Prime Minister Chris Hipkins fended off questions from the leaders of National and ACT parties in Parliament on Wednesday, following the sacking of Stuart Nash from the Cabinet for breaching confidentiality.
Replying to a pointed question from Leader of the Opposition Christopher Luxon if he was aware of how often Cabinet decisions had been leaked by Nash, the prime minister cited his press statement issued prior to the House sitting, seeking a review by the Cabinet Office of Nash’s communications with donors. “The review will take around two months,” Hipkins informed the members.
But there was no let-up from Luxon who wanted to know what steps were taken to ensure “all of Stuart Nash’s written and electronic communications with donors or anyone else with a commercial interest in Cabinet information have been preserved” for the inquiry.
Hipkins did not attempt to mask his impatience with Luxon’s query and responded dismissively, saying: “I think the member probably should have listened to my primary answer.” He reiterated that the matter was under review by the Cabinet Office.
Speaker Adrian Rurawhe intervened and gave Luxon an opportunity to ask the question again, which drew the same response from the PM as before.
Luxon shifted the focus and asked: “How can Kiwis believe they’re getting a fair hearing from this government when Labour donors get special access to ministerial decision-making?”
Hipkins, barely concealing his irritation, reacted defensively. Rejecting the question, he conceded that Nash had “behaved inappropriately” but had “faced a consequence for that, quite a serious consequence for that.”
Mounting a pincer action, ACT leader David Seymour broadened the ambit of the questioning by including other ministers and political parties.
“How can he [Hipkins] be confident that no other minister, including from New Zealand First, have behaved in the same way as Stuart Nash, effectively operating as lobbyists within this Government’s Cabinet?”
While defending the probity of his Cabinet colleagues, Hipkins sought to caution the ACT Party leader against embarking on an open-ended inquiry “that could go back a long, long way.”
National’s Luxon jumped back in the ring and sought to put the PM against the ropes with a query on transparency around donations. Hipkins parried the question by saying “every candidate for Parliament declares their donations, and that is made publicly available.”
He added that every minister is vetted by the Cabinet Office to identify any conflicts of interest.
Hipkins said he trusted “a process that’s been longstanding under successive governments.”
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