Goff: Hughes told of portfolios loss

Labour leader Phil Goff announces Hughes' resignation. Photo / Dean Purcell

Labour leader Phil Goff told Darren Hughes he would be stripped of his portfolios regardless of the outcome of a police investigation as soon as he became aware of the complaint against Mr Hughes.

Mr Goff yesterday faced further questions about his handling of the affair and decision to keep it a secret for more than two weeks. Mr Hughes resigned on Friday - two days after a complaint against him by an 18-year-old male became public.

Mr Goff denied there was any attempt to protect Mr Hughes by keeping it secret, saying as soon as he was told of the nature of the complaint "I made it clear to Darren that I thought given the circumstances there had been a lapse of judgment and that would result in his losing his positions."

He said the age difference between Mr Hughes and the complainant was enough to "indicate a misjudgment".

He had also told Mr Hughes that if charges were laid, he would have to resign from Parliament.

Mr Goff has previously refused to comment on whether be believed Mr Hughes had shown bad judgment, regardless of any criminality.

Yesterday, when asked if Mr Hughes could return under his leadership, Mr Goff said: "I think there are questions pertaining to judgment that would make it very hard for him to return in the short term."

Mr Goff maintained that he still believed it was the right course of action to keep it secret until the police investigation was over.

He said as soon as the investigation was completed, he had planned to take action against Mr Hughes, regardless of whether charges were laid.

He had spoken to party president Andrew Little last night after Mr Little publicly disagreed with Mr Goff's decision not to tell him of the complaint against Mr Hughes.

Mr Goff said he explained to Mr Little that he had preferred to leave the matter to police. Both had agreed to move forward.

Mr Goff said there would be differing opinions on his handling. Although it would "inevitably" have damaged the party, there was little he could do to avoid that.

Front bench MPs are putting up a united public front in apparent support of Mr Goff ahead of their first meeting since the incident broke. However, Mr Goff is likely to face some heat at the Dunedin meeting this morning.

Mr Goff said yesterday he was confident there was no leadership challenge forming against him.

The complaint came at a critical part of Labour's candidate selection processes but Mr Goff denied he was trying to protect Mr Hughes from a bad list ranking, saying he had expected the police investigation to be completed before Labour's list ranking committee meets in 12 days. Asked if he would have allowed Mr Hughes to be confirmed as the Otaki candidate last weekend without the party knowing of the complaint, Mr Goff said he expected that would have been delayed.

He said he had not known of earlier issues with Mr Hughes, including one published by the Herald on Sunday involving a Parliamentary staffer, who had dismissed it as an ill-aimed but harmless advance.

At least two former Labour ministers are understood to have raised issues about Mr Hughes' interaction with their staff.

Mr Goff said nobody had raised any issues about Mr Hughes with him.