Investigative journalism master class eviscerating corrupt council
- Grant McLachlan
- 20 hours ago
- 6 min read
In an era when media organisations frantically downsize, replacing substance with clickbait and advertorial content, a remarkable counter-narrative is unfolding in Queenstown. In New Zealand’s self-proclaimed “Jewel in the Crown” of tourism, readers are witnessing what true accountability journalism looks like – a meticulous dismantling of local government corruption that recalls the finest traditions of the fourth estate.
The 'Shotover Scandal': Queenstown’s Watergate
The parallels with Watergate are impossible to ignore. Just as Nixon’s presidency wasn’t undone by the initial break-in but by the subsequent cover-up exposed by Washington Post journalists Woodward and Bernstein, the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) is discovering that concealing environmental malfeasance carries far greater consequences than admitting initial failures.
Since 2021, the Queenstown Lakes District Council has been channelling millions of litres of partially treated sewage into the Shotover and Kawarau rivers, despite receiving three separate abatement notices from the Otago Regional Council (ORC). This discharge carries potential penalties of $600,000 per notice, plus legal costs – a staggering liability for ratepayers.¹
The overflow from the troubled Shotover wastewater treatment plant doesn’t just threaten abstract environmental values – it directly endangers the pristine waterways that form the foundation of the region’s tourism economy. The same rivers marketed internationally as symbols of New Zealand’s environmental purity are now receiving what ORC investigators described as effluent that “flowed like a small river away from the Disposal Field.”²
The farcical bird strike defence
Rather than addressing the treatment plant’s fundamental failures, QLDC has constructed an elaborate theatre of deflection. The council’s masterpiece of obfuscation? Invoking emergency powers under Section 330/330A of the Resource Management Act, claiming that birds attracted to the sewage ponds posed an urgent aviation safety risk to nearby Queenstown Airport.³
This emergency declaration allowed QLDC to bypass normal environmental consent processes, authorising the discharge of up to 12,000 cubic metres of wastewater daily directly into the Shotover River – enough to fill nearly five Olympic swimming pools every day.⁴
Yet when journalist Peter Newport spent an entire afternoon with the airport’s bird strike team in February 2025, they never once mentioned sewage connections as a concern. Instead, they identified plovers nesting in grass near the airfield boundary as their primary focus.⁵ The council’s deception runs deep – they’ve constructed an elaborate “emergency” narrative while quietly authorising non-consented infrastructure like the $700,000 wall around the disposal field that environmental lawyer Shona Walter highlighted as falling far short of true “emergency” circumstances comparable to events like the Christchurch earthquakes.⁶
Silencing the whistleblowers
In classic authoritarian fashion, QLDC has worked to silence dissent rather than address its failings. Councillor Nikki Gladding dared to question the emergency declaration, stating she had “not seen any evidence of an emergency” nor “any evidence that other options for addressing the ‘emergency’ matters have been properly considered.”⁷ For her trouble, the council scheduled a vote on removing her committee roles and launching a Code of Conduct investigation – a transparent attempt to excise the voice of reason from their deliberations.⁸
Deputy Mayor Quentin Smith has called for halting all development until the sewage plant can be repaired,⁹ highlighting the fundamental contradiction in the council’s approach: aggressively approving new developments that will connect to a treatment system that infrastructure manager Tony Avery has admitted in council meetings has “failed” and has been “known about for some time.”¹⁰
Crux: journalism as public service
This environmental and governance scandal might have remained buried were it not for the determined efforts of veteran journalist Peter Newport and his community-focused news organisation, Crux. Newport brings formidable credentials to this David-versus-Goliath struggle – former editor at BBC, bureau chief at ITN, and correspondent for major Australian networks.¹¹
Like an antipodean Erin Brockovich, Newport has conducted independent testing of water quality and documented evidence contradicting official narratives. When QLDC claimed no contamination from the Shotover plant had entered local rivers, Crux’s video evidence showed effluent flowing directly into both waterways.¹² When the council released suspiciously favourable water tests, observers noted samples were taken hours before discharge but labelled with post-discharge timestamps.¹³
The council’s response has been predictable: deploy communications executives to shield staff from public scrutiny and deflect questions. One QLDC councillor even responded to Crux’s inquiries about the sewage crisis with “extensive abusive replies none of which related to our question about sewage” including questioning Newport’s qualifications as a journalist.¹⁴
Following the money
The financial dimensions of this scandal are equally troubling. A critical question remains unanswered: How did QLDC pay contractor Veolia for an earth wall around the failing Shotover disposal field? This non-consented structure, built at a cost approaching $800,000, was commissioned by a former QLDC infrastructure manager who had moved to Veolia – a troubling revolving door between regulator and contractor.¹⁵
Despite hiring two sets of consultants since 2023 at a cost of millions, QLDC still lacks both a solution and budget to repair the plant. Instead, they’ve earmarked $77.5 million in the 10-year plan for a “new disposal strategy” – a distant promise while sewage continues flowing into the region’s iconic waterways.¹⁶ As Deputy Mayor Smith has noted, “The current field filters out solids and possibly a number of contaminants we don’t test for or treat. There’s likely to be some beneficial bacterial action. It also dissipates the discharge so that when it hits the water environment (groundwater) it is far less concentrated.”¹⁷
Tourism’s tarnished jewel
Queenstown’s international reputation now hangs in the balance. With approximately 3 million annual visitors attracted by marketing that emphasises “clean and green” environmental standards, the sewage scandal threatens both the region’s ecological health and its economic foundation.¹⁸ The crisis has reportedly reached Hollywood, with Brad Pitt abandoning a planned Queenstown river shoot – a symbolic rejection that may presage broader tourism impacts.¹⁹
The 30,000 residents of Queenstown have expressed growing concern about infrastructure costs supporting massive visitor numbers, while accusing the council of prioritising property development and business interests over environmental protection and ratepayer needs.²⁰ This is reflected in Ministry for the Environment records showing QLDC has the highest rate of approving non-compliant consents while bypassing notification of affected parties – a pattern of regulatory capture that serves developers at the expense of community and environmental interests.²¹
The Fourth Estate stands firm
In 1787, Edmund Burke reportedly observed that there were “Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all."²² Burke’s insight has never been more relevant than in Queenstown today, where a single determined news organisation is proving more effective at environmental protection than multiple regulatory bodies.
As Crux noted, “The community may have had some sympathy for the Queenstown Lakes District Council had they come clean and declared the problem in 2021... But 2021 was like a fork in the road. The QLDC could either have fronted the community and shared the problem. Or – cover the problem up. The council chose the second option.”²³
In an age when local newspapers are disappearing nationwide and investigative journalism is deemed too costly by media conglomerates, Newport’s Crux demonstrates why the fourth estate remains essential to functioning democracy. Without his persistent questioning, independent testing, and refusal to accept official narratives, this environmental and governance scandal would remain as buried as the pipes that are supposed to contain Queenstown’s waste.
The sewage may be flowing, but thanks to Newport and Crux, so too is the truth.
References
¹ “QLDC has polluted rivers with sewage - for years,” Crux, https://crux.org.nz/crux-news/qldc-has-polluted-the-shotover-and-kawarau-rivers-with-sewage-for-years
² Ibid.
³ “Sewage flows direct into Shotover River – QLDC on fragile legal ground,” Crux, https://crux.org.nz/crux-news/sewage-flows-direct-into-shotover-river-qldc-on-fragile-legal-ground
⁴ “Emergency powers mulled to divert resort’s wastewater into river,” Newsroom, https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/03/21/emergency-powers-mulled-to-divert-resorts-wastewater-into-river/
⁵ “Sewage flows direct into Shotover River – QLDC on fragile legal ground,” Crux.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ “Emergency powers mulled to divert resort’s wastewater into river,” Newsroom.
⁸ “Sewage flows direct into Shotover River – QLDC on fragile legal ground,” Crux.
⁹ “Breaking: Shotover main sewage plant suffers failure,” Crux, https://crux.org.nz/crux-news/breaking-shotover-main-sewage-plant-suffers-failure/
¹⁰ “Sewage structure ‘could collapse’ as vital tests due,” Crux, https://crux.org.nz/crux-news/sewage-structure-could-collapse-as-vital-tests-due
¹² “QLDC has polluted rivers with sewage - for years,” Crux.
¹³ "QLDC and Crux effluent test results produce dramatically different numbers," Crux, https://crux.org.nz/crux-news/qldc-and-crux-effluent-tests-results-produce-dramatically-different-numbers/
¹⁴ “(Some) QLDC councillors provide their position on sewage crisis,” Crux, https://crux.org.nz/crux-news/some-qldc-councillors-provide-their-position-on-sewage-emergency
¹⁵ “The question worth hundreds of millions of dollars that QLDC won’t answer,” Crux, https://crux.org.nz/crux-news/the-question-worth-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-that-qldc-wont-answer
¹⁶ “QLDC has polluted rivers with sewage - for years,” Crux.
¹⁷ “(Some) QLDC councillors provide their position on sewage crisis,” Crux.
¹⁸ “Sewage crisis: Brad Pitt abandons Queenstown river shoot,” Crux, https://crux.org.nz/crux-news/new-blog-post-24
¹⁹ Ibid.
²⁰ Ibid.
²¹ Ministry for the Environment. Resource consent applications 2014-15 to 2022-23, https://data.mfe.govt.nz/table/104834-resource-consent-applications-2014-15-to-2022-23/
²² Carlyle, Thomas. On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History. 1840.
²³ “The question worth hundreds of millions of dollars that QLDC won’t answer,” Crux.