Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has been grilled on the Government's firearms reforms, which she's responsible for, and her record as a former gun lobbyist.
McKee, who has responsibility for firearms reforms as minister, was questioned about her own record on firearms legislation as a lobbyist for firearms owners.
The minister said: "Gun lobbying is one of the areas that I was involved in. It's actually around firearm safety. That's the advocacy that I've always presented myself to be.
"It's really important that we do have somebody that has an understanding about firearms use across all the different disciplines that we have.
"Most importantly, someone that can bring along that firearms safety advocacy to our New Zealand legislation, because that has been missing over the last few years."
McKee has held various positions within the firearms community, including being a safety consultant and spokesperson for COLFO, the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners.
She was an outspoken voice following the March 15th attacks in opposing the government's proposed firearms reforms.
Asked about why the non-firearms owners should trust an ex-lobbyist, the minister said: "My qualifications come in the way of education.
"They come in the way of being able to present the view of safe firearms use.
The weapons register rolled out by the previous government has chalked up 100,000 entries. (Source: 1News)
"And the way that I can make sure that everybody in New Zealand is safe is by making sure that the laws are fit for purpose in the first place. Then those people who don't own firearms, they will benefit from that, if we do it right in the first place."
McKee says she's 'learning the processes' of Cabinet
Earlier this week, 1News revealed police were taken aback after two-term ACT MP McKee didn't consult with the Police Association as part of her firearms registry reforms.
Speaking to Q+A, the minister was questioned about earlier criticism.
"What I'm really grateful for is that New Zealand Police have actually been really robust in what they feed back to me," she said.
The union says it was left out of consultation by Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee. (Source: 1News)
"There's about 17 different groups and organisations and the New Zealand Police have been able to give me more feedback than all of them put together, and I value that, because they represent every single person within the Police."
1News reported the documents also show McKee suggesting removing police feedback that she should consult with more non-gun owners, before officials advised she could respond to but not change the police's viewpoint.
She explained on Q+A: "One of the great things that I found about being a Cabinet minister is learning the processes and how it all works. I presented a paper to Cabinet.
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee also suggested removing police advice about consulting non-gun owners. (Source: 1News)
"The police came in with their fulsome advice and they went against what I said.
"I asked the question: 'This is my paper. Are they allowed to put that in there? Does it have to be in there?'. And the response that I got back was, they're allowed to put that in there, but you can also have your own say. You can talk back to what they say.
"I've done that. So, it's about learning the process."
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
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