Prime Minister Says He Won't Comment On Details Of Commerce Minister Andrew Bayly's Resignation

Monday, 24 February 2025, 8:53 pm
Article: RNZ

Jo Moir, Political Editor
Lillian Hanly, Political reporter

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly has resigned his ministerial positions after what he says was an "animated discussion" that ended with him putting a hand on a staffer.

Bayly says he took the discussion "too far", and described his behaviour as "overbearing" and "inappropriate".

"I am deeply sorry," he said in a statement.

"I have been impatient to drive change in my ministerial portfolios. Last week I had an animated discussion with a staff member about work. I took the discussion too far, and I placed a hand on their upper arm, which was inappropriate."

In a press conference lasting less than five minutes, Bayly later on Monday described the discussion with the staffer as "lively" but did not provide further details. He denied touching the staffer's arm with force and said "I've never had anything like this happen before".

A complaint had been laid, Bayly said, refusing to comment further.

He says he would have had "difficulty" doing an interview about his resignation as a minister before on Monday, which is why it has been three days since he told the Prime Minister he was stepping down.

The MP for Port Waikato made the decision to stand down as a minister and informed Christopher Luxon on Friday night, but only released a statement about the events shortly before midday on Monday.

"I made my decision, obviously we went through a process of understanding the nature of the complaint, then I made my decision and informed the Prime Minister late on Friday night that I wished to stand down as minister," he said.

"To be honest I would have had difficulty doing this interview over the last couple of days. I've had to talk to my family, and that's why I've made the decision and that's why we're announcing it today," he told media.

"I have taken personal responsibility for what has taken place."

Bayly said "it is what it is...this is my decision and I think it's important sometimes to reflect about your own activities".

The former minister was supported at his press conference in Auckland by Climate Change Minister Simon Watts and MP for Takanini MP Rima Nakhle.

It follows a separate incident in October, where Bayly apologised after repeatedly calling a worker a loser during a site visit for his former small business portfolio.

The worker's complaint said the minister had questioned why they were still working and told them to "take a bottle of wine and go home ... take some wine and f*** off", and later called them a "loser" in front of their boss, the minister's assistant, marketing staff and other employees, forming an 'L' on his forehead with his fingers.

Bayly will remain in Parliament as MP for Port Waikato.

Prime Minister's response

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Bayly indicated his actions fell short of the expectations he set himself, and that are expected of ministers, and "as such has offered his resignation as a minister, which I have accepted".

That resignation takes effect immediately, and Scott Simpson will take over as Minister for ACC and Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

"I do want to thank Mr Bayly for the hard work he has put into his ministerial portfolios," Luxon said.

Luxon said he did think the announcement of the resignation, six days after the incident, showed a "fast response".

"I wanted him to have Saturday, Sunday to get, to inform his family and also other impacted staff, and then we've come today and obviously announced the resignation today.

"I just say to you all I think that's been pretty quick to move as fast as we have within the week, it's pretty impressive."

He refused to clear up the details about the incident.

"I think he's outlined the incident in his own statement and I'm not going to add to that.

"What was important though, was that he identified his interaction with a staff member as having fallen short of his own expectations and he proactively came to me and offered his resignation which I accepted and I think is the right thing to do."

Luxon said he thought the process had been managed "incredibly well", and because Bayly had already offered to resign, whether he would sack him was a hypothetical question.

Asked if there may be a path back for Bayly to be a minister again, Luxon said "never say never", and pointed to what he said was an "exceptionally good job" in his portfolios.

Timeline:

• Tuesday 18 February - Incident occurs in the minister's office
• Wednesday 19 February (evening) - PMO and Ministerial Services informed of the incident
• Thursday 20 and Friday 21 February - Ministerial Services discuss the incident with affected parties. The prime minister is informed of the incident
• Friday 21st February (evening) - Bayly resigns

Labour leader criticises handling of resignation

Labour leader Chris Hipkins told media on Monday afternoon, Luxon "should have acted sooner".

"Christopher Luxon has once again set the bar for ministerial behaviour so low, that it would be almost impossible to get over it.

"In this case, we now got ministers sacking themselves when the Prime Minister should have shown leadership and done that months ago.

"Andrew Bayly should have been sacked when he called someone a loser for working late and told them to 'f off and go home'."

Speaking to Checkpoint, Hipkins said it "beggared belief" that it took so long for Luxon to act.

"If you look back to what Christopher Luxon was saying in opposition about the standard he was going to set for his ministers, he is certainly not living up to those."

Bayly's full statement:

"Concerns have been raised with me about a recent incident in which my behaviour towards a staff member was overbearing and for that, I am deeply sorry.

"As many of you know, I have been impatient to drive change in my ministerial portfolios. Last week I had an animated discussion with a staff member about work. I took the discussion too far, and I placed a hand on their upper arm, which was inappropriate.

"I have apologised to the staff member and regret placing them in an uncomfortable position.

"There are times when you have to hold yourself to account and today is one of those days. I have made the personal choice to resign as a Minister and have offered my resignation to the Prime Minister, which he has accepted.

"I want to extend my gratitude to all the officials and staff who have worked diligently alongside me to progress a wide suite of changes across all my ministerial portfolios.

"I am incredibly proud of the work we have achieved together, and I look forward to continuing to serve the people of Port Waikato and being involved in the work of Parliament."

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