Audrey Young: The real reason Clare Curran resigned as a minister

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to Newstalk ZB about Clare Curran

COMMENT:

Clare Curran's agonising performance in the House on Wednesday was hard to watch.

Even her opponents privately expressed sympathy for her afterwards.

But that isn't the reason she has resigned.

In between the hesitations and mental blocks, she opened herself up to dozens more questions from the Opposition over her use of Gmail and her staff's supposed access to it.

There are three more weeks of Parliament in the current session and Curran correctly surmised that there would be questions to her every day over those three weeks.

If Curran had been a stronger performer and if she had been unfairly targeted, Curran could have withstood that. But she is neither.

She had become a slight distraction but nothing compared to what was coming down the track.

She was about to be ground into mincemeat in full technicolour over three weeks.

Curran made the right decision for her own wellbeing, as she put it, and the Government's.

Her resignation today is less surprising than her initial appointment to the Cabinet in October last year.

Being a woman helped in a party where the aim is to have a Cabinet of 50 per cent women - Ardern managed seven out of 20 and that is now down to six.

But unlike many of the MPs Ardern had to choose from, Curran has used her time in Opposition to hone her expertise. She was steeped in the technology and issues around public broadcasting issues.

For a party that was surprised to find itself in Government, Curran seemed more prepared than most and that may have helped her elevation.

Curran has always been a magnet for trouble.

She has upheld that reputation.