Minister stands aside after row
Government Minister Meka Whaitiri will stand aside from her portfolios while an investigation is carried out into a staffing matter in her office. It is understood that Whaitiri has been stood down as the result of an alleged incident during a heated argument with a staff member.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Kris Faafoi would act as Customs Minister.Whaitiri’s Associate Minister responsibilities in Agriculture, Local Government and Crown/Ma¯ori Relations would revert to the lead portfolio ministers.
“Meka Whaitiri has told me she will be fully co-operating with the investigation, which will be thorough and conducted as quickly as possible,” Ardern said in a statement.
Ardern and Whaitiri, who is a Minister outside Cabinet, said they would not comment further, citing privacy reasons, while the investigation was carried out by Ministerial Services.
The Minister’s had a high staff turnover since she was appointed with at least five staff members moving on since she got the job less than a year ago.
It is the second Labour Government Minister within a week to fall, with Clare Curran demoted from Cabinet and losing two portfolios last Friday over her mishandling of a meeting with entrepreneur Derek Handley.
It was strike two for Curran after she failed to disclose a late-night Beehive meeting with Handley over the chief technology officer role.
Curran did not diary the meeting and no staff were present. She also failed to mention the meeting in response to written questions.
Former RNZ executive Carol Hirschfeld lost her job after she and Curran met at a Wellington cafe, a meeting they described as coincidental when it had been arranged.
Whaitiri was elected to Parliament in 2013 in a byelection in the Ma¯ori seat of Ikaroa-Ra¯whiti, succeeding her former boss Labour’s Parekura Horomia. She held the seat in last year’s election.