National's agriculture spokesperson Barbara Kuriger has resigned her portfolio after failing to appropriately handle a personal dispute she had with the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI).
Leader Christopher Luxon said he became aware of the issue on Thursday night but Newshub can reveal his office was told two weeks ago.
Kuriger, named the inaugural Dairy Woman of the Year in 2012, sure knows her way around a dairy farm. But the Taranaki King Country MP has failed to navigate a conflict of interest.
"This is a significant conflict of interest and the failure to recognise it and to take steps to manage this conflict has been a serious lapse of judgement," Luxon said.
Kuriger's family is in an ongoing dispute with MPI. Her son Tony, a sharemilker, was convicted in 2020 for the ill-treatment of dozens of cows.
The failure to manage the ongoing conflict has now resulted in Kuriger resigning her agriculture, biosecurity and food safety portfolios
"There was a conflict of interest that wasn't well registered and managed and it's entirely appropriate that she's resigned her portfolios," Luxon said.
Luxon wouldn't discuss the nature of the dispute or of Kurigers wrongdoing on Friday, but said Kuriger did not raise the issue herself.
"A third party raised it with my office, we looked into it and I discussed it in full with Barbara last night," he said.
Newshub has seen the email from the third party. We've chosen not to name them.
The sender claims to be an MPI employee and...
You are reading the second issue of the Disinformation Monitor. It is published on a monthly basis and provides an overview of developments on the disinformation scenes on NATO’s eastern frontier....