Labour MP Stuart Nash has announced he’ll resign at the October election, as the Cabinet secretary begins her investigation into his communications.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins asked Rachel Hayward, the secretary of Cabinet, to review whether Nash had breached Cabinet confidentially rules in any other instance.
Nash was sacked as a minister last week, after it emerged he’d divulged details of private Cabinet discussions to two businesspeople and donors.
It concluded a month of scandal for Nash, which started with his resignation as police minister. He faced scrutiny overstepping his role as a minister, in conversations with immigration officials and the police commissioner.
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After Stuff reported Nash had breached Cabinet’s collective responsibility rules, through emails to two supporters in 2020, Hipkins sacked him from Cabinet and said he would not be welcomed back as a minister.
The terms of reference for Hayward’s review were released on Monday.
She would have access to any letter, email, text, WhatsApp or Signal message from Nash. In reviewing those communications, she would seek to identify if he had broken confidentiality and collective responsibility rules at any other occasion.
She would also investigate if Nash ever acted with a conflict of interest.
Both National and ACT supported the Cabinet secretary’s review, although Christopher Luxon said Nash should have resigned effective immediately as an MP.
ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff
Stuart Nash will not seek re-election in October.
ACT leader David Seymour earlier said the review should consider whether Nash had acted in a corrupt manner, although he said he personally didn’t think Nash would have. The terms of reference said the Cabinet secretary did not need to consider if criminal actions had taken place, but she could identify if further investigations were needed.
In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, Nash confirmed he would not seek re-election.
“While the work has been very rewarding, and both intellectually and professionally stimulating, it has also been incredibly taxing on relationships with family and friends. It’s now time to address this balance,” he said.
Nash first entered Parliament in 2008. He has served 12 years as an MP, nine representing Napier.
DAVID UNWIN/STUFF
Politicians say it was the right call to sack Stuart Nash as a minister.
Under former prime minister Jacinda Ardern he served six years in Cabinet.
“There are many, many highs – and a couple of obvious lows – and I have made a number of life-long friends from both sides of the House,” he said.
“I have had the privilege of serving in the Ardern Cabinet during the darkest of days, managing crisis after crisis after crisis, while driving forward an ambitious and progressive agenda.”
Nash held various portfolios while in Government: fisheries, police, oceans, forestry, economic development, regional development, tourism and revenue.
He was also part of the Cyclone Gabrielle recovery group, and, in his statement, said there was still a lot of work ahead for Hawke’s Bay.
By standing down at the election, instead of immediately, Nash would avoid causing a by-election for Napier.
Luxon said it was “a little difficult to understand” why Nash was still in the Labour caucus.
The Nash review was due back in two months.
Meanwhile, the Ombudsman has also launched an investigation into Nash’s handling of an Official Information Act request about his communications with donors. That request was declined, after being shared with senior staff in the prime minister’s office.
