District Court Judge Ema Aitken denies some of the claims. Photo / RNZ, Dan Cook
The secretary of New Zealand First claims she saw a “stunning” woman in a yellow dress enter a function room at the exclusive Northern Club and shout that Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was “lying”.
The woman in the dress was Judge Ema Aitken, who is now rel="" title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland/judge-ema-aitken-appears-before-judicial-conduct-panel-after-northern-club-incident-involving-winston-peters/SQSHRQ3EPFH2NMHKLIWNS6MQEY/">“fighting for her judicial career” before a Judicial Conduct Panel. That panel today heard evidence from NZ First secretary Holly Howard.
Howard alleged that after yelling about Peters, Judge Aitken said there was a “room full of judges” next door who would be “very interested” in what was being said.
“She made the comment in a threatening and aggressive manner,” Howard alleged.
But Howard’s recollection of events has been labelled “rubbish” by Judge Aitken’s lawyer, David Jones, KC, who accuses Howard of being influenced by others and changing the narrative to give NZ First “leverage” when the matter came before the conduct panel.
“We get no leverage from this,” she replied.
Judge Aitken is the first New Zealand judge to be called before such a panel, which is investigating her actions on the night of November 22, 2024, when she is accused of gate-crashing a NZ First function in Auckland and making an “intemperate, rude” outburst in response to a speech by the party’s leader, Winston Peters.
The panel will prepare a report for acting Attorney-General Paul Goldsmith on whether he should consider removing Judge Aitken from office.
This morning, Howard was the first witness to give evidence about events that night at the party fundraiser.
She said she was in a “heightened state” because protesters had disrupted previous NZ First functions.
Howard recalled seeing a woman in a yellow dress passing outside the function room door, then returning from the bathroom about three minutes later.
“She looked beautiful. She had a beautiful dress. She was stunning coming down the corridor.”
Peters was speaking into a microphone, with his voice “clearly audible”, Howard said. There were also two NZ First banners visible in the room.
She said she “heard the woman before I saw her”.
“I heard her react to the Deputy Prime Minister and exclaim loudly, ‘He’s lying’. She was yelling,” Howard claimed.
The judge – who says she did not realise it was a political event or that the speaker was Peters – appeared to be focusing her comments at NZ First Cabinet minister Casey Costello, adding, “How can you let him say that?”
Howard said she immediately moved towards the judge and used “de-escalation training” to block Judge Aitken from entering the room and usher her away.
She said the “room full of judges” comment felt like an attempt to intimidate – “I’m trying to shut you down”.
Asked if the judge was really yelling or just speaking forcefully, Howard replied: “It’s a tone and presentation of anger. She was yelling.”
Howard said another man then appeared in the foyer, who was “loitering” outside the room for about 20 minutes.
She claimed the man accosted Peters as the veteran politician was leaving the venue, accusing him of “doing a shit job”.
That man was the judge’s husband, celebrity doctor David Galler.
Jones, in questioning Howard, accused her of inaccuracies and inconsistencies between a written account she gave of the incident to the Northern Club days after the event, and her formal brief of evidence.
Jones claimed some of Howard’s evidence was “rubbish” and “a fiction”.
“Ms Howard, you are just creating a different version, aren’t you?” he asked.
Howard admitted there were “errors” in her earlier account but maintained she was telling the truth.
Jones then asked whether Howard wanted to “increase focus” on the judge so NZ First could “leverage” off the incident.
“We get no leverage from this,” she replied.
The hearing continues.
Lane Nichols is Auckland desk editor for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
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