Chris Hipkins holds a post-Cabinet press conference
Kiri Allan is on leave this week, the Government has confirmed.
Allan was on leave recently to take care of her mental health and wellbeing, and she confirmed last week that her relationship with her partner Māni Dunlop had ended. She had earlier posted on her Instagram actabout her decision to take leave due to personal circumstances on top of work pressures.
Allan has rejected all allegations regarding the working relationships in her office, adding that no formal complaints have been made.
Last week Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, speaking from China, repeated that there had been no formal complaints, saying that sometimes a minister’s office can come under a lot of pressure.
Speaking at his post-Cabinet press conference today, Hipkins said he spoke to Allan by phone today and she would be taking leave for a couple of weeks.
Allan posted to social media she’s “not on mental health leave again”.
“I’ll take a couple of days off over school holidays because each parent has to as we don’t have others that can take care of our kid. Please stop conflating my MH with external allegations.”
For those watching Post Cab stand up right now, I’m not on “mental health leave again”. I‘ll take a couple of days off over school holidays because each parent has to as we don’t have others that can take care of our kid. Please stop conflating my MH with external allegations.
Hipkins said Allan was not on mental health leave, but was taking some time off.
He said they would have a catch-up when he returns from Europe.
He didn’t want to comment on Allan’s demeanour in his phone call with her.
Hipkins said he would take any serious issues raised with ministers’ behaviour very seriously.
Ministers needed to treat their staff with “basic courtesy”, adding that ministers weren’t perfect and that everybody has a bad day from time to time.
The issue is what was then done about that when it happened, he added.
Hipkins said the feedback from senior levels of the public service is that issues raised informally were resolved at the time.
There didn’t need to be a separate layer of inquiry on top of that, he said. The chief executives concerned have not raised any specific issues with him.
He said he hadn’t asked for details about those employment matters.
“Kiri had a rough couple of weeks and I think it would be good for her to take some time off.”
He said she had also indicated she would like to take some time off.
She had been the subject of “intense scrutiny”, he added.
Asked about having confidence in her, Hipkins said he would catch up and have a “good chat” when he returned from Europe next week.
He said she was an “exceptionally talented minister” who had contributed “an awful lot”, and he said it was normal to talk to her about any issues. He would do that when he returned from Europe. It did not indicate any lack of confidence in her, he said.
“Allegations of this nature flew around all of the time when I was in Opposition and none of them made it into the public domain.”
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is holding his post-Cabinet press conference at 3pm. Photo / Mark Mitchell
A Government spokesperson confirmed that Allan is on leave again this week.
It is a recess week as well as school holidays, and a number of MPs - especially those with children - have taken leave this week.
Last week Allan accused the National Party of a “fishing exercise” that had come up empty and has framed the “challenges” in her office as her having the gumption to ask for help when she needs it, and working with heads of departments, including having robust discussions, to get better outcomes.
But the National Party says that there are still questions that Allan has not answered, including “concerns” that have been confirmed by the Department of Conservation - from more than a year ago - and by the National Emergency Management Agency, from an unspecified time.
Asked last week if she was a tough boss, or whether she had ever shouted at staff, Allan said she wasn’t and she hasn’t.
She rejected anonymous allegations that surfaced the following day, in a Stuff report, from a senior public servant who said Allan had shouted at them during a phone call.
This followed DoC confirmation from more than a year ago, when Allan was Conservation Minister, of concerns about the working relationship which were enough to see a private secretary end their secondment early. The head of the Conservation Department, Penny Nelson, said she had discussed the issue with Ministerial Services, and nothing further was brought to her attention.
National MP Simeon Brown has also lodged an Official Information Act request seeking material referencing Allan’s “behaviour or conduct”.
Two items were found to be in scope. One was a text message - between head of MBIE Carolyn Tremain and head of Kānoa Robert Pigou - in March this year. The content of the message was withheld, which Brown has appealed to the Ombudmsan.
The other item involved the National Emergency Management Agency, but its nature and date and content were withheld. NEMA chief executive Dave Gawn, in the OIA response, added: “I was aware that there were concerns with regard to relationships in the minister’s office and I further understand that action was taken to address these concerns.”
One former staffer has said she has never seen any evidence of this kind of behaviour from the minister.
“She held high standards for herself and her mahi. She expected the same from those around her,” tweeted Alice Soper. “I can’t say I saw any examples of the accusations currently being thrown around.”
Derek Cheng is a senior journalist for the Herald and a former deputy political editor, whose stints in the Press Gallery in Parliament covered parts of the Helen Clark, John Key, and Jacinda Ardern governments.
