Stuart Nash is a controversial minister who isn’t afraid to speak his mind

Stuart Nash’s blunder today which cost him his police portfolio might have been the most consequential, but it was far from the first time comments from the “Minister of Muscles” have got him into trouble.

Nash resigned as Police Minister only hours after an interview with Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB in which he admitted asking Police Commissioner Andrew Coster if he would appeal against a court decision the politician disagreed with - a clear breach of the Cabinet manual.

To make Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ decision to let him go easier, Nash in a separate interview appeared to downplay the issue and argued he was simply “chewing the fat” with a “mate”.

Listen to the interview below:

The great-grandson of Sir Walter Nash, one of New Zealand’s most famous politicians and Prime Minister between 1957-60, Nash entered Parliament in 2008 on the Labour Party list. He re-entered Parliament in 2014 after winning the Napier seat, which he has held ever since.

He has described himself as a social democrat and “first and foremost a public servant”. Within the Labour caucus, he is considered one of their more conservative MPs.

He gained his first ministerial portfolios in 2017 including Police, Revenue, Fisheries and Small Business.

Stuart Nash shot himself in the foot by questioning a judge's judgment on a firearms offender. Illustration / Rod Emmerson

Earlier this year, Nash was critical of Coster for some of the top cop’s rhetoric surrounding the police response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawke’s Bay.

“There were some very harrowing stories there and I absolutely agree that people need to feel safe in their homes in these heightened times of stress,” he said, as reports of looting, armed incidents, and community roadblocks emerged after the natural disaster.

“I buy into the fact that in hindsight we could’ve done some things differently ... I also acknowledge that having the Police Commissioner coming out and saying ‘What are you talking about, [crime] stats haven’t changed,’ is probably the wrong message to the people of Whirinaki and Bayview.”

In 2019, Nash hit headlines when he was given a telling-off by then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after he swore at an Air New Zealand staff member. Nash was attempting to take a flight from Napier to Wellington.

Earlier in the same year security had to stop a confrontation between Nash, who enjoys weightlifting and has been dubbed the minister of muscles, and another person at the parliamentary gym.

At the time, then Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard said he was told that both men were being “loud and uncouth”, and Nash had apologised to the man the following day for his “bad language”.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Stuart Nash. Photo / George Heard

In 2020, a Nash phone call from 2018 was leaked to Newshub in which the then-Fisheries Minister accused coalition partner NZ First of delaying plans to put cameras on commercial fishing boats.

He later said his comments were “wrong”.

While he publicly stated he had enjoyed the police role, he had always had a stronger interest in economic issues and in the 2020 Labour Government, under Ardern’s leadership, he took on Minister for Economic and Regional Development, Tourism Minister, Forestry Minister and Minister for Small Business.

In 2022, Nash made headlines again after saying the agricultural movement Groundswell was “a mixture of racism, anti-vax” and other sentiments.

Stuart Nash has resigned as Police Minister over a comment he made to Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.

He refused to apologise but later clarified he was referring to comments by one of their organisers about “my great mate and colleague” Minister Nanaia Mahuta.

He added: “I’m the Minister of Forestry. I have dealt with a lot of rural folk for many, many years and the vast majority are really, really good people.”

Around this time Nash was also embroiled in some donations controversies, revealed by Newsroom.

In 2021, he received at least $51,000 in direct and indirect donations from Troy Bowker, a controversial investment banker who accused animation entrepreneur Sir Ian Taylor of “sucking up to the left Māori-loving agenda”.

It was also revealed Nash had accepted tens of thousands of dollars from prominent figures in the forestry industry.

Nash regained the police portfolio this year after Hipkins became Prime Minister. His traditional approach was seen as a good counter to National and Act’s increasing criticism that the Government was “soft on crime”.

As Tourism Minister, Nash sought to crack down on freedom campers once saying “they s*** in our waterways”.

The country would “unashamedly” target the super-wealthy over backpackers, he said.

“Do you think that we want to become a destination for those freedom campers and backpackers who don’t spend much and leave the high net worth individuals to other countries?

“We get all these vans driving round at the moment that are not self-contained, so the driver or the passenger wants to go to the toilet - we all know examples of this - they pull over to the side of the road and they s*** in our waterways.”

He was responsible for the Self-contained Motor Vehicle Legislation Bill, which was intended to tighten up rules around freedom camping.

Prior to entering politics, Nash worked in senior management in the private and public sectors.

Nash holds Masters Degrees in Law, Management, and Forestry Science, as well as Postgraduate Diplomas in Business and Forestry.

Nash remains in Cabinet as Minister for Economic Development, Forestry, and Oceans and Fisheries.