Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says it is "not an option on the table" for Kiri Allan to return as a minister following the next election as the MP considers her political future.
It comes after yesterday’s stunning revelation that the now former justice minister was arrested and charged with careless driving and resisting arrest on Sunday night. Allan was allegedly over the legal alcohol limit when she crashed into a parked car in Wellington.
Yesterday, Allan resigned from her ministerial portfolios, apologised, and said she would be considering her political future.
"I’m heading home and will be taking time to consider my future in politics," she said.
The ordeal for Allan has raised questions about the pressure put on politicians, with the MP having faced what the PM described as "extreme emotional distress" at the time of the crash.
Hipkins fielded a flurry of questions about Allan's resignation on Monday, including whether the incident would dampen Labour's chances at the election.
Speaking to Breakfast, the prime minister appeared to rule out the East Coast MP from becoming a minister again — after the next election and if she stayed in Parliament.
1News political editor Jessica Mutch McKay and deputy political editor Maiki Sherman gave their thoughts on the minister’s departure. (Source: 1News)
"If you look at what has happened, clearly, she's not in a position to be a minister and is unlikely to be in a position to be a minister. So, no, that's not an option on the table. Her future as an MP is something that she's currently reflecting on."
Allan took several weeks off earlier this month as she struggled with her mental health, and opposition leaders have criticised Hipkins for allowing the minister to return as soon as he did.
Responding to the criticism, the PM said he regretted his decision to let Allan return to work but said he ultimately couldn't have done things differently at the time.
"In retrospect, I'm sure that there are things that could have been done differently. But in reality, I have to work with the information that I've got at the time," he said.
Hipkins continued: "All of the evidence last week was that she was back on top of her work and was highly engaged in it. In fact, media commentators were even saying, last week, that she was back highly engaged in her work and was doing a good job.
"This is obviously that was what she was presenting on the outside, that was clearly not all of what was going on.
Mark Henaghan says trauma causes people to act in unexpected ways. (Source: Breakfast)
"I didn't feel that I was in a position to say, no, she couldn't come back to work, I certainly offered her more time off had she wanted it and had she needed that there was no pressure for her to come back to work other than the pressure that she was putting on herself to come back to work."
National leader Christopher Luxon said yesterday he would've gone further and required a clinician to sign off on Allan's return, Newsroom reported.
Speaking to Breakfast today, Hipkins said he thought it wasn't appropriate to ask for a third-party opinion on the matter.
"I think compelling somebody to provide an independent, sort of, psychologists opinion directly to me, is a pretty big step. In that case, you know, I wouldn't do that in the case of everybody who's had a relationship breakup and who was taken that badly."
Earlier, Luxon said the "situation clearly raises questions about the judgement of Prime Minister Chris Hipkins."
The PM said he expected to speak with Kiri Allan later this week about her political future.
David Parker moves on from revenue portfolio
Amid the ministerial reshuffle following Allan's resignation, Minister David Parker was absolved of his revenue portfolio at his request — in an unexpected change.
It comes weeks after Parker's proposal for tax reform was rejected at Cabinet — which he described as a "disappointment". Since then, the PM has ruled out any new wealth or capital gains taxes if Labour is able to form a government following the next election.
People are "really not right" to blame the current Labour government, David Parker said. (Source: Breakfast)
When asked, Hipkins said today that Parker had "a lot on his plate" but didn't reject the notion the minister had pulled back due to policy disagreements.
"David worked up a wealth tax proposal, put it before the Cabinet, and it wasn't accepted by the Government. Now I acknowledge that from time to time, ministers do that. They work something up. It comes before Cabinet, and it doesn't get accepted.
"It's the nature of collective decision-making, and in some cases, that might mean that they want to move on and try something different and work on a different area. I respect that, and I'm happy to accommodate that when it happens," he said.
The PM played down the step-back as an occurrence that happened "from time to time".
"Whenever prime ministers do a reshuffle, ministers from time to time will indicate: 'Look, here's a portfolio that I feel I've done all I can do and or I'm ready to move on to a new challenge'," he said.
"I just gave him the transport portfolio a few weeks ago. He's really getting his teeth into that and wants to focus on doing that. He's got a busy workload.
"He's also this week in the next few weeks, shepherding through the once-in-a-generation reform of our Resource Management System. He's got a lot on his plate."
The environment minister says that the legislation will make building easier. (Source: Breakfast)
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