29 Mar 2023

PM Chris Hipkins speaks to media after Nash sacking

1:02 pm on 29 March 2023

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says he is seeking more advice after sacking Stuart Nash as a minister.

Nash was sacked from all his portfolios on Tuesday after it was revealed he had leaked confidential Cabinet discussions to donors.

Hipkins, along with Police Minister Ginny Andersen and Police Commissioner Andrew Coster were at the launch of the police tactical response model aimed at helping keep officers safe.

Hipkins said he was seeking more advice from the Cabinet Office about possible further action, but he did not have much further to add at this point from what was said after Nash's sacking.

"I will answer more questions on that when I get back to Parliament ... I am getting some further advice, when I get to Parliament I will be meeting with the Cabinet office obviously to talk about both the consequences and the flow-on implications.

"I understand the previous prime minister did not know about the emails. I am looking into whether anyone else in the office was aware of them, whether anyone else in the building was aware of them."

He said Nash's sacking had been a matter of Cabinet responsibility and confidentiality, which was different from matters for the wider Labour caucus of MPs. He said he had seen no evidence to suggest he could not trust caucus discussions on policy decisions would not have been leaked also.

"Look, caucus and Cabinet are different things. As prime minister I'm responsible for the conduct of Cabinet members and I've made a decision to dismiss Stuart from the Cabinet - I made that relatively quickly.

"The caucus matters are a different matter, they're matters for me as leader of the party, they're also matters for the party itself and it is a more complex situation. Stuart is elected by the people of Napier."

He said it would be up to Nash to decide whether he continued as a local MP but he did not think the people of Napier deserved having to go through a by-election.

"They've got a lot on their plate already dealing with the recovery from the cyclone," he said.

"They deserve to have their representation right at the moment as well rather than have the seat vacant."

The National Party called for a by-election in the Napier electorate, but Nash told RNZ he planned to stay in the seat.

Hipkins said it was not uncommon for MPs who have been removed from ministerial positions to continue serving in the caucus.

"In fact, the National Party still has some people in its current caucus who had previously been dismissed as ministers. I'm not going to set a standard so high that others have never had that in the past."

Whether Nash would remain in Parliament after the election would also be a decision for Nash, he said.

"I am not making those commitments, those decisions, those announcements, here.

"He will want the opportunity to speak, I am sure, after these events. People will understand that he will be taking 24 hours, I think we should give him that space and then I'm sure he will want the opportunity to speak for himself."

Nash's earlier resignation as police minister had centred on a case where a man had illegal firearms but received a short sentence. Nash had criticised the judiciary over the case, and phoned Coster asking whether the sentence would be appealed.

Coster told media he never felt pressure from Nash and always found him to be professional in his approach.

"Whilst it appeared to be a particular thing in the way it was framed, I didn't feel pressure from him. I found him to be venting on a particular case ... I felt it was simply a venting but of course the perception around that is different."

"They have been respectful and I have generally speaking been comfortable with the nature of those interactions," he said.

He said he had never escalated concerns about a particular conversation with Nash, but his office was working on Official Information Act requests about such conversations.

"We will be releasing some material in response to current OIAs but I have to say across all my dealings with Mr Nash I found him passionate about policing, I found him professional in his approach."

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