The Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes has found former Labour MP Steve Maharey breached a code of conduct on political neutrality in his columns, but it was at the “lower end of the spectrum”.
Prime Minister Chis Hipkins said the advice from Hughes found it was not serious enough to justify dismissing Maharey from his posts, which include chair of Pharmac and of ACC.
Maharey had dobbed himself in to the Government for some criticism of the National Party in his columns for Stuff after Rob Campbell was sacked as the chair of Te Whatu Ora over a LinkedIn post on National’s Three Waters policy.
Hipkins said Hughes characterised Maharey’s actions as “unwise”, but at the “lower end of the spectrum”.
“Based on this advice, Ministers Ayesha Verrall, Jan Tinetti and Peeni Henare have confirmed this morning that they retain confidence in Mr Maharey and will keep him in his roles as Chair of Pharmac, Education New Zealand and ACC,” Hipkins said.
“It’s critically important that the public service be politically neutral, and it’s not acceptable for people in these key roles to be publicly criticising the Opposition or any party.”
He said there were differences in Maharey’s case and Campbell’s.
“In Mr Maharey’s case, he proactively acknowledged the error, has undertaken to stop writing the column and apologised.
“There’s a clear distinction between the cases of Maharey and Campbell in patterns of behaviour and future intent.”
Hipkins had previously indicated Maharey would cease writing columns. Maharey has not yet commented publicly on the matter.
A third former minister, Ruth Dyson, is now also facing questions from the National Party over social media posts criticising National while she is deputy chair of Fire and Emergency NZ.
The cases have prompted Public Service Minister Andrew Little to write to Hughes and request Crown Entity Chairs be reminded of their and their boards’ obligations under the Code of Conduct.
Hipkins said any further instances of similar breaches would be looked at by ministers.
“However, particularly when they are historical and are at the lower end of the spectrum, my guidance to Ministers is that provided the person acknowledges and regrets the breach and is clear about adhering to the Code going forward, it should not necessarily result in the responsible minister losing confidence in them.
“No-one is perfect but it’s only right that board chairs and members understand the bounds of what they can say without jeopardising their ability to perform their roles.”
He said there were both former Labour and National MPs in such roles, and nobody thought they should not hold a personal view.
“Their roles, however, come with obligations under the Code of Conduct and they are expected to exercise the appropriate levels of caution and discretion.”
Dyson, a former Labour MP and current deputy chair of Fire and Emergency NZ, told a select committee this morning she would be reviewing her social media engagement after questions were raised regarding some of her social media posts.
In a Twitter post after National Party leader Christopher Luxon’s Waitangi address last month, Dyson jibed that some cruel junior staffer had given him the wrong speech.
Dyson’s Twitter account information says she was a former Labour MP and was “still Labour”.
When National MP Simeon Brown questioned her on whether that was appropriate, Dyson was strong in her view it was.
“It absolutely appropriate to say that I was a former labour Member of Parliament and just to make it clear I’m still Labour.
“That does not affect my ability to be politically neutral when engaging in board activities.”
RNZ reported Dyson admitted to reporters after the meeting that she had not read the code of conduct governing her position as a Crown entity board member.
Speaking to media this afternoon, Hipkins said Dyson was a competent board member but expected her and all others in her position to know the code.
“It was only introduced last year, I would expect them to be making themselves familiar with it.
“I think we do clearly have some work to do to make sure that everybody on those boards is familiar with the code and is following the rules of the code, so I’ve set out my expectations around that.”
This morning, Hughes told select committee members he did not think active monitoring of public comments from board chairs was necessary.
Public Service Minister Andrew Little agreed, saying such appointments were made on a “bit of a trust basis”.
“The idea of setting up now a monitoring process for board chairs or even the hundreds of board members that we’ve got would be a phenomenal undertaking and we trust people when we make the appointments.”
Asked whether he thought board chairs should stay off social media, Little said the role did not demand a curtailing of board chairs’ personal lives but did require an acceptance that public commentary on political issues must be limited.