New Zealand politician joins important meeting from bathroom: "We can see your washing"

Jo Galer, a councillor in New Zealand, has raised eyebrows after she joined an important meeting from a bathroom.

There have been many Zoom mishaps over the years, with such highlights as the lawyer who got stuck on a cat filter for a court proceeding, and many more.

Whether it's trying to hide the mess behind you with a beach filter, or being forced to switch your camera on to reveal unbrushed hair and a just-got-out-of-bed face, we've all had a nightmare on a remote meeting at some point.

Mayor Sophie Barker had warned other participants that two attendees would be joining via Zoom, advising: “We can’t see them yet. They are on the other side of the world, so it may take a little moment,” Barker said.

Galer logged on to the Dunedin City Council meeting with a bathroom as her backdrop, with her laundry on display in the background behind her.

Councillor Jo Galer joined the Zoom call from her bathroom (youtube/@nzheraldtv)

The Mayor was quick to advise her colleague that she should move.

"You might want to move your camera," she advised, "We can see your washing."

The video of the meeting has since been uploaded to YouTube, where it has been viewed thousands of times. Awks.

The unphased councillor responded with a shrug: "That’s great. You can see my washing, you can see me. That is no problem."

After all, everybody does their washing.

At another point during the meeting, a silhouette of a man can be seen in the background.

One YouTube commenter quizzed: "Who was in the shower? Was it her man? Was she holding someone hostage?"

According to Nine News in Australia, the meeting had earlier descended into drama, when Councillor Benedict Ong was kicked out of the meeting.

“You need to stop Councillor Ong, or you need to leave,” the mayor had warned, before Ong had to leave for allegedly bringing it into disorder.

Councillor Galer was unphased that her washing was on display, saying it wasn't a problem (youtube/@nzheraldtv)

It was the that Galer made her appearance, asking if she could be seen.

Back in 2020 then-councillor David Benson-Pope also made headlines in a Dunedin meeting.

The councillor was mortifyingly caught showing more than he expected when he forgot he'd left his camera on during the first adjournment of the meeting, revealing he was in his office in a suit jacket and bare legs, carrying a feather duster.

He told local media at the time: “It wasn’t intentional," joking that he was 'delighted' that colleagues and viewers saw the funny side after it went viral.

“I think it’s probably appropriate to describe it as being caught with your pants down.”

Like many of us during lockdown, it seemed he went for the business up top and casual below uniform for the Zoom call. Whoops.