the matter when alerted to it by Morgan, a council spokesman said, \u201cOur contact centre staffer had no idea what your source was talking about when he called earlier this week – so to say we didn\u2019t take him seriously or fobbed him off is deeply wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesman suggested the issue was not seriously raised by Morgan when he called.<\/p>\n
The Herald has now heard a recording of the call, which suggests that Morgan did raise the alarm, with a council call centre worker saying they would escalate it.<\/p>\n
The call:<\/p>\n
Below is an edited transcript of Morgan\u2019s phone call:<\/p>\n
Morgan: Hi, yeah, it\u2019s Raymond Morgan speaking, following up on a service request from about seven weeks ago now. I\u2019ve had no response from the muppets.<\/p>\n
Council: What\u2019s going on, ummmm I think I can see, is this the one about the cycleways?<\/p>\n
Morgan: Yeah, that\u2019s right.<\/p>\n
Council: How is this, I can even see in my notes saying no one has responded. What\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n
Morgan: Yeah, I\u2019m pretty f***** off \u2013 excuse my language … the Wellington City Council treasure shop [is] disposing of stuff from out of the civic building. [Unintelligible] I got the old mayoral desk out of that building from the treasure shop legitimately, right?<\/p>\n
Council: Right.<\/p>\n
Morgan: It had a treasure trove of confidential files in it about employee dismissals and all sorts of things, allegations about councillors, [unintelligible] chief executives going back a number of years. I\u2019ve got all of these documents at home [unintelligible].<\/p>\n
Council: Oh boy. I will go, I will chase these people up, and I will see if I can get a TL [team-leader] on it as well. This is well overdue. Is this still the best contact for you?<\/p>\n
Morgan: Yeah, I\u2019m pretty pissed off about it, actually, because, you know –<\/p>\n
Council: Yeah, fair enough, it\u2019s been two months now.<\/p>\n
Morgan: Yeah. So I just thought I would give you that latest bit of information, might get you to go a bit faster … I tell you what, it was so funny when I opened the cupboard up and I discovered what was in there, I thought this is quite hilarious.<\/p>\n
Council: Yeah, oh boy. Well, I will mention that as well.<\/p>\n
Morgan was then called later that day by a member of the cycleway team about his initial query, but said he was not contacted further about the documents.<\/p>\n
Wellington’s Town Hall. Photo \/ NZ Herald <\/p>\n
Council responds: \u2018Caller was taken seriously\u2019<\/p>\n
Asked about the recording, a council spokesman has now said it is clear that the caller was taken seriously, and \u201cthat the issue was escalated according to our standard processes\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the late hour that the call was received, work to assess and investigate this situation carried over into the next day.<\/p>\n
\u201cMedia who called that evening and the next morning were told that, to the best of the council\u2019s knowledge, there were no secret documents in any furniture,\u201c the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
Council launches investigation<\/p>\n
The Herald\u2019s reporting has since led to the Wellington City Council\u2019s chief executive launching an official investigation. <\/p>\n
The council has apologised to those whose confidential information has been leaked, and has publicly notified of a privacy breach.<\/p>\n
It has also had to call in the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which said the fallout from the breach could spell \u201cserious harm\u201d to those involved.<\/p>\n
The secret collection of Wellington City Council files is thought to be more than 2000 pages. Photo \/ Ethan Manera<\/p>\n
The spokesman said the investigation would look into the events that led to the documents falling into public hands \u201cwith a view to ensuring such an incident doesn\u2019t happen again\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked whether there is a chance further sensitive material was incorrectly discarded alongside the document-filled desk, the spokesman said the council does not believe so, but has halted all further sales of items from the Town Hall while the investigation is under way.<\/p>\n