An inquiry into the communications by disgraced former minister Stuart Nash will only look at any contact he’d made with “any declared donor”.
It was announced yesterday in the wake of the Nash’s dismissal from cabinet, with prime minister Chris Hipkins saying the Napier MP will fully cooperate with the investigation.
But National’s leader wants it to go even further. Christopher Luxon has called for a broader inquiry that will take into account any and all communications from Nash. “If I was Chris Hipkins, I would want a full inquiry into all of his communications with a whole range of people and his portfolio,” he said yesterday afternoon.
Later, as RNZ’s Anneke Smith reported, he decried a cover-up after it was revealed that the office of former prime minister Jacinda Ardern was aware of the leaked email that led to Nash’s downfall. “What’s going on inside the prime minister’s office?” he queried. “How does a prime minister and Stuart Nash’s office have this information and actually not have it divulged?”
On Newstalk ZB’s Early Edition today, a former Labour Party staffer Kaine Thompson said they hoped the review wouldn’t dredge up anything new. “You would hope and you would expect this is the end of it,” he said. “Stuart Nash hasn’t ever come across to me as particularly someone who is nefarious or malicious, but he’s made a couple of mistakes here.”
Nash has so far ruled out an early resignation from parliament – partly due to the disruption of a byelection in an area still grappling with the Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up. But also, it’s feasible that National could pick up the seat off the back of the Nash scandal.
It’s been speculated, including last night by Newshub’s Jenna Lynch, that he will see out the rest of his term and then quit politics come the October election.
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