The Government's ministerial advisory group for retail crime victims will be disbanded in early May, three months ahead of schedule, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has announced.
It follows an exodus of members, as 1News first reported last month, with controversial chairperson Sunny Kaushal at the centre of apparent tension.
The group had been due to wrap up around September but will soon conclude its work after three members left and the minister decided against replacing them.
"For various reasons, three of the members have left, and we could either go through the performance of reappointing them, or just wind it up early," Goldsmith said.
The minister described the advisory group as "very successful in getting all the work done", pointing to Crimes Act changes now before Parliament.
"They’ve provided advice on anti-social behaviour, which we’ll have more to say on the next couple of weeks, and also work around trespass laws," he said.
The changes have been slated by business lobby groups — including the Employers and Manufacturers Association and Retail NZ — who say it could lead to violence. (Source: 1News)
"They've got a couple of issues that they're going to finish – one on facial recognition, and the other one on the security industry."
Kaushal's advisory group promoted an expansion of citizens' arrest powers, drawing criticism from some members of the advisory group itself.
Spending within the advisory group also came under scrutiny by the opposition.
Kaushal 'relaxed... would've been winding down anyways'
In a social media post, Kaushal began by noting he was "very relaxed" about his ministerial advisory group wrapping up earlier than originally scheduled.
"As chair, my priority has been to deliver real reform for victims of retail crime, and not to turn into an endless talking group," he said.
"To this end, I made sure the ministerial advisory group delivered our advisory work quickly, so that victims could see legislation in the House before we wrapped up. I thought this more important than pursuing endless 'frameworks' that other MAG members would have prioritised."
He said the group – now comprising of two members – was "currently working on our last few reports, which we will deliver before May" and that was "always our plan".
"In truth, the [group] would have been winding down at that stage anyways."
Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen came out swinging in response to the news, criticising the Government for choosing Kaushal.
"The group was a costly exercise in recycling the same bad ideas, like citizens’ arrest, instead of listening to retailers, victims, and police on the ground," she said, opining that the chairperson "spent lavishly on office space and events with taxpayer money".
"Sunny Kaushal had no business leading this group and it is a failure of this Government for appointing him in the first place."
Exodus from retail crime advisory group
Three of the five members on the advisory group resigned in the past month.
In January, Goldsmith confirmed Retail NZ's Carolyn Young, Michael Hill’s Michael Bell, and Foodstuffs’ Lindsay Rowles left "due to external commitments and job changes".
The ministerial advisory group for retail crime victims was established in July 2024.
It was intended to engage directly with victims, workers, business owners, retail experts, and advocacy groups and provide the Government with specific proposals to address "urgent challenges" in retail crime.
In late January, Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young told 1News she quit after deciding she could no longer work alongside Kaushal, the chairperson.
"It's fair to say it's been a really difficult environment for me, and I've had personal attacks that have come in from both Sunny and some wider groups he's associated with and that's made it really difficult and untenable really to stay," she said.
Young said the advisory group lacked a strategic plan and instead became dominated by Kaushal’s personal proposals. “The ideas put forward are Sunny’s ideas,” she said.
“They’re not new, and I don’t think they’re widely supported. We were doing isolated pieces of work without any foundation for what we wanted to achieve.”
Asked if Kaushal was the right person to lead the group, Young replied: “From my personal opinion, no. His input is important, but I don’t know that he’s the right person."
In a statement at the time, Kaushal said it was well known that he and Young had different views on some recommendations.
"I wish Carolyn well. I've always appreciated her perspective."
On the wider resignations, Kaushal said at the time they reflected normal leadership movement in any organisation.
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