Ginny Andersen is copping questions on two fronts – her treatment of campaign volunteers and her Paris travel bill
Police Minister Ginny Andersen has not posted a statement on the government’s official website since 3 October – but she’s winning media attention, regardless.
The official statement – issued jointly with Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis – was about a youth justice programme branded “Circuit Breaker being launched in two new locations.
It wasn’t a huge vote winner and both ministers lost their seats at the general election, although they are back in Parliament on Labour’s list.
In Andersen’s case, fault has been found with Labour Party campaigning in the Hutt South Electorate where she was defeated by National’s Chris Bishop: there was not enough door knocking.
This shortcoming has been flushed into the open after the mother of two party volunteers claimed Andersen yelled at her daughter and son on election night and said they should have done more door-knocking during the campaign.
Andersen has acknowledged she thought her campaign could have door-knocked more, but – although she can’t remember yelling – she has issued an apology.
The New Zealand Herald reports her as saying:
“I do not recall yelling and no other person [recalled me] yelling.”
And:
“The only person in the Labour Party who can be blamed for losing the Hutt South electorate is me.”
Rancour in the party ranks became apparent over the past day or so after a letter of complaint from the mother of the two volunteer was leaked to news media.
The letter said that the “biggest issue” took place on election night when Andersen allegedly “yelled” at the woman’s daughter and son and said they should have done more door-knocking during the campaign.
The complaint detailed other issues over a period of three years including being called “useless” after getting addresses mixed up while delivering something for Christmas.
RNZ reports it has seen the complaint.
Andersen had yelled at both, the complaint said, claiming they did not do enough volunteering in the election and making them feel that was the reason she lost the Hutt South seat.
The complaint said Andersen had told them: “Maybe you should have done some more doorknocking”.
Other examples raised included her daughter being told she was “useless” by the MP over a mixup in 2020, yelling at her over the phone for deciding to attend a family trip instead of volunteering, and brushing aside complaints about bullying by others when this was brought to her attention.
“I think having an MP that represents a party that talks about kindness and having her treat my daughter like this is unacceptable and I want to see some action and the party to take action on this issue.”
Andersen has refused to be interviewed, referring RNZ instead to a statement.
“I’m aware a complaint has been made about comments I’ve made in the past,” Andersen said in the statement.
“I’m really sorry if my comments caused hurt. I’m committed to fully engage in the Labour Party process to resolve the matter.”
Labour’s general secretary Rob Salmond confirmed the party had received “a complaint from a member regarding comments made to them by Ginny Andersen”.
“We can confirm we’ve received a complaint from a member regarding comments made to them by Ginny Andersen. Complaints and the process to investigate them are confidential, so we can’t say anything more at this time.”
While Andersen shied from talking to RNZ, she told Three’s Am Show this morning she wants to sincerely apologise if her words have “caused any hurt”.
The Herald report goes on to say:
Andersen said she did not raise her voice in general and repeated that she had no memory of yelling.
She said she prided herself on being professional and treating people respectfully, which she says she always does.
Andersen said she had known the volunteer and their family for years and wanted to sit down and put things right in person.
She said she had received the complaint yesterday, as she believed party leader Chris Hipkins had too. She had since spoken to him.
She had also reached out to the volunteer’s family.
Asked about her relationship with her staff, Andersen said she’d “never had an incident where I believe I’ve raised my voice with a staff member” and nor had she been to mediation with any staff.
Andersen’s troubles are the subject of a report on No Right Turn headed
This shortcoming has been flushed into the open after the mother of two party volunteers claimed Andersen yelled at her daughter and son on election night and said they should have done more door-knocking during the campaign.
Andersen has acknowledged she thought her campaign could have door-knocked more, but – although she can’t remember yelling – she has issued an apology.
The New Zealand Herald reports her as saying:
“I do not recall yelling and no other person [recalled me] yelling.”
And:
“The only person in the Labour Party who can be blamed for losing the Hutt South electorate is me.”
Rancour in the party ranks became apparent over the past day or so after a letter of complaint from the mother of the two volunteer was leaked to news media.
The letter said that the “biggest issue” took place on election night when Andersen allegedly “yelled” at the woman’s daughter and son and said they should have done more door-knocking during the campaign.
The complaint detailed other issues over a period of three years including being called “useless” after getting addresses mixed up while delivering something for Christmas.
RNZ reports it has seen the complaint.
Andersen had yelled at both, the complaint said, claiming they did not do enough volunteering in the election and making them feel that was the reason she lost the Hutt South seat.
The complaint said Andersen had told them: “Maybe you should have done some more doorknocking”.
Other examples raised included her daughter being told she was “useless” by the MP over a mixup in 2020, yelling at her over the phone for deciding to attend a family trip instead of volunteering, and brushing aside complaints about bullying by others when this was brought to her attention.
“I think having an MP that represents a party that talks about kindness and having her treat my daughter like this is unacceptable and I want to see some action and the party to take action on this issue.”
Andersen has refused to be interviewed, referring RNZ instead to a statement.
“I’m aware a complaint has been made about comments I’ve made in the past,” Andersen said in the statement.
“I’m really sorry if my comments caused hurt. I’m committed to fully engage in the Labour Party process to resolve the matter.”
Labour’s general secretary Rob Salmond confirmed the party had received “a complaint from a member regarding comments made to them by Ginny Andersen”.
“We can confirm we’ve received a complaint from a member regarding comments made to them by Ginny Andersen. Complaints and the process to investigate them are confidential, so we can’t say anything more at this time.”
While Andersen shied from talking to RNZ, she told Three’s Am Show this morning she wants to sincerely apologise if her words have “caused any hurt”.
The Herald report goes on to say:
Andersen said she did not raise her voice in general and repeated that she had no memory of yelling.
She said she prided herself on being professional and treating people respectfully, which she says she always does.
Andersen said she had known the volunteer and their family for years and wanted to sit down and put things right in person.
She said she had received the complaint yesterday, as she believed party leader Chris Hipkins had too. She had since spoken to him.
She had also reached out to the volunteer’s family.
Asked about her relationship with her staff, Andersen said she’d “never had an incident where I believe I’ve raised my voice with a staff member” and nor had she been to mediation with any staff.
Andersen’s troubles are the subject of a report on No Right Turn headed
This kicks off:
We’ve known for a while that Labour has a bullying problem. Meka Whaitiri. Gaurav Sharma. Kiri Allen. Shanan Halbert. Mostly, they bully their staff. But soon-to-be-former police minister Ginny Andersen has found a new victim: her volunteers:
The writer says their public statements and leaked emails show that Labour’s MPs aren’t going to accept any responsibility for their election loss.
So who are they going to blame instead? Their volunteers – the people who believe in the party as something other than just a means of career advancement, and who give up their time to it to help centrist careerists climb the pole and get $296,007 salaries.
The good news is that this particular aspect of the problem is probably self correcting, in that bullying volunteers eventually results in all but the careerists leaving and devoting their efforts elsewhere, leaving MPs to do their own doorknocking. But it also suggests that Labour’s bullying problem is absolutely ingrained, part of the party’s toxic culture. And if that’s the case, its probably better to just burn the whole party down rather than continue to tolerate it.
But let’s turn to another announcement (a few months old) on the Government’s official website:
23 JUNE 2023
Small Business Minister Ginny Andersen will chair several OECD Ministerial meetings on Small Business on behalf of Aotearoa New Zealand in Paris next week.
This one has generated fresh headlines today.
As Labour looks into a bullying complaint against MP Ginny Andersen, The Post can reveal details of an expensive three-day jaunt to Paris, funded by the taxpayer.
The $51,000-trip included business-class airfares for Andersen and a staffer that cost more than $33,000. More than $5000 was budgeted for hotels and $1500 for other expenses, which would have included meals.
She was in the French capital to chair an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) committee on ‘small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurship’ in June, as small business minister, and attend a ‘stakeholder’ meeting.
The Government had already tipped in around $350,000 to support the OECD to set up the committee. Officials from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment also went – with the agency picking up the bill for their travel.
The Post report explains that the theme of the Paris meeting for ministers was ‘managing shocks and transitions’ and how to ‘future proof’ small business from the impact of events like the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Andersen said: “The Minister’s travel to Paris in June was to Chair the OECD Committee on SMEs and Entrepreneurship, an initiative that New Zealand has been championing at the OECD.
“The total travel costs were under budget, approved by Cabinet, and the documents relating to the travel were proactively released. The costs are comparable to other Ministerial travel at that time.”
Publication of the total travel costs of other ministers on similar overseas trips would be helpful.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
3 comments:
Travel, hotels, expenses, once they get their feet in the trough, there's no getting them out.
I believe the expression is "snouts in the trough" although if I was a pig I would find the comparison insulting.
The Maori seats were never abolished as recommended for MMP.
Now defeated politicians star at the OECD at the tax payers' expense.
Only in NZ would this happen............
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