Under-fire National MP Barbara Kuriger wouldn't answer questions today after resigning from her portfolios last week.
The MP was at Parliament for the first time since the announcement but only read out a statement and refused to take media questions.
“I will not be commenting further while this is ongoing other than to thank those who have contacted me and showed support over the weekend,” Kuriger said.
The Taranaki-King Country MP's family is locked in a dispute with the Ministry for Primary Industries after her son was convicted on animal cruelty charges in 2020.
An independent review is currently underway into the family's dispute and the ministry’s handling of it.
It was commissioned by MPI in consultation with the Ombudsman and Crown Law.
But neither Kuriger nor Christopher Luxon mentioned the review last week when announcing the MP's resignation from her portfolios.
“That's an issue for her to deal with and her own personal issue as a family dealing with a dispute with MPI,” Luxon said.
Kuriger requested official information held by MPI about her family.
It was also revealed today she approached Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor over the matter more than once.
O'Connor said his response was clear.
“It was to reassure her that the process has been conducted as far as I’m concerned fairly and to make sure that as an MP she had to be careful,” he said.
It was a warning to the National MP as he claimed it was clear she was becoming too close to the issue.
Asked if it was appropriate for Kuriger to raise the matter with the Minister, Christopher Luxon said it wasn’t.
“I don't think so because when you hold the agricultural portfolios and you've got a dispute at a personal level with your family with MPI, that's what causes the conflict of interest,” he said.
Kuriger's son also approached the minister.
“He was at an event, an agricultural event, and met with me. I didn't think it was appropriate, I didn't engage in a long conversation,” O’Connor said.
Mike Heron KC is undertaking the independent review and is expected to report back the findings by the end of this month.
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