Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern refused to comment on the investigation into the assault allegations against Customs Minister Meka Whaitiri, but snapped at one question about the current issues her government faces, saying it was all part of being in office.
Ms Ardern would not be drawn by repeated questions about Ms Whaitiri at an Auckland media conference today, saying she would wait for the investigation into ministerial services to be completed before commenting.
“What I’m balancing here is principles of natural justice, as soon as I found out about this issue, I took action to make contact with the minister, she offered up to stand aside while this investigation takes place, that is the right thing to do,” she said.
“Once we have the report completed, then I will make a decision on how to deal with it but of course it’s only fair that we look into it properly first.”
She did cut off one question about Ms Whaitiri, Clare Curran’s demotion and the continued decline in business confidence: saying “It’s called being in government.”
Ms Ardern defended the punishment she gave out to Ms Curran for the minister having unrecorded meetings.
“On the matter of Minister Curran, she has been demoted from Cabinet, that is a significant price to pay,” she said.
The prime minister maintained that she had full confidence in her ministers and that they were aware of her high standards.
“My message is a consistent one and it’s regardless of any incident or at any specific time, they know (the ministers) my expectations are high, they know that we have a standard that New Zealanders expect of us, we’re in office, we’re there to represent them,” she said.
“That isn’t something that I share at any one-off caucus meeting, it’s a constant them amongst our team.”
Speaking generally, Ms Ardern said her ministers would continue to seek guidance on management on occasion.
"Generally, of course we seek guidance as any employer does from those that work across those issues to make sure we’re always working as the public would expect us to," she said.
"Many of our staff have of course already been managing people for a long time before they come into these roles."
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