The name of the Gisborne District Councillor alleged to have said "not enough" local Māori were killed at Captain Cook's arrival has officially been released.
Councillor Malcolm MacLean says what he actually said was, "luckily no more were killed with what confronted them," but Councillor Meredith Akuhata-Brown says this is lies.
Akuhata-Brown stands by her allegation that a colleague made racist remarks.
"It was a repugnant, repulsive, murderous statement that was said and this person needs to own that."
MacLean was reluctant to talk when he arrived at council for a special extraordinary meeting about the issue.
"I'd rather make a comment after I've made my statement in council.”
A supporter flanking MacLean as he walked inside refuted claims his version of events was untrue saying, “She [Akuhata-Brown] is lying, get it right!”
Local Yvonne Bishop says, "How would they like it if I said we didn't eat enough Pākeha, you know, it's as simple as that- that's the comparison. If they find that offensive then I'd hope they'd understand how we feel."
Local Elizabeth Crawford says, "If this is happening at our place where our leaders sit, some of our leaders for our area, we've just got to stand up and say 'hey, what's happening? This isn't ok'."
A threat of defamation from MacLean prevented the council's code of conduct board releasing its report on the matter until today.
However, MacLean's identity was actually revealed publicly accidentally by a colleague yesterday.
Council CEO Nedine Thatcher Swann says, "They listened to the community in the end and decided to release it so I would hope that this is the outcome that will allow us to move forward and appreciate and accept the multiple viewpoints of this community and actually appreciate cultural diversity more."
Te Kāea contacted MacLean multiple times today for comment but he did not respond.