3169 (2024). Rt Hon Chris Hipkins to the Prime Minister

3169 (2024). Rt Hon Chris Hipkins to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement “I’m just making sure that I take every opportunity I can to remind my cabinet ministers of their obligations under the cabinet manual to remind them of any perceived conflicts, real or otherwise. We have those conversations all the time in the cases of actually, the judiciary was actually where we raised the raise those concerns recently about making sure that ministers are more than welcome to talk about the effectiveness of a law, but not to actually attack the judiciary individually”, and if so, has any member of the judiciary raised concerns with him about any comment made by a Minister?

Rt Hon Christopher Luxon: Yes in the context in which it was given. Each Cabinet and Cabinet committee meeting starts with the declaration of any conflicts, and we have had discussions at Cabinet about other obligations set out in the Cabinet Manual. Matters relating to the judiciary have been discussed at Cabinet and the Attorney-General has also written to all Ministers and Parliamentary Under-Secretaries about comity between branches of government. No concerns have been raised with me by the judiciary about any Minister.