New Zealand councillor caught joining council meeting from the bathroom

WELLINGTON: A New Zealand politician has drawn attention after joining an important meeting from inside a bathroom, with laundry hanging out to dry clearly visible behind her.

Dunedin City Councillor Jo Galer took part in the Dunedin City Council meeting on Monday before a colleague noticed her camera background, sparking laughter.

"You might want to move the camera. We can see your clothes on the drying rack," Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker told Galer in a video recording of the meeting uploaded to YouTube, which has been viewed thousands of times.

Galer was then seen responding in jest.

"Can you see me? You can see my clothes, so surely you can see me too," she replied.

While she was delivering remarks on local government reform, an unidentified dark figure also appeared behind a door in the background, drawing a range of reactions from social media users.

"Who is in the bathroom? Is that her partner? Or is she holding someone hostage?" one user wrote in the comments section of the video.

It is not the first time the Dunedin City Council, in a city on New Zealand's South Island, has attracted public attention.

In 2020, former councillor David Benson-Pope also made headlines after appearing at a Zoom meeting wearing a suit jacket while cleaning his office — but no trousers. – AFP