9256 (2024). Rt Hon Chris Hipkins to the Prime Minister

9256 (2024). Rt Hon Chris Hipkins to the Prime Minister: Was his statement that Shane Jones and David Seymour’s criticism of the Waitangi Tribunal doesn’t breach the Cabinet Manuel “Because I don’t believe it does”, based on section 4.12 of the Cabinet Manuel, if not, what section, if any, was it based on?

Rt Hon Christopher Luxon: Paragraph 4.12 of the Cabinet Manual states that Ministers must exercise judgement before commenting on matters before the courts or judicial decisions. I would not have chosen to make those comments in the way that they did and I publicly described those comments on 19 April 2024 as ill-considered. In stating that I did not believe their comments had breached the Cabinet Manual, I was referring to the fact that the Waitangi Tribunal is not technically a court.