National deputy leader Nicola Willis on what advice she has given to Sam Uffindell, and her reaction to the photos of his student flat in Dunedin. Video / NZ Herald
The National Party's new selection process for aspiring politicians has been extended to include current elected MPs - and leader Christopher Luxon has been the first to submit to it.
In an interview with Newshub Nation this morning, he said: "We have a process now that is different from before and everybody will go through an application process and reference checking as well.
"I have gone through that same process as the first National Party MP … the worst thing I can say is I was in a bus lane and got a $60 fine for it."
Interviewer Simon Shepherd was told by Luxon the new processes had not prompted any disclosures from current MPs.
Luxon said: "I think we've made some progress around candidate selection and vetting. We haven't got it all right. It's not a perfect process. But we're dealing with people and people are grossly imperfect.
"We've made some improvements … we need to make some more."
The interview followed a tumultuous week for National after revelations its new Tauranga MP had been compelled to leave King's College aged 16 after a bullying assault on a 13-year-old. It was followed by claims of drunken and abusive behaviour as a student at the University of Otago.
The heat on National only shifted late on Thursday after Labour Party backbench MP Gaurav Sharma wrote a lengthy piece for the Herald in which he accused his own party of bullying and gaslighting.
That allegation was disputed by the Prime Minister, who said there were no widespread issues of bullying in Labour's caucus as a former staffer told the Herald it was Sharma who was "controlling" and had reduced them to tears.
Then today came fresh allegations published by Stuff in which a parliamentary staff member claimed she had been bullied by Labour MP Anna Lorck. Lorck released a statement saying she worked "as constructively and as supportively as possible to create a positive working environment for my team".
National MP Sam Uffindell with leader Christopher Luxon. Photo / Mead Norton
Luxon said he considered Uffindell, 38, had changed since the self-declared 16-year-old bully he had been. He said he should have been told of the incident before it was made public.
"I wanted to know earlier … to be able to say there is political risk, the public should be aware of this issue and be able to form their own impressions."
He described the new allegations about Uffindell's behaviour as "serious and concerning".
"As a father of a daughter at university, I would want that properly explored from the complainant's point of view and equally Sam refutes … serious aspects of those allegations and he deserves natural process as well."
Luxon stood Uffindell down after the allegations about behaviour at the University of Otago were made public, with Maria Dew QC hired by the party to investigate. She was expected to report before the end of the month.
Shepherd grilled Luxon with a roll call of National's disgraced MPs - Aaron Gilmore, Jami-Lee Ross, Todd Barclay, Hamish Walker, Andrew Falloon and Jake Bezzant.
"We are changing that culture. I appreciate we have had issues in our past. That was before I even got to Parliament."
Luxon said he and newly elected party president Sylvia Wood were focused on making changes and both were "really determined to build a positive and good culture". Wood runs a human resources company and cites 25 years' experience in employment relations.
However, he added: "The National Party does not have a systemic cultural problem."
Shown a photograph of the four candidates who vied for the Tauranga candidacy which Uffindell won, Luxon said: "The reality is we need a lot more diversity in the National Party. The reality is we didn't get the diversity we wanted.
"I am highly confident we are going to be standing diverse candidates in 2023."
