National leader Christopher Luxon unaware Kuriger met Agriculture Minister over son's MPI dispute

Former National Party agriculture spokeswoman Barbara Kuriger. Photo / Mark Mitchell

National Party leader Christopher Luxon said he was not aware MP Barbara Kuriger had met with Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor as part of her son's dispute with MPI – a meeting O'Connor revealed today.

Kuriger stood down from the agriculture portfolio last week after a third party advised his office of an ongoing dispute between MPI and Kuriger's son Tony, in which Kuriger was involved.

Luxon said Kuriger made the decision to resign after a frank and extensive discussion with her about it - but admitted he had not known that she had met with O'Connor in person over it.

Kuriger's son Tony was in 2020 convicted of animal cruelty offences, relating to charges from 2016 and 2017 when he was a sharemilker on a farm in Hukanui, north of Eketahuna.

It has since been revealed Kuriger was unhappy with the way the case had been handled by both Fonterra and the Ministry of Primary Industries, and advocated on her son's behalf.

National leader Christopher Luxon. Photo / Mark Mitchell

O'Connor, who has been Agriculture Minister since 2017, said he had spoken with Kuriger "several times" about the issue and even met her son Tony.

"It was an incident that occurred before I was a minister. But obviously, as the incoming minister, she had raised it with me briefly.

"We just had a couple of conversations, in that she was informing me that she had made raised a couple of issues.

"I met with her son on one occasion. He was at an agricultural event and met with me.

"I didn't engage in a long conversation, I didn't think it would be appropriate to have done that.

"But I meet a lot of people. I didn't consider that inappropriate. But you know, anything that flows from that might have been."

O'Connor said he had sympathy for Kuriger's concerns for her son but he also warned her of a potential conflict of interest.

"I was really careful that, I think, all of us as MPs have to be really conscious of any dealings that our families might have, and handle those really carefully.

"In the discussions I had, the brief ones I had with Barbara was to reassure her that the process has been conducted, as far as I am concerned, fairly.

"And to make sure that, you know, as an MP, she had to be careful."

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor. Photo / Mark Mitchell

O'Connor said he would not pass judgment on her conduct.

"I'd expect that anyone would be trying to support their son or daughter, where the limits of that are, are not for me to judge."

O'Connor said there was a process underway with the Mike Heron KC investigation to ensure MPI had handled the case appropriately.

Asked if he believed it could have been difficult for staff responding to Kuriger's queries knowing she could be a future minister - their boss - O'Connor said he expected her case would have been handled "like any other".

"I would expect that within MPI, there are systems to support individuals who might be confronted with such difficult situations.

"I think she had the right as a parent, you know, to help her son, at what point you draw the line is something that Mike Heron will make a judgement on."

Kuriger resigned from her portfolio after a person claiming to be an MPI staffer wrote to Luxon concerned about Kuriger's advocacy for her son, which included writing to Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor and to senior MPI executives.

The email alleged "misconduct" by Kuriger and said "senior leaders are trying to appease her" because she was expected to be agriculture minister should National win next year's election.

At the same time, however, her advocacy has seen at least one apology from MPI after its intelligence analysts produced a "person profile" report on the MP and was believed to be the reason for the current review by Heron.