Judith Collins won't say whether she pushed Todd Muller to resign

June 30, 2021

The National leader kept tight-lipped about the caucus meeting that preceded Muller’s resignation.

National leader Judith Collins isn’t willing to confirm nor deny she pushed for Todd Muller’s ousting. 

Muller, who served as the party’s leader for 53 days last year, announced last Wednesday he would be resigning at the next election . He cited health and family reasons. 

However, an NZ Herald article the next day revealed the Bay of Plenty MP’s resignation was more complicated than that.

According to National MPs who spoke anonymously, Muller was given an ultimatum at a caucus meeting the night before: resign or MPs would vote on whether to suspend him from caucus. 

The ultimatum was reportedly prompted by a Newsroom article about returning MP Harete Hipango , a known ally of Collins.

In the article, multiple MPs made unflattering and critical comments about Hipango anonymously. NZ Herald reported Barbara Kuriger, who’d known Muller years before he became an MP, was the one who dobbed him in. 

Hipango returned to Parliament as a list MP after the resignation of long-serving MP Nick Smith over a “verbal altercation” with a staffer, the details of which he thought were going to be released in the media. No such story emerged, prompting speculation Collins might have sparked Smith’s resignation .

Despite the NZ Herald and Newsroom reports, Collins told Breakfast this morning: “What happens in caucus stays in caucus.”

When asked whether Muller’s punishment was proportionate to what he did, Collins repeated that she would remain tight-lipped about what had happened in caucus. 

“The caucus is, obviously, very concerned to make sure we stay on issues that are of importance to people of New Zealand and we don’t get distracted,” she said. 

Collins was asked why Muller was seemingly targeted, despite the Newsroom article quoting a number of MPs. 

The National leader kept tight-lipped about the caucus meeting that preceded Muller’s resignation.

She replied the party couldn’t focus on New Zealanders if MPs were “working against each other”. 

SHARE ME

More Stories