The prime minister would not say whether the individual at the centre of the inquiry had been stood down from his role in the Labour Party, but that “the person referenced in the article has not been on the precinct … for roughly five weeks now and will not be on the precinct at least for the duration of the inquiry that’s being undertaken by a QC appointed by the Labour Party.”
She said she does not believe the alleged is still attending party meetings and events
Ardern said she had “sought assurances that they were not [sexual in nature] in the very beginning. […]
The Spinoff
Rarely has a party official been put on notice as publicly and definitively as Labour Party president Nigel Haworth was by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday.
At the centre of Ardern’s anger is one big question: did Haworth mislead Ardern when she was given an assurance that there was nothing of a sexual nature among the multiple complaints against a staffer.
A Newspaper
Word has it that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Paula Bennett, will name the accused staffer under the protection of Parliamentary Privilege as early as Tuesday afternoon (10/9/19). It was to Bennett that a number of aggrieved young women went with their grievances about Labour’s handling of this matter, so the DLO has skin in the game.
[…] Jacinda has about 24 hours to seize control of this situation – or risk being seriously damaged by it. Everyone in the Prime Minister’s office serves at the Prime Minister’s pleasure – something which every staffer’s contract makes clear. Jacinda needs to make her displeasure known in ways that cannot possibly be misconstrued. She must act – now.
Chris Trotter September 9th
