It’s not time to disturb grieving family: Ardern

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is defending her decision not to travel to her local electorate to be with grieving members of the Sandringham community after a man managing a dairy was fatally stabbed.

Ardern, speaking to media from the Chatham Islands where she was visiting for the first time, said she had directly contacted some community leaders over the death but was wary of disturbing a grieving family.

“It is my local community so I will be looking to be present there as soon as I’m able to, but I’m also aware there’s a family grieving and there is an active police investigation into a homicide and I do need to delicately balance being in the right place in the right time.”

Ardern rejected the idea that her not being in Sandringham represented a Government not doing enough to address crime.

Act Party leader David Seymour said Ardern not choosing to be in her Mt Albert electorate where the incident took place showed a “complete lack of judgment”.

“Instead of dropping everything to be in her electorate today and making the response to retail crime a priority, she is on . . . a trip she could have easily postponed.”