Labour MP Stuart Nash has been sacked from Cabinet.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said he has removed Nash from all ministerial portfolios after a new email emerged tonight.
Hipkins said the email was a clear breach of Cabinet rules, which he described as “inexcusable”.
The new scandal relates to a pandemic-era commercial rent relief package.
In a newly emerged email, Nash - who is already on his final warning as a Cabinet minister - wrote to senior business figures: “I am as annoyed (and surprised) about the final outcome of the ‘commercial rent relief package’ as you are”.
The email detailed Cabinet discussions and noted Nash’s personal disagreements with Cabinet colleagues.
The Cabinet Manual, which governs the conduct of Cabinet Ministers, states “discussion at Cabinet and Cabinet committee meetings is informal and confidential”.
Hipkins said two of the recipients of the email were donors, including Troy Bowker.
“I expect Ministers to uphold professional standards.”
He said this alone would have warranted dismissal - even without the two prior incidents which had left Nash on a final warning.
“It is very clear Nash should not have been communicating with them in the way he was.
“Disclosing those conversations in the first place is utterly unacceptable.”
Hipkins said he was made aware of the emails about 5pm today.
He had a conversation with Nash, and spent the last 45 minutes working through formalities.
Megan Woods will be the acting Minister of Forestry.
“He [Nash] is not a minister, as of tonight,” Hipkins said of Nash.
“Stuart won’t be coming back as a Minister.”
Hipkins said there was no road back for Nash.
He said he “didn’t need” to check whether Nash had sent any other emails as the newest scandal was enough to lead to his sacking.
Hipkins said Nash himself would be “reflecting on his position”.
Nash didn’t put up a defence, Hipkins said, when confronted by the Prime Minister over the latest scandal.
“You can tell from my tone and the speed with which I made this decision, this is not something I had to take too long to think about.
“I’ve asked Stuart repeatedly if there is anything I had to be aware of and he said there wasn’t. Whatever the situation [whether Nash lied] is not acceptable.”
Hipkins said he had advised the Governor-General to dismiss Nash from all his ministerial portfolios after learning of the email from a news organisation.
“In the email, he sets out both his opposition to the decision Cabinet reached and the position that other Cabinet members took.
“This is a clear breach of collective responsibility and Cabinet confidentiality.
“Stuart Nash has fundamentally breached my trust and the trust of his Cabinet colleagues and his conduct is inexcusable.”
In addition, the two recipients of the email were donors; Troy Bowker and Greg Loveridge, via GRL Holdings Ltd, had both donated to Nash, Hipkins said.
“They are also commercial property owners who had an interest in the Cabinet decision. That crosses a line that is totally unacceptable to me.
“I expect ministers to uphold the highest ethical standards and his actions raise perceptions of influence which cannot stand.”
Hipkins said he had sought and been given assurances from Nash in recent weeks “that there were no other instances or allegations of misconduct that I should be aware of”.
“While Stuart was on a final warning, I want to be clear that this incident would have resulted in his dismissal in its own right. I consider the matter to be a very serious one.
“I’m absolutely gutted, to be frank,” Hipkins said.
Megan Woods will become Acting Minister for Economic Development and Acting Minister of Forestry, and David Parker will be Acting Minister for Oceans and Fisheries. Meka Whaitiri will lead the Hawke’s Bay Cyclone response on an acting basis.
Hipkins said the issue was “black and white”.
“If there’s anything further that is inappropriate, I am not the right person to investigate that.
“My decision is whether someone should remain as minister, and I’ve made my decision.”
Hipkins had not turned his mind as to who would take over Nash’s portfolios in the long term.
As soon as I became aware of this, I immediately made some decisions and set in motion the process and I’m standing here now.
“Stuart will be reflecting on his position in the next while.
“I did [ask him to reflect].
“Sacking people is not easy. In this particular case, I didn’t feel there was any other option.
“I’ve already done that [made sure ministers are familiar with the Cabinet manual].
“I stand by my decisions.
“This is absolutely cut and dry. There are probably more than two breaches of the Cabinet manual, and there aren’t really any questions around it.”
If there was any evidence that Nash’s decisions as a minister hadn’t been conducted with the utmost probity, then that warranted investigation, Hipkins said.
He said there was no evidence the two people Nash spoke to had done anything wrong.
“This is on Stuart,” Hipkins said.
Hipkins said Nash had support people around him.
“By-and-large, I’ve enjoyed the role [as Prime Minister], but I certainly haven’t enjoyed the last two hours.”
‘Sack him’
National Party Leader Christopher Luxon earlier called for the Prime Minister to “finally sack him” for leaking confidential Cabinet information.
Nash’s future hung in the balance this evening as Hipkins considered his fate.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said Hipkins was “considering the implications of the email and will be making a decision on minister Nash’s future this evening”. Hipkins is set to announce Nash’s fate at 7pm.
Newshub reported tonight that Nash, the Forestry Minister, had also received donations from companies caught up in the inquiry into forestry slash on the East Coast.
In response, Nash said the donations had all been disclosed.
Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan read out excerpts from the email, reportedly sent in March 2020.
”[Nash] writes, ‘I’m as annoyed and surprised about the final outcome of the commercial rent relief package as you are’,” she said.
”[Nash] says, ‘I lost this argument around the Cabinet table when it was suggested by David Parker and supported by Winston and Shane’,” - presumably referring to NZ First’s Winston Peters and Shane Jones.
Act leader David Seymour said Hipkins was paying the price for “having low ministerial standards and being unable to sack ministers, just like Jacinda Ardern”.
“Hipkins likes to spin that he’s different from Ardern, but he’s not. He just can’t sack ministers that need to go.
“Hipkins said he asked for an assurance that Stuart Nash had done nothing else that would breach the Cabinet Manual and got that assurance. He clearly did a poor job of it.
“Hipkins will now pay a price for having low standards and being unable to manage his Cabinet,” Seymour said.
Hipkins had already given Nash his “final warning” and demoted him to the lowest Cabinet ranking after a series of gaffes.
Nash first revealed he had called his “mate” Police Commissioner Andrew Coster in 2021 - when Nash wasn’t Police Minister but was a Cabinet Minister - to question whether police were going to appeal a court decision Nash felt wasn’t severe enough.
Nash later doubled down, believing he had done nothing wrong in calling Coster or criticising the decision, despite it violating rules in the Policing Act and the Cabinet Manual.
Then Newstalk ZB revealed that the Solicitor-General considered prosecuting Nash for contempt over public comments he made after the arrest of Eli Epiha in the case of the killing of Police Constable Matthew Hunt.
Hipkins then said he became aware that in September last year Nash approached a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment official about an immigration case involving a health professional.
Nash had been acting in his capacity as Napier MP at the time.
Hipkins said Nash “did not use the established process for ministers and MPs to advocate in an immigration case”.
“Having considered the thresholds used by previous Prime Ministers I have decided the appropriate penalty is to demote Stuart Nash and place him on a final warning,” Hipkins said earlier.
