Labour sex assault claims: What did PM Jacinda Ardern's staff know?

Political Editor, NZ Herald·NZ Herald·

12 Sep, 2019 07:00 AM6 mins to read

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with former Labour Party President Nigel Haworth in 2018. Photo / Greg Bowker

In the know: who were those who knew about the investigation into a Labour staffer?

Labour's former president Nigel Haworth has resigned from the party over its handling of an investigation into a number of allegations levelled at a staffer, and now questions are being asked about who else was involved in that.

In Parliament this week, National Party deputy leader Paula Bennett listed the names of three of the PM's staff, saying she had been told they knew of serious allegations against a Labour parliamentary staffer who was being investigated after complaints from a number of party members and workers.

All the staff were involved in dealing with the situation, but there is as yet no proof that any were aware of the sexual assault allegations at the centre of the controversy.

That is an allegation the party's leadership and PM Jacinda Ardern have claimed they knew nothing about, despite a woman claiming she had told the investigation about it and emails showing it was referred to.

Make a beeline for the Beehive

Get weekly politics headlines with commentary from our political experts straight to your inbox.

By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Ardern has said she did not know of that claim until it was published by the Spinoff this week.

But other more general claims of sexual assault allegations had been made public earlier.

The PM's Office has insisted that each time they checked with the party they were told that none of the seven people in the investigation had raised a sexual complaint.

All three staffers have declined to comment on Bennett's claims.

Ardern has said she rejected some of what Bennett had said, but did not comment further.

This is who they are:

Mike Munro

Munro was the PM's chief of staff until early June this year, but was absent for a month from early March to early April, the period when the complainants were interviewed by Labour's panel.

Raj Nahna filled in while Munro was away, and is now Ardern's chief of staff.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her former chief of staff Mike Munro with Air NZ CEO Chris Luxon (right) earlier this year. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Munro returned in late March. He was the main liaison between the PM and the party, and was updated on the investigation in weekly briefings with former Labour Party president Nigel Haworth.

It was likely it was Munro and Nahna who checked with the party whether sexual assault was involved after the claims were first raised in the media in August.

The NZ Herald is told Munro did not recall any sexual assault allegations being mentioned in briefings with Haworth.

Munro left the role on June 7, before the NZ Council decided on the outcome of the investigation in July, and before the story became public in early August.

Munro now sometimes fills in in other ministers' offices – he is currently working for Primary Industries Minister Damien O'Connor.

Genial, well-regarded and well-connected, Munro was a press secretary to former PM Helen Clark, and prior to that worked in the Press Gallery as a journalist.

He worked in the private sector, mostly for Todd Corporation, between political jobs.

Andrew Campbell: PM's chief press secretary

Andrew Campbell has been Ardern's chief press secretary since May last year, charged with dealing with media and advising the PM on how to respond to queries.

PM Jacinda Ardern's chief press secretary Andrew Campbell. Photo / File

The Herald was told Campbell was not even aware Labour was investigating the staffer until July 12, when he got inquiries from the media about an email sent to them from the complainants which stated allegations of sexual assault were involved.

That was after the investigation concluded, and the council decided to take no action.

Campbell is employed in the Prime Minister's Office rather than the party's parliamentary offices, and does not take part in party-related business or meet regularly with party officials.

He had not known of the specific complaint now in question until he was contacted by the Spinoff last Sunday - the day before that person's story was published.

Rob Salmond: director of Labour leader's office

Salmond is the director of the Labour Leader's Office at Parliament but has some crossover to the Prime Minister's Office.

Rob Salmond, director of the Labour Leader's Office. Photo / Supplied

According to Bennett, two people who worked at Parliament went to Salmond last December to complain about the staffer.

It is not clear what the nature of those complaints was or whether Salmond was aware of any allegations of sexual assault or harassment.

Who else was involved?

Former Labour Party president Nigel Haworth has resigned over the incident, but he was not the only one dealing with it.

Party general secretary Andre Anderson was also heavily involved.

According to material published by the Spinoff, it was Anderson who wrote to the complainants on July 12 – a week after the decision to take no action against the man – to advise the party's solicitor would review the process used.

That was the same day several media outlets got emails from someone on behalf of the complainants, outlining what had happened. That had included several allegations including of sexual assault.

It was also Anderson who told them the staffer had been told to stay away from Labour HQ, and asked the complainants not to go to Bowen House (where the staffer was based).

Labour was later reprimanded for this by the Speaker, and the staffer was sent to work off-site.

Anderson again emailed the complainants on July 23, setting the process that was to be used.

That email listed the names of all those he was aware of who knew about the case.

It said that either he or Haworth had advised the PM, Munro, Nahna, Campbell and the party's solicitor Hayden Wilson.

The only name mentioned by Bennett this week that was not listed by Anderson was Rob Salmond.

According to Anderson "these people only know the basics, including [the staffer's] identity". It said they were not told who the complainants were.

The list said that others had been told of it by at least one of the complainants – including Grant Robertson, Dianna Lacy and the investigation panel.

Anderson said he was not sure how much Robertson knew.

The man or his family had advised others, including other NZ Council members, and the man's lawyer.

It also said that MPs Kiritapu Allan and Paul Eagle were told by unknown people.
Anderson's email does not refer to any sexual allegations.

It said that the July 12 email on behalf of the complainants to media "has had the unfortunate effect of increasing the number of people who know something about these matters, which is undermining confidentiality".

It also said neither he nor Haworth had seen transcripts of the notes taken from their interviews.