Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced a review covering Stuart Nash's contact with donors.
It follows revelations last night Nash had again breached the Cabinet Manual, this time contacting donors about confidential discussions from Cabinet.
Hipkins fired Nash from all of his remaining ministerial portfolios last night, declining Nash's offer to resign. It follows Nash's demotion to the bottom of Cabinet rankings in recent weeks, and before that, his resignation as Police Minister, which came as a result of breaching other rules.
Today, Hipkins revealed he had asked the Cabinet Secretary to conduct a review into "communications between Stuart Nash and his donors".
The review will take place over the next two months.
A statement from Hipkins' office said the review would look at whether there had been any other breaches of Cabinet collective responsibility or confidentiality.
It would also cover whether there had been perceived or actual conflicts of interest in communications Nash has had with those donors.
"The scope of this review will be limited to emails, texts and other messages between Stuart Nash and any declared donor to his campaign," Hipkins said.
"Stuart Nash has assured me he will fully cooperate and I expect to have an outcome in the coming months, prior to the general election.
"In recent weeks I had been given assurances from Stuart Nash that there were no other instances or allegations of misconduct that would be outside of Cabinet rules. Given yesterday's revelation, I feel it is important to verify this."
Hipkins said he expected a "high level of conduct from ministers and MPs" and Nash's actions raised "perceptions of influence which cannot stand and therefore need to be checked".
Luxon calls for an inquiry
National leader Christopher Luxon earlier called for a "thorough and independent inquiry" into Nash's actions.
"The public now knows that Mr Nash sent confidential details of Cabinet discussions about a rent relief package for commercial properties, to donors who were commercial property owners.
"By Prime Minister Chris Hipkins' own admission, this is totally unacceptable behaviour.
"It raises many questions about how many times, and to whom, Mr Nash, orally or in writing, shared discussions about Cabinet deliberations in flagrant contravention of the Cabinet manual during his years as a minister, and whether anyone gained from that knowledge.
"He became Minister of Fisheries, Revenue and Police in the Labour/New Zealand First Government in 2017, and has remained in Cabinet since then, despite other breaches of the Cabinet Manual."
Luxon said New Zealand consistently rated highly on Transparency International's index measuring perceived levels of public sector corruption.
"We are currently ranked second equal in the world for transparency.
"This is a valuable and important reputation to maintain so any suggestion of a compromise in the probity of Cabinet practices needs a thorough and independent investigation.
"To whom has Mr Nash told what was being discussed in Cabinet, and how was that information acted on, if at all? Answering this question needs to be part of any investigation."
Luxon said Hipkins needed to immediately take steps to ensure all of Nash's written and electronic communications are cached to allow a thorough investigation of his communications.
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