Another Minister who thinks the rules don’t apply to them

Radio NZ reports:

Cabinet Minister Kiri Allan has made a public apology after criticising RNZ’s culture and treatment of Māori staff during a farewell event for her fiancée, Māni Dunlop.

Allan says while she was there in the capacity as Dunlop’s partner, she accepts there is “not such a delineation in terms of public perception” and also that it could have been been interpreted as “me telling RNZ how to manage their staff or company”.

“That was not my intent and it is certainly not my job,” Allan said in a statement.

The Cabinet manual makes it clear “ministers must conduct themselves at all times in the knowledge that their role is a public one”, and the expectation that they “exercise a professional approach and good judgement in their interactions with the public and officials, and in all their communications, personal and professional”.

Speaking at her farewell in RNZ’s boardroom on Friday afternoon, Allan took aim at RNZ’s treatment of Māori reporters and urged the public broadcaster to have a look at its culture.

Allan prefaced her comments by saying the speech was off the record and delivered in her capacity as Dunlop’s partner, not as a minister.

This was incredibly bad judgment. Allan should have declined to speak at all, let alone deliver a speech which basically blames Radio NZ for her partner not getting the Morning Report job, and puts it down to racism.

Radio NZ is funded by the Government. Allan sits in Cabinet where they decide how much money Radio NZ gets, and what it can be spent on. Her words would have massively more impact than by some anonymous partner.

So far in 2023, National has been releasing a new policy every couple of weeks and Labour has been having a Cabinet Minister break the rules every couple of days.

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