Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post / Editorial

Editorial: National's vote on Jami-Lee Ross will test its confidence in Simon Bridges

NZ Herald
15 Oct, 2018 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • subtitles settings, opens subtitles settings dialog
    • subtitles off, selected

      This is a modal window.

      Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

      Text
      Text Background
      Caption Area Background
      Font Size
      Text Edge Style
      Font Family

      End of dialog window.

      This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

      Autoplay in
      4
      Disable Autoplay
      Cancel Video
      National MP Jami-Lee Ross has been identified as the person who leaked Simon Bridges' expenses.
      Editorial

      Utterly predictably, the National Party leader's inquest into his leaked travel expenses has turned toxic for his party, with the release of the result of an independent investigation. Consultants PwC have concluded the culprit was National MP Jami-Lee Ross, who took sudden leave from Parliament two weeks ago. Ross continues to deny he was the leaker and has responded with some accusations of his own against Simon Bridges.

      Revealing he had fallen out with Bridges some months ago over leadership decisions, Ross tweeted: "When I started to become expendable, I confronted him with evidence that I had recorded him discussing with me unlawful activity that he was involved on ... he asked me to do things with election donations that broke the law."

      What a mess. Bridges denies the claim and says he is not surprised by Ross' response in the circumstances. Nobody will be surprised. When it became likely Bridges had a disloyal caucus member, his determination to pursue this inquiry was bound to result in recriminations and accusations that would do a political party no good.

      Whether the public believes Ross or not - both on his denial of the leak and his claim to have recorded an unlawful suggestion by his leader - the voters can see a party with dissension in its ranks. If the dissension is confined to one MP, the National caucus will need to prove that to the public by dealing decisively with Ross at its meeting today.

      If not, it will be a sign Ross has supporters, or at least sympathisers, in caucus who share his disenchantment with Bridges. Supporters, if there are any, could stand by Ross' continued denial of the leak and challenge PwC's findings. Or they could agree Ross is probably to blame but call it an error of judgment attributable to the personal problems he cited when he sought leave from the House.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      However, all of that has become trivial after Ross' response to the PwC conclusions. He has made an accusation of illegality that has to be investigated regardless of what the caucus decides today. In doing so, publicly, Ross has stepped well outside the boundaries of party dissent. Worse, he is threatening to say more about his accusations against Bridges "in coming days". That sounds a threat to the caucus today which would discredit a decision to treat him leniently.

      Many in the party must be dismayed that Bridges pursued a minor embarrassment to a point that was bound to become a major embarrassment for the party. What started as a trivial leak of internal travel expenses, three days before they would have been made public, has become a needless test of caucus loyalty to its new leader.

      Bridges has left himself and his MPs in a position where anything less than expulsion of Ross - who could not remain MP for Botany if Winston Peters passes his waka jumping bill, which National opposes - will raise doubts that Bridges can survive as leader. It is a mess of his own making.

      Discover more

      New Zealand|politics

      Live: D-Day - Collins blasts 'delusional' Jami-Lee Ross

      15 Oct 08:31 PM
      Save
        Share this article

      Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

      Rotorua Daily Post

      Brrrrr! Rotorua, Taupō record coldest temperatures of the year

      Rotorua Daily Post

      'Silence ... then the heat hit me': Man saves Harley-Davidson, loses house in blaze

      Rotorua Daily Post

      'Freezing conditions': Police rescue man on Tongariro Crossing


      Sponsored

      Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Recommended for you

      Woman at centre of Coldplay kiss cam scandal makes announcement
      Entertainment

      Woman at centre of Coldplay kiss cam scandal makes announcement

      Northland’s biggest water services changes kick off in Whangārei
      Northern Advocate

      Northland’s biggest water services changes kick off in Whangārei

      Assessing what Warriors must do to secure NRL top four finish
      Warriors

      Assessing what Warriors must do to secure NRL top four finish

      Locals and travellers left waiting as dump station delay drags on
      Northland Age

      Locals and travellers left waiting as dump station delay drags on

      'Immense power': Lucy Lawless on embracing her 50s
      Entertainment

      'Immense power': Lucy Lawless on embracing her 50s

      Brrrrr! Rotorua, Taupō record coldest temperatures of the year
      Rotorua Daily Post

      Brrrrr! Rotorua, Taupō record coldest temperatures of the year



      Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

      Brrrrr! Rotorua, Taupō record coldest temperatures of the year
      Rotorua Daily Post

      Brrrrr! Rotorua, Taupō record coldest temperatures of the year

      The weekend will be mostly fine with a few showers expected.

      24 Jul 11:43 PM
      'Silence ... then the heat hit me': Man saves Harley-Davidson, loses house in blaze
      Rotorua Daily Post

      'Silence ... then the heat hit me': Man saves Harley-Davidson, loses house in blaze

      24 Jul 11:31 PM
      'Freezing conditions': Police rescue man on Tongariro Crossing
      Rotorua Daily Post

      'Freezing conditions': Police rescue man on Tongariro Crossing

      24 Jul 10:19 PM


      Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
      Sponsored

      Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

      06 Jul 09:47 PM

      NZ Herald
      • About NZ Herald
      • Meet the journalists
      • Newsletters
      • Classifieds
      • Help & support
      • Contact us
      • House rules
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of use
      • Competition terms & conditions
      • Our use of AI
      Subscriber Services
      • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
      • Manage your print subscription
      • Manage your digital subscription
      • Subscribe to Herald Premium
      • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
      • Gift a subscription
      • Subscriber FAQs
      • Subscription terms & conditions
      • Promotions and subscriber benefits
      NZME Network
      • Rotorua Daily Post
      • The New Zealand Herald
      • The Northland Age
      • The Northern Advocate
      • Waikato Herald
      • Bay of Plenty Times
      • Hawke's Bay Today
      • Whanganui Chronicle
      • Viva
      • NZ Listener
      • Newstalk ZB
      • BusinessDesk
      • OneRoof
      • Driven Car Guide
      • iHeart Radio
      • Restaurant Hub
      NZME
      • About NZME
      • NZME careers
      • Advertise with NZME
      • Digital self-service advertising
      • Book your classified ad
      • Photo sales
      • NZME Events
      • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
      All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
      Subscribe now

      All Access Weekly

      From $2 per week
      Pay just
      $15.75
      $2
      per week ongoing
      Subscribe now
      BEST VALUE

      All Access Annual

      Pay just
      $449
      $49
      per year ongoing
      Subscribe now
      Learn more
      30
      TOP
      search by queryly Advanced Search