Primary principals reach pay deal | Jun 29 2023

Justice minister Kiri Allan returned to parliament this morning, having been on personal leave for mental health reasons for about the last week.

The return comes amid claims that staff had expressed concern over working relationships in her office, though Allan has today refuted that.

“I have never had any formal allegations ever raised. We often, frequently, talk about a whole range of different issues,” Allan told media. “Whether those are policy expectations that haven’t been met or are being met, whether those are different characteristics within the office.”

It wasn’t “necessarily true” that staff in her office had felt uncomfortable and Allan said she was proud of her team. “We’re the kind of office that we run hard while we’ve got the ball. I think it’s been a pretty great place to work, to be honest.”

She added: “These are serious allegations and I would have expected a serious process to be followed if that was indeed the case… That’s not the details that have been raised with me. There have never been any formal allegations put to me.” The turnover in her office was “very comparable” for others, Allan said, and she believed she was a good boss.

Meanwhile, Stuff’s reported on a mystery withheld text that appeared to be at the centre of the Allan saga. A text message from a senior MBIE staff that referenced Allan’s “behaviour and conduct” was not released to the National Party, who had asked for documents under the Official Information Act.