2:30PM: An employee of the Auckland City Council was responsible for over-riding the wishes of the Pacific Music Awards committee and cancelling an appearance at the Pacific Music Awards by fa'afafine performer Lindah E minutes before she was due on stage. A spokesman for the Council, Paul Heron, told GayNZ.com that the executive producer of the awards ceremony, who is employed by the Council, went against a majority decision to back Lindah E's performance made on the Thursday before the show, because an opportunity came up for visiting Hawaii-based musician Fiji to present the award instead. "It was felt that that person had significant mana in the community, and would really add something to the ceremony," he says. However, Heron confirmed that concerns had been expressed about offending conservatives, but it was not a majority view. "My understanding of the situation was that this is a committee, and you base your decisions on the majority," he says. "The majority didn't share that view, so as far as the committee was concerned, Lindah E was going to be presenting that award." Council representatives will meet with the Pacific Music Awards committee today in an attempt to find out what went wrong on the night. Heron denies that Lindah E was removed for religious reasons, and says he would be "incredibly disappointed if a decision had been made based on gender or sexuality, and so would the Council." Heron says the Council is "absolutely committed to diversity. We have it entrenched in our policies and our work practices."