New Zealand PM asks Cabinet secretary to review communications between ex-police minister

In this file photo dated December 12, 2019, New Zealand's police minister Stuart Nash leaves after meeting with the family of Hayden Marshall-Inman at Mataatua Marae in Whakatane. PHOTO AFP WELLINGTON - New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has asked the Cabinet secretary to review communications between former Police Minister Stuart Nash and his donors.

The review will look at whether there have been any other breaches of cabinet collective responsibility or confidentiality or whether there have been actual conflicts of interest in communications Nash has had with those donors, and whether there have been actual conflicts of interest in communications Nash has had with those donors, Hipkins said on Wednesday.

Hipkins said that he expects to have an outcome in the coming months prior to the general election later this year, and that the scope of the review will be limited to emails, texts and other messages between Stuart Nash and any declared donors to his campaign.

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The prime minister has announced on Tuesday to remove Nash from Cabinet and remove him from all of his ministerial portfolios.

On Monday, Hipkins said he was made aware of an email Nash sent to two contacts in March 2020 regarding a commercial rent relief package that Cabinet had considered.

In the email he sets out his opposition to the decision Cabinet reached and the position that other Cabinet members took, Hipkins said, adding that this is a clear breach of collective responsibility and Cabinet confidentiality.

The two recipients of the email were donors to Nash. They are also commercial property owners who had an interest in the Cabinet decision, the prime minister said.

Hipkins said that the matter is considered to be a very serious matter and crosses a line that is totally unacceptable to me. Ministers are expected to uphold the highest ethical standards and his actions raise perceptions of influence that cannot stand, he said.

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Nash's other portfolios include ministers for economic development, forestry, oceans and fisheries. Ministers Megan Woods and David Parker will be acting ministers of these portfolios.