Education Minister Jan Tinetti will face questions today on whether she deliberately misled Parliament by failing to correct a misleading statement fast enough.
In the debating chamber in February, Tinetti, who took over the education portfolio from Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, said she was not responsible for the timing of release of school attendance data.
She was told by staff later the same day that the statement was incorrect, but did not correct the record by updating the House of this until May 2.
At the end of last month Speaker Adrian Rurawhe said in the House it had been alleged Tinetti had "deliberately misled the House by failing to correct a misleading statement at the earliest opportunity".
He said Tinetti said she did not know her answer needed to be corrected until she had received a letter from him on May 1.
"It is an important principle that the House can trust the accuracy of ministerial replies to parliamentary questions. While mistakes are sometimes made which can result in the House receiving an answer containing a misleading statement, it is vitally important that as soon as this is discovered, the Minister returns to the House to correct their answer at the earliest opportunity."
He said it was an important matter and referred the issue to the Privileges Committee, a panel of senior MPs, who would determine whether the delay in correcting the inaccurate statement amounted to contempt - of Parliament - in Tinetti's case.
Tinetti is expected to face the committee around midday today.
It follows confirmation from the police it warned Tinetti over social media posts on the Tauranga by-election polling day last year, which is forbidden under the Electoral Act. The police found it did not meet the threshold for prosecution. Tinetti did not personally publish the posts but apologised for the error.
She's not the only minister under pressure - earlier this week, Hipkins stood Michael Wood down as Transport Minister after it was revealed he failed to immediately declare about $13,000 in Auckland Airport shares. The National Party has called it a conflict of interest and a breach of his obligations under the Cabinet Manual, which sets out rules and guidance for ministers.
Yesterday, it was revealed he had been reminded of his ownership of the shares 12 times and still failed to sell them. He said he regretted not acting with more haste and had advised his broker to sell them "urgently".
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