Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
National MP Barbara Kuriger says she hopes to put the scandal that cost her portfolios behind her.
The Taranaki King Country MP resigned from her roles as National's Agriculture, Biosecurity and Food Safety spokesperson in October, over a "significant conflict of interest".
It related to the prosecution of her son over animal welfare in 2018. The party leadership had been informed about the matter, but she failed to inform them about her subsequent and continued correspondence with the Ministry of Primary Industries over several years.
At the time she resigned, she agreed with party leader Christopher Luxon it had made her position as Agriculture spokesperson "untenable".
The extent of her correspondence has since been released under the Official Information Act, showing a pattern of personal attacks on MPI officials over the handling of the investigation into her son's involvement.
This included filing formal complaints against a range of MPI employees and calls for one to be fired, among dozens of emails to ministry officials which often used her National Party letterhead.
Arriving at National's annual caucus retreat in Napier this morning, Kuriger made her first public statements about the matter since the details of her involvement became public.
"I've drawn a line underneath that, I've said I've written some emails that could be worded better but I'm drawing a line and moving on," she told reporters.
"You can understand that it was a pretty distressing time for my family and a distressing time for me, and yes I could have done it better but I'm moving forward."
Kuriger said she had no plans to step down.
"My fitness resolution is to go up and down the steps of Parliament so I can actually handle election year and stay a bit fitter better this time, so I'm just going to do my best in whatever I do."
In a caucus reshuffle today, Kuriger was demoted from her 10th-spot ranking on the list to an unranked position below the 20th spot, but was handed the Conservation portfolio previously held by Jacqui Dean.
Luxon was asked if he could ever trust her as a minister after seeing the emails she had sent.
"Look, you know, Barbara has in this reshuffle, you know, she has ended up with the Conservation portfolio. It is actually a really important portfolio for the National Party, we are incredibly proud of our legacy in conservation
"It's now up to Barbara to demonstrate to me and to the public that she can be a very good spokesperson."
He was repeatedly questioned over whether it would rule her out from a ministerial position in any future National government.
"What we've said is if you look at where Barbara is she's unranked in our caucus reshuffle at the moment and I think that's entirely appropriate. As Barbara would admit and as I've talked about before there was a conflict of interest that was not managed and there was a lapse of judgement.
"So it's now up to Barbara to demonstrate that she has the judgement."
The reshuffle comes on the first day of a retreat for National caucus MPs in Napier, an annual event that will give the party the chance to reconnect after the holidays and plan for this year's general election.
By chance, Labour is holding its own annual retreat in the same city.
Dean plans not to contest the election this year, stepping down from Parliament.
