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NZEALAND-POLITICS
New Zealand minister sacked after ‘physical altercation’
WELLINGTON, Sept 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A government minister who allegedly
had a physical altercation with a press secretary was fired by New Zealand
premier Jacinda Ardern on Thursday, the second to leave under a cloud in as
many weeks.
The centre-left prime minister did not detail what Customs Minister Meka
Whaitiri did during an incident last month, but said an internal government
report into the matter convinced her the minister needed to go.
“Based on the context and conclusions of the report, I no longer have
confidence in Meka Whaitiri as a minister at this time,” she said.
Unconfirmed media reports said Whaitiri was accused of bullying after
becoming involved in a physical altercation with a press secretary who had
just started working for her.
Ardern, who swept to power on a wave of “Jacinda-mania” late last year,
denied Whaitiri’s demotion was a sign her coalition government was becoming
unstable.
It comes after Ardern’s former broadcasting minister Clare Curran resigned
earlier this month for using a private email account to conduct government
business.
Both casualties will stay on in parliament, meaning Ardern’s coalition
government retains its three-seat margin.
But their demotion reinforces perceptions the charmed run that marked
Ardern’s early months in office has come to an end.
“Of course no one wants to lose ministers,” she told reporters.
“But I have to make decisions based on the information I have in front of
me and I’ve made a decision Meka no longer has my confidence.”
Asked if her government remained stable after two rapidfire departures, she
replied: “Absolutely.”
The 38-year-old took power promising “a government of change” after almost
a decade of conservative rule.
The optimism surrounding her administration was enhanced in June when she
gave birth to daughter Neve — becoming only the second female leader in the
world to have a baby in office.
But the ministerial sackings have added to a string of setbacks including
policy squabbles with coalition partners and plummeting business confidence.
Ardern will hope a trip to New York for next week’s UN General Assembly
will act as a circuit-breaker for her domestic problems.
She is taking baby Neve on the trip and will make a number of high-profile
media appearances, including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and NBC’s
Today Show.
It follows a profile in the New York Times this month which described
Ardern as “the biggest thing to hit (New Zealand) since Frodo dropped the
ring into Mount Doom”.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1305HRS