AN INQUIRY is under way into allegations that Auckland Zoo and a trust which raises money on its behalf misled a community funding organisation over what was done with hundreds of thousands of dollars of charity money.
The Sunday Star-Times has obtained documents which appear to show that the zoo and the Auckland Zoo Charitable Trust misled Pub Charity, which had provided $500,000 towards a controversial $16 million native exhibit called Te Wao Nui.
High-level sources allege the trust provided invoices totalling $256,000 from previous, unrelated projects funded through the zoo's capital works budget – funded by ratepayers – to give the impression the money was spent on the purposes it was applied for. The zoo bodies deny the allegations.
The sources say the money was actually held by the trust to bolster Te Wao Nui's bottom line at a time when the stalled project's future was in jeopardy because of the economic crisis. The zoo trust was supposed to raise $13.8m of the cost of the project by last July before work could begin, a threshold it failed to reach.
The zoo has spent about $2m on design and engineering consultants, and although tenders have now gone out for construction work, there is still no start date for the project.
There is no suggestion of anyone gaining personally from the alleged deception, but sources are concerned that the zoo was not entitled to the money and it should have been given to other community organisations.
The zoo, which features on the popular TVNZ show The Zoo, and the independent zoo trust deny the allegations, and insist that all expenditure was Te Wao Nui-related.
But Martin Cheer, the chief executive of Pub Charity, said he was concerned and would be asking for an explanation.
"If these allegations are proven to be correct, we would require the money to be returned, it no doubt would colour the view of any future application, and there may be other repercussions. Ultimately we'd have to decide if this was a matter that should be reported to the Department of Internal Affairs."
Cheer said the trust supported the Te Wao Nui project – "we think it's extremely valuable and provides enduring benefit for generations to come" – and had signed off on the expenses on the basis that the zoo trust was telling the truth about how the money was spent. It did not conduct any physical audit of the zoo.
Pub Charity granted the money in 2008, for "fit-out and interpretation throughout the Te Wao Nui project", and required that it be spent within one financial year.
"This is large amounts of money... there has to be some sort of tangible benefit, we don't want it sitting in people's bank accounts gathering interest. If it's not spent within a time frame then we require it to be returned and it's redistributed to the community."
Cheer said the zoo trust was sent a letter last August asking that it spend the money on authorised purposes within two months, or return it and reapply. The trust wrote back to say the project had not commenced because of delays, but it was committed to the project and wanted to keep the money.
The Star-Times has viewed emails between zoo staff and the trust, discussing which completed works during the grant period could be claimed as part of Pub Charity's Te Wao Nui grant.
Documents show:
The zoo trust sent Pub Charity invoices totalling $129,488 paid to Enviropacific Services NZ for a water filtration system for Hippo River, describing it as "significant clean-out and refit of water irrigation ... to prepare for Te Wao Nui building construction". But documents show that that work had already been budgeted for in the zoo's 2008-09 business plan as a separate project and was required to meet Auckland Regional Council resource consent requirements unrelated to TeWao Nui. The work was paid out of the capital renewals budget, funded by the Auckland City Council.
The trust sent Pub Charity invoices for $126,676 of work carried out on the zoo's aviary, describing it as "existing aviary refurbishment and fit-out ready to be included into Te Wao Nui". But sources say deficiencies in the aviary's arches were first detected in 2006 and strengthening work was carried out in 2008, again funded from the capital budget. Minutes from a Te Wao Nui project team meeting state that the aviary remedial work was a separate project from Te Wao Nui.
Other invoices sent to Pub Charity included $102,768 to pay some of the fees of former zoo director Glen Holland, who was used as a consultant for Te Wao Nui, and $91,595 to move the alligator enclosure to make way for the new exhibit.
Cheer said that appeared to be legitimate expenditure.
Penny Whiting, chair of the zoo trust, said she was not personally involved in compiling the paperwork "but I can stand up for it, I don't have any problem with it".
She said the invoices supplied to Pub Charity "were seen as the best fit for the criteria specified" and Pub Charity had approved the expenditure in advance.
Asked about the Hippo River filtration plant work, she said "Snorkel" the hippopotamus was current living in an area located within the Te Wao Nui area, work was under way to relocate the animal and "in the meantime, work was required in the area to ensure it continued to function efficiently and that costs do not escalate".
Whiting said the aviary, currently closed and undergoing major refit work, would form a significant part of Te Wao Nui and the early strengthening work "was necessary to ensure that damage did not take place which would have increased the overall cost".
But sources said the aviary and Hippo River works would have happened anyway, regardless of the Te Wao Nui project.
Whiting said an enormous amount of preliminary work was needed for a project the size of Te Wao Nui. Work was being done in stages to minimise disruption for animals and visitors.
Zoo director Jonathan Wilcken said he was not aware of the specifics of what was done with the Pub Charity money. "I'm not aware of the conditions of the grant, because the grant was to the trust," he said. "I'm not aware of any corners being cut."
Wilcken said the project was nationally significant and complex. "I can't tell you how important this is. There is no exhibit in New Zealand which will give this this level of exposure... to the unique nature of New Zealand's flora and fauna."
Auckland mayor John Banks said he understood the zoo trust had asked Pub Charity if it could spend the money on purposes other than those applied for, "although not terribly dissimilar", and Pub Charity "gave the tick-off". On that basis he would be happy, but he would be "very disappointed" if Pub Charity had been misled.
"What I expect from everyone associated with raising cash for good causes across Auckland is a lot of goodwill, much transparency and open and honest dealings. I have no reason not to respect that that was the mantra in this case."
