By 3 News online staff
National minister Maurice Williamson has resigned after contacting a top-ranking police officer in relation to an investigation of businessman Donghua Liu.
- READ MORE: The fall of Maurice Williamson
Prime Minister John Key has accepted Mr Williamson's resignation, saying he will appoint a new minister outside Cabinet next week.
Liu, who has close ties with the minister, was arrested in December last year following a domestic violence incident.
He has since pleaded guilty to the assaulting a woman and assault with intent to injure.
Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Grant Nicholls says Mr Williamson contacted the police in relation to the case in January.
In a statement, Mr Williamson says he thought he made it "crystal clear" to police that he was "simply enquiring as to the status of the matter" and was not trying force a decision of any sort.
"The police seemed fine with the conversation and even invited me to give them another call if there was any further business," he says.
"It is clear to me now that that was an error of judgement and regardless of what I actually said - it could be interpreted I was trying to influence the issues."
Mr Williamson says he has given the Prime Minister an absolute assurance that he "was not trying to influence police processes" and was only "doing the normal job of an MP".
Mr Nicholls says he is satisfied his staff followed proper procedures in dealing with the minister's enquiries.
"The prosecution guidelines were followed," he said in a statement this afternoon.
"Given the matter is still before the courts, it would not be appropriate to comment further."
Labour Party leader David Cunliffe says the resignation is "another example of a decline in ministerial standards" among the National Government.
"The Prime Minister has had no choice but to sack him from his Government and any minister who interfered in police matters in a government I lead would be instantly gone."
Whether Mr Williamson should resign as an MP would be up to the Electoral Act, he says.
New Zealanders expect higher standards of ministers than Mr Key is requiring, he says.
"National ministers seem to believe they don’t have to follow the same rules as everyone else.
"John Key once had high standards for his ministers. The cases of ministers breaking the rules for their friends are mounting up. Maurice Williamson now joins the ranks of the disgraced behind Richard Worth, Pansy Wong, Nick Smith, John Banks, Peter Dunne and Judith Collins."
Mr Cunliffe says while Mr Williamson has been forced to go, Mr Key's "culture of entitlement" will continue.
Mr Williamson says he is feeling "pretty shattered and guttered" but plans to stand for his electorate in the next election.
He had previously lobbied his colleagues to grant Liu citizenship against official advice.
Liu's citizenship was approved in 2010 by then Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy. He later made a $22,000 donation to the National Party.
It has also been revealed Mr Williamson performed Liu's citizenship ceremony, RadioLIVE reports.
Internal police emails show a conversation noting Mr Williamson saying Liu was "investing a lot of money in New Zealand" and to ensure those investigating the claim were on "solid ground".
The email said police advised Mr Williamson the senior sergeant in charge of family violence, along with the prosecutions team would review the case.
It also said Mr Williamson told police he was "in no way looking to interfere with the process".
But Mr Key cautioned the internal emails were just one point of view and someone's recollection of a conversation.
Mr Key said he was made aware Mr Williamson contacted police "some time ago" regarding the investigation.
"Mr Williamson has assured me that he did not in any way intend to influence the police investigation," he said.
"However, Mr Williamson's decision to discuss the investigation with police was a significant error of judgement."
Mr Key said the actions were "very unwise" as they have the potential to bring into dispute the independence of police.
At a press conference this afternoon, Mr Key told the media his office was briefed about the matter early on Tuesday.
He called Mr Williamson the next morning for his version of events and then sought advice from the Cabinet Office.
Mr Key then called Mr Williamson around 7pm yesterday.
"There's no grey in this. In the end, there's a line, and the line says that ministers do not involve themselves in police prosecutions because constabulary independence runs at the heart of the New Zealand judicial system," Mr Key said.
He has told the Governor-General to accept Mr Williamson's resignation as a minister.
Mr Key said he didn't know why Mr Williamson made the call to police, but said: "I'm sure he's got good reasons."
When asked if he should remain an MP, Mr Key said it was Mr Williamson's decision.
"But in the end, he's paid a very heavy price. He's lost his ministerial warrant."Nick Smith will take on Mr Williamson's Building and Construction portfolio, Nathan Guy will take over Land Information and Simon Bridges will be in charge of Customs and Statistics.
Collins worse than Williamson - Peters
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is claiming a double standard within the National Party, saying what Mr Williamson did was far less than Justice Minister Judith Collins' actions with Oravida.
"Clearly the Prime Minister is attempting to show that he does have some standards but ironically Mr Williamson’s case, as with others, proves just how duplicitous those standards are," Mr Peters said.
"Throwing one guilty party to the wolves will not suffice in this case, and the sooner the Prime Minister gets his head around that the better."
But Mr Key said each case is different and needs to be assessed on its merits.
"So I'm not going to go through the other one [Collins] except to say I went through the same process. I sought Cabinet advice, I looked at the information that was actually presented to me, and I looked at the issues like I have in previous cases," he said.
"Every single one of them is different."
Meanwhile, the Green Party said Mr Williamson's resignation shows a "thin line" between money and political influence in the National Party.
Co-leader Russel Norman said it is important to know the nature of Mr Williamson's contact with police.
"Was he seeking to get a National Party donor off a domestic violence charge? Are there other legal issues that sort of intervention triggers?"
"We also need to know when the Prime Minister was first made aware of Williamson's actions," Dr Norman said.
He said is it distressing Mr Williamson's intervention was relating to a domestic violence incident.
3 News
source: newshub archive
