Stuart Nash and his texts really are a gift that keeps on giving. From sharing cabinet decisions to texting his Police Commissioner he really is loose with his communications. That includes lying to the Ombudsman about the messages between him and me. He said they didn’t exist until I produced them for the Ombudsman. This time, though, it isn’t Stuart Nash caught lying, it is the Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins.
A text message between sacked Police Minister Stuart Nash and Police Commissioner Andrew Coster stressing the need for more police resources in cyclone-ravaged Hawke’s Bay contradicted Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who was playing down the level of crime occurring.
Nash’s February message also urged Coster, and presumably the Eastern District commander Superintendent Jeanette Park, to gather Hawke’s Bay gang leaders and “bang their bloody heads together” likely regarding cyclone-related crime – a request Nash said was made “not as police minister”, despite him holding the portfolio at the time.
The message was released to the Herald under the Official Information Act as part of a request for messages between Coster and ministers or MPs.
Nash, the MP for Napier, relinquished the police portfolio and was later sacked as a Cabinet minister earlier this year following several breaches of the Cabinet Manual.
The breaches included a 2021 conversation with Coster, during which he asked Coster whether police would appeal a court decision. Nash was not Police Minister at the time.
The message released today was sent by Nash to Coster and another person referenced as “Jeanette” – likely to be Eastern District commander Superintendent Jeanette Park – on Sunday, February 19.
That was five days after Cyclone Gabrielle hit New Zealand, causing devastation across regions including Hawke’s Bay and prompted reports of looting from damaged properties.
Nash’s message to Coster and Park concerned two “suggestions” that could be acted upon to “quickly hold on to the hearts and minds of this community”.
Nash wrote the suggestions were made “not as police minister”, despite him holding the portfolio at the time.
The first idea was deploying more police officers to the region, in addition to those already committed to assisting in the cyclone response.
The second was to “dispatch Wally” – presumed to be Police Deputy Commissioner Wally Haumaha – to sit down with gang leaders and “bang their bloody heads together and get them to stop this s***”.
Rumours of gang members carrying out crime in cyclone-hit areas were widespread at the time; however, police never confirmed the level of gangs’ involvement.
Nash said the matter was “pretty serious”, claiming “security and policing” were the top concerns at a local business leaders meeting.
Coster made a brief response: “Hi Minister. I’ll call you now.”
On February 20, the day after Nash’s text, Hipkins accused National and Act of promoting unsubstantiated rumours regarding the level of crime in Hawke’s Bay, saying “any suggestion that things are out of control is just wrong.
“Amplifying those kinds of rumours isn’t helpful, and it doesn’t help police do their jobs”, he said.
NZ Herald
Liar, liar, tiny little pants on fire. Chris Hipkins has been well and truly busted. So too has Stuart Nash, again. Despite his claim that he wasn’t sending the texts in his capacity as the Police Minister, he was clearly perceived to have done so because his Commissioner replied by calling him Minister.
These guys seem to have no understanding of cabinet rules and protocols and a loose grasp of what the truth is.
Stuart Nash’s texts really are the gift that keeps on giving. The pity is the opposition will likely miss the opportunity for a good kicking because they are busy posting to Tiktok, Twitter or Instagram about their mullet or something equally banal.
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