28 May 2019

National releases health and safety review recommendations

2:38 pm on 28 May 2019

The National Party has released the recommendations of a health and safety review, which came after allegations of bullying and harassment.

National Party president Peter Goodfellow

Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas

The review was carried out by consultancy firm Progressive Safety and recommended updating National's Health and Safety induction booklet to include a specific section on bullying and harassment.

It also recommended introducing a code of conduct policy that sets behavioural expectations for MPs.

"At our core we are a club of 25,000-plus volunteers who passionately care about the future of New Zealand, but we must all be vigilant that that passion does not inadvertently descend into any form of bullying or harassment," National Party President Peter Goodfellow said.

"We have a duty of care to our members, and their continued trust and confidence in our policies and processes is paramount.

"While our review confirms we have a comprehensive Health and Safety Policy in place, there are a few small helpful changes we can make to ensure alignment with best practice, and our Board of Directors have accepted all of the recommendations made," he said.

Simon Bridges yesterday told Morning Report the review would be released soon, but is yet to give a definite date. Only the summary of recommendations were released today.

He told RNZ in April that once the Francis Review into bullying in parliament was published, a summary of the National party's own review would be released.

The Francis Review was out early last week, but Mr Bridges said his caucus still needs to see the party's health and safety review before it's released.