Scott Simpson will replace Bayly as Minister for ACC and Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
Andrew Bayly has stood down as ACC and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister after he “placed a hand” on a staff member’s arm during an “animated discussion” last Tuesday, something he’s recognised was “inappropriate”.
However, questions have been raised about the delay of nearly three days between Bayly resigning on Friday evening and the public being told on Monday.
While Prime Minister Christopher Luxon claims the Government has “managed the process incredibly well” and there was an outcome “pretty quick”, Labour’s Chris Hipkins says Luxon has set the standard extremely low and initially hid information from Kiwis.
A statement from the now-former minister on Monday said he had been “impatient to drive change in my ministerial portfolios” and during an “animated discussion” with a staffer about work, “took the discussion too far”.
“I placed a hand on their upper arm, which was inappropriate. I have apologised to the staff member and regret placing them in an uncomfortable position,” he said.
“There are times when you have to hold yourself to account and today is one of those days. I have made the personal choice to resign as a minister and have offered my resignation to the Prime Minister, which he has accepted.”
He later told reporters a complaint had been made, but denied the discussion was an argument or that he had touched the staff member’s arm with force.
Questioned about the delay in the public being informed of his resignation, Bayly said he would have had difficulty speaking to media about it last Friday and needed time to tell his family.
According to a timeline provided by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the incident occurred last Tuesday. The PMO and Ministerial Services were alerted to the incident on Wednesday evening and spent Thursday and Friday speaking with those involved. Bayly then resigned late on Friday evening.
However, despite the Prime Minister appearing before reporters on Saturday, Luxon didn’t mention that a minister had stood down.
The Prime Minister said on Monday afternoon he had wanted Bayly to speak to his family and staff before informing the public, which he believed was “reasonable”.
“I think that’s been pretty quick to move as fast as we have within the week, it’s pretty impressive,” Luxon said. “I think we have managed the process incredibly well. I think it’s been very effective and very fast.”
Luxon said Bayly had “come forward of his own volution”, admitted he hadn’t met his standards of behaviour, and made the “right decision” to resign.
The Prime Minister repeatedly said it had been Bayly’s decision and wouldn’t say whether he would have sacked the minister had he not resigned.
“That’s a hypothetical because I didn‘t have to go there because he, most importantly, had recognised his behaviour hadn’t met his own high standards.”
The incident, which occurred last week, has led to Bayly's resignation. Photo / Mark Mitchell
But Hipkins said the Prime Minister had sent the bar for ministerial behaviour “so low that it would be almost impossible not to get over it” and Luxon should have sacked Bayly months ago, when it emerged the minister had called a worker a “loser”.
The Labour leader said the Prime Minister had double standards, referencing Luxon’s call for swift punishments for misbehaving Labour ministers.
“When he was the Leader of the Opposition, he set the bar very, very high and he said that not only should ministers be sacked, but they should be driven out of Parliament altogether. In this instance, he’s not living up to his own standards, which seems to be a repeated pattern of behaviour.”
Hipkins said Luxon keeping the resignation secret over the weekend showed “he’s hiding things from the New Zealand public”.
“The public should expect that on issues like this, the Prime Minister will be upfront and open with them. If he had received a minister’s resignation on Friday, the fact that he appeared before the media over the weekend, didn’t bother to mention it until Monday, that’s totally unacceptable.”
Hipkins said he didn’t give his ministers days to notify their families of their punishments and didn’t believe the argument that Bayly was too upset for the news to become public held water.
“I dealt with a situation where I was dealing with someone who was highly distressed at the time I relieved them of their ministerial warrant and it was really, really tough, but unfortunately, that’s the nature of the job.”
The Port Waikato MP held the ACC and Commerce and Consumer Affairs portfolios, and previously had the Small Business and Manufacturing role until a reshuffle at the start of the year.
Luxon thanked Bayly for his “hard work” in his ministerial portfolios.
“Mr Bayly’s resignation takes effect immediately. Scott Simpson will become Minister for ACC and Commerce and Consumer Affairs.”
Simpson, the Coromandel MP and current Chief Whip, said in a statement it was a privilege to be appointed.
“I’m excited by the opportunity that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has given me to take on these two new portfolio roles,” he said.
“I relish the chance to be a part of the broader coalition team that is working to get New Zealand’s economy growing and thriving again.”
Bayly, who has been an MP since 2014, apologised last year after it emerged a complaint had been made about his behaviour at a winery in Marlborough. It included that he had sworn at, ridiculed and mocked a worker there, including by repeatedly calling the man a “loser” and telling him to “take some wine ... and f*** off”.
The MP admitted calling the worker a “loser” and pulling an “L” on his forehead but denied swearing or that he had been drinking before the interactions. He has acknowledged he took part in a small wine tasting, but after interacting with the worker.
He said at the time he had meant his actions in a light-hearted manner but he understood they had offended the worker. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described the behaviour as disappointing but said he had got assurances it wouldn’t happen again.
An Official Information Request response to the Herald showed photos during Bayly’s Marlborough visit, including one showing Bayly drinking from a wine glass at what appears to be a wine tasting at the vineyard. No photos of Bayly making a “L” sign are included.
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.
