Stuart Nash Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Sacked Cabinet minister Stuart Nash has announced he will retire from politics at this year's election.
The Napier MP was stripped of all his portfolios last week, after it was revealed he sent an email containing confidential Cabinet information to two men who had donated to his campaigns.
He had already resigned as police minister, after criticising a judicial decision, and phoning the police commissioner about it.
Two more incidents put Nash on a final warning, but Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the revelation about the email was enough to sack him outright.
In a post to his personal Facebook page, Nash said a long family conversation, and an eye to the future, were behind his decision to stand down from politics.
"There are many many highs - and a couple of obvious lows - and I have made a number of life-long friends from both sides of the House as well as up-and-down this wonderful country. I have had the privilege of serving in the Ardern Cabinet during the darkest of days, managing crisis after crisis after crisis, while driving forward an ambitious and progressive agenda of continuous economic and social improvement and transformation," he wrote.
"While the work has been very rewarding, and both intellectually and professionally stimulating, it has also been incredibly taxing on relationships with family and friends. It's now time to address this balance."
Nash said the role had been a privilege.
"Advocating for the issues that are important to good hard working Kiwi's is something that I will miss, but will continue to do for the people of Napier until I depart, as there is still a lot to do regarding the recovery from cyclone Gabrielle and helping the next Labour candidate retain the seat of Napier."
On Wednesday, Hipkins revealed two senior staffers in the prime minister's office were also consulted on the email in 2021, but did not escalate the matter.
Hipkins asked the Cabinet Secretary to conduct a review into communications between Nash and his donors, to see if there had been any other breaches of Cabinet confidentiality, and whether there had been any perceived or actual conflicts of interest.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has also reopened an inquiry into Nash's emails.
"Mr Nash withheld the information under the OIA on the grounds he was not communicating with them in his capacity as a Minister," Boshier said.
"I will start by carefully examining Mr Nash's original response to me including the material provided by his office at the time.
"I will consider whether or not the information in question was held in his capacity as a minister, which is subject to the OIA, or as an electorate MP that is not subject to the Act, and whether there was a basis for withholding the information."
Nash entered Parliament on the Labour list in 2008, but did not place high enough to return in 2011. He then won the Napier seat in 2014.
Nash's decision to retire at the election means Napier voters will avoid having to go through a by-election.
He had already been selected to run as the Napier candidate at the election, meaning Labour will have to find someone new to run in his place.
