Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is speaking to media following the resignation of Andrew Bayly as a minister after he inappropriately touched the arm of a staffer.
Luxon is speaking in South Auckland from 3.30pm. A livestream can be found at the top of this article.
While Luxon had been primed to laud the impact of his anti-gang laws introduced last year, he will face questions primarily about Bayly, whose resignation from his ACC and Commerce and Consumer Affairs ministerial portfolios was announced today.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVEBLOG:
Luxon is about to travel to Vietnam. The trip, which he leaves for tomorrow, was supposed to include a visit to Indonesia but that leg had been cancelled.
Asked why, Luxon said Indonesia's leaders had some pressing matters to attend to.
He dismissed it was a snub by Indonesia, reiterating the "pressing domestic issues".
"I wouldn't really worry about that at all," Luxon said of the cancelled Indonesia leg.
On the China warships sailing through the Pacific currently, Luxon said the actions of the flotilla complied with international law but he said discussions had been had with Chinese Embassy officials about the short notice provided ahead of live-firing drills.
The same concerns would be expressed by Foreign Minister Winston Peters while he was in Beijing this week, Luxon said.
Luxon didn't ask him to stand down as an electorate MP for Port Waikato.
Asked if Bayly could make his way back to becoming a minister, Luxon said: "Never say never."
Luxon said he wasn't aware if the matter had been referred to police.
"I'm not going to go into that," Luxon said when asked about what actually happened during Bayly's encounter with his staff members.
Luxon said Bayly had come forward on his own steam to resign.
He wouldn't answer directly when asked if he would have sacked Bayly if Bayly hadn't offered his resignation.
"I think he made the right decision."
However, Luxon wouldn't say he sacked Bayly: "I want to be really clear, this is Andrew's decision."
Asked why he didn't speak about the resignation on Saturday when he spoke to media, Luxon said he wanted Bayly to speak to his family and his staff, which he believed was "reasonable".
On Andrew Bayly, Luxon restated how he had accepted Bayly's resignation.
Luxon said he didn't want to add to the description of the incident Bayly was involved in, leaving that to Bayly's earlier comments.
Luxon confirmed he was informed about the incident on Thursday last week, two days after it occurred. He allowed Bayly to inform family and staff before announcing it today.
"I think that's been pretty quick," he said.
"I think we have managed the process incredibly well."
On the gang law enforcement, Chambers acknowledged the number of people on the National Gangs List had increased but said that had occurred because new gangs had been added to the relevant legislation.
"Largely gang members are making good choices," Chambers said, explaining that gang members didn't want to lose their patches.
The patches were destroyed at the point a gang member was convicted. He didn't elaborate on how the patches were destroyed.
Chambers, who became Commissioner late last year, thanked Luxon and his ministers for their support and his acknowledgement of police's efforts in suppressing gangs.
He said the feedback from officers was that they were "pleased" that they could address gang members wearing patches.
Chambers also claimed the public had told them they felt "a lot freer" under the new laws.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is joined in South Auckland by Police Minister Mark Mitchell, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Police Commissioner Richard Chambers after discussing with police staff the impact of the Government's anti-gang laws, such as the gang patch ban.
Luxon spoke of the significant proportion of crime that gangs were responsible for, which he argued proved the need for stronger powers to police gangs.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins says Prime Minister Christopher Luxon "has set the bar for ministerial conduct so low Ministers have to sack themselves".
"Andrew Bayly should’ve been gone months ago," Hipkins posted to X.
"After finding out about the latest allegation on Wednesday, the PM waited days for him to resign when he should’ve been sacked asap."
