Watch live: Christopher Luxon demands answers as press secretary Michael Forbes resigns

RNZ News

2 days ago

The Prime Minister is
demanding answers
from multiple agencies about the Beehive's vetting and disclosure processes for staff following the resignation of his deputy chief press secretary.
Michael Forbes quit on Wednesday and has apologised after accusations he recorded audio of sessions with sex workers, had intrusive photos of women in public and footage of women shot through windows at night.
Christopher Luxon said the incidents, that were investigated by police but didn't lead to any charges, occurred after he was vetted to work for Social Development Minister Louise Upston.
"He has an obligation to actually declare those issues or those incidents to us, that didn't happen which is why his employment would have been terminated obviously.
"But there is a good question about making sure, and I have asked specifically for DIA (The Department of Internal Affairs) to look at vetting processes," Luxon said in a media conference at Parliament on Thursday morning.
He added that the expectation was on Forbes to have raised the incidents with the Prime Minister's office "because it impacts the office and the reputation of the office, for obvious reasons, but that didn't happen".
Luxon said DIA had kicked off a "deep dive into seeing what further actions are needed to actually strengthen our processes."
Forbes moved from Upston's office to the Prime Minister's in February this year and "had the vetting that he needed to come into the Beehive".
"We will look at that to make sure that there's anything else we could have done differently in that vetting."
The Prime Minister wouldn't discuss what level of security clearance Forbes had in the Beehive.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Luxon also had questions about whether the investigation should have been elevated by police to the Beehive.
'We have to take this incident and understand what has happened here and how it happened, and what more can we do about it.
"I think it's a legitimate question to say what can we look at between the inter-agency processes, between the different agencies, whether it's police, whether it's the SIS or whether it's ministerial services."
Luxon said his sympathy was with the women who raised the allegations, and he was shocked by the news.
"I have zero tolerance for any behaviour that makes women or anyone feel unsafe, and this individual's conduct fell unacceptably short of the standards I expect from our people.
"And that's why you've seen us move within 24 hours of these allegations being put to us, this person is no longer employed in the Beehive," he said.
"The second group I feel really gutted for and about is my staff. I have an outstanding team of people who support me... we have worked really hard to build a great team and culture and for our people who have worked alongside him it's incredibly shocking and as you can imagine very distressing."
Luxon said he couldn't answer whether the workplace was unsafe as a result of him and his office not being made aware of the accusations made against Forbes.
"Those are legitimate questions and I don't have answers for you around those today."
The Prime Minister was also open to looking at privacy laws after a call for a law change by the madam of the brothel at the centre of the accusations against Forbes.
"I'm open to looking at our settings, again as we go through this experience, we have a series of laws whether it's the harmful digital bill, whether it's the privacy laws, or now new stalking laws, but we're open to looking at that further as well."
Police commissioner Richard Chambers.
Photo:
RNZ / Nick Monro
"I think many Kiwis will be incredibly concerned with this issue, as I am too."
Luxon said he spoke to a number of women on Wednesday who work closely with Forbes and he said "understandably there's anger, it's distressing".
Counselling support has been offered to anyone on the Parliament precinct that needs it and the Prime Minister's staff will meet again on Friday to talk about it further.
On whether there were concerns Forbes had taken photos of staff on site, Luxon said he hasn't seen evidence of that but has asked DIA to look into it.
"I just want to be clear, I'm not aware of any issues in the Parliamentary gym."
Luxon said he understood it was a private phone, not a government issued one, that was used to capture the recordings and photos.
Police commissioner Richard Chambers said he was first made aware of the issue late on Tuesday afternoon after a media inquiry.
"I immediately contacted the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and subsequently informed the Police Minister under the no-surprises practise."
It was raised with the police executive in July 2024, during the investigation into the complaint. It was not brought to the attention of Ministers or Ministerial Services at the time.
"It is up to the commissioner of the day to decide what to elevate by way of the no surprises convention.
"Those decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. It would be wrong for me to comment on decisions made by the then-executive because I do not know the information they were based on, or the reasons for those decisions.
"In situations such as this, it should also be considered whether there is an obligation on an individual to raise any issues that might be relevant to their employment with their employer or prospective employer," he said.
"Decisions around the handling of the investigation and questions about whether it should be re-visited are for Wellington District police to consider. I have absolute faith in them to do that."
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