Justice minister Kiri Allan has declared a "perceived conflict of interest" in her relationship with human rights commissioner Meng Foon after revelations he donated to her election campaign in 2020.
A key role for the Human Rights Commission is to be independent of the Government and to hold it to account on its human rights record - including on race relations.
Foon also donated $1000 to National Party candidate Tania Tapsell's campaign in the same year.
"I spoke earlier about having received and declared an in-kind donation from the Foon family in 2020 when I was a back bench MP," Allan said in a statement this evening.
"It is fair to say I couldn't recall all of the details of all of my donors when questioned earlier, but having had the opportunity to review I can say I also declared a $1500 cash donation from Meng and Ying Foon in 2020 as well."
Allan had earlier said: "I didn't take any monetary donations from Meng Foon."
A company called Triple Eight Investments Limited also provided Kiri Allan a rent subsidy worth $9185 according to the declaration.
Triple Eight Investments has three directors, including Meng and Ying Foon.
"The in-kind donation I referred to was from a company that the Foons were directors of, for a rent subsidy on a campaign office space.
"This was a campaign office, not an electorate office, and no parliamentary funds were used," Allan said in her statement.
The Race Relations Commissioner donated thousands of dollars to the Labour MP in the run up to the 2020 General Election. (Source: 1News)
"All donations I've received have been accurately and appropriately reported as required by the Electoral Act, and have been publicly available online since 2021.
"This afternoon I've also updated my conflict of interest information on this matter to provide absolute transparency, which now includes both Meng Foon and Ying Foon, as perceived conflicts of interests."
Allan added she is "confident" there haven't been any decisions she's been involved in where the conflict would have needed to have been managed.
Prime minister Chris Hipkins has also responded to the revelation.
"Meng Foon was appointed as the Race Relations Commissioner in 2019 by then Justice Minister Andrew Little, at which point Kiri Allan was a backbench MP and was not a Minister," he said.
"There was no requirement under the Electoral Act for the donation to be declared as it was not over $1500, but for the purposes of transparency Kiri Allan chose to.
"The Minister has since taken the necessary steps to register the matter now that she holds the Justice portfolio.
"The Minister has also assured me that she has not made any decisions in her portfolio that bring this potential conflict into play."
He added that Foon also reportedly made a donation to the National Party candidate.
Foon has also said that his family has donated to "left and right parties" over the years.
"This balanced approach to supporting various candidates regardless of their party affiliation is something that used to be more common in New Zealand and has always been acknowledged as an acceptable way to contribute to their community," Hipkins said.
"Individuals who hold public office must always act impartially in their roles regardless of the government of the day.
"However many individuals who have been appointed to public roles have had associations, or affiliations with various political parties."
The National Party says the Government "simply doesn't understand the concept of public sector neutrality".
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