The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern has said that she has fired her Immigration Minister for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.
Ardern said Iain Lees-Galloway engaged in a consensual affair for almost a year with a female who had worked in his office and also at one of the agencies under his control.
The Prime Minister said she was wary about delivering moral judgment but the minister had exposed himself to accusations of improper usage of the power of his role, especially by having oversight of workplace relations and safety.
Lees-Galloway, 41, said he fully accepted Ardern’s decision and had begged her. He said he wouldn’t recontest election at the forthcoming general election which will take place in September.
In a statement, Lees-Galloway said: “I have acted completely inappropriately in my position and can not continue as a minister.”
Ardern said she heard about the allegations not too long ago and questioned Lees-Galloway about them the day she learnt about them. She said he’d displayed a significant lack of judgment over the course of one year.
Ardern said: “His actions have ultimately led me to lose confidence in him as a minister.”
Ardern said from her understanding, the relationship had ended several months ago and that the parliament had long possessed a culture and an environment that needed improvement but she said she would not blame the country’s male lawmakers for not effecting the necessary change.
She said: “We all have a role to make sure that we maintain standards in this environment. I’m not going to start casting judgments on specific genders here.”
