Steve Maharey breached impartiality rule but will keep jobs, as another chair faces scrutiny

Steve Maharey will keep his jobs as chairman of ACC, Pharmac and Education NZ, despite breaching impartiality rules, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says.

Hipkins said on Wednesday Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes had advised Maharey’s political commentary breached the rules for political impartiality, “but at the lower end of the spectrum”.

Meanwhile, another public service leader also faces scrutiny over their political statements, and Public Service Minister Andrew Little has issued a warning to all board members and chief executives about the need for political neutrality.

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Longtime Labour MP and former party president Ruth Dyson is the latest public service board member to face scrutiny over political commentary.

As deputy chairperson of the EQC and Fire and Emergency, Dyson admitted she hadn’t read the rules saying public service board members should act with political impartiality. She faced questions about a tweet, which criticised National’s Christopher Luxon.

National pushed the Public Service Commission to play a greater role in stamping out a “culture of political bias” in senior public servants, but Hughes said it wasn’t their job to be “the comment police”.

Maharey, who was a Labour MP for almost 20 years, offered his resignation to ministers when he self-reported his columns in the wake of Rob Campbell’s sacking from Te Whatu Ora and the EPA.

Maharey had been writing opinion columns for some time, appearing on Stuff and in the Sunday Star-Times.

However, neither Hipkins nor National leader Christopher Luxon said they were unaware. He dobbed himself into Hughes on Saturday, the commissioner said, and then also contacted the relevant ministers.

Hipkins said his acknowledgement and offer to resign showed he took neutrality seriously.

“He proactively acknowledged the error, has undertaken to stop writing the column and apologised. There’s a clear distinction between the cases of Maharey and Campbell in patterns of behaviour and future intent.”

Hughes said only two of Mahraey’s columns delved into party politics while he was a chairman.

“Maharey’s public comments have jeopardised his ability to effectively perform his roles or eroded public trust in the relevant entities,” Hughes said.

But the commissioner advised against sacking him.

“The relatively restrained nature of the comments, Mr Maharey’s history as a regular commentator and his publicly expressed willingness to adjust his approach in future lead me to conclude that his actions fall short of justifying dismissing him,” Hughes wrote, in a letter to Little.

Ruth Dyson faces scrutiny

Dyson, a Labour MP of 27 years, defended herself against accusations she was not politically neutral in her role.

On Twitter, she describes herself as: “Former Labour Member of NZ Parliament. Still Labour.” Leaving a review of FENZ on Wednesday, she said she would “reflect” on her social media presentation.

She said she did not read the code of conduct as she “didn’t think about it”. She did not think signing or agreeing to it was a process board members went through. If she wished she had read it, Dyson said, “no”.

National Party public service spokesperson Simeon Brown also directed Hughes to posts from Dyson made in February, where she made comments about Luxon’s Waitangi speech.

“Oh no. It sounds like some cruel junior staffer gave Mr Luxon the wrong speech,” Dyson wrote on February 5.

Dyson told reporters it was “an assumption that is incorrect” that she was not politically neutral.

Asked how she was politically neutral with a Twitter account saying, “Still Labour”, Dyson replied: “You are entitled to have political opinions, that’s how they’re expressed.”

Dyson said the induction days for boards were “pretty rigorous”, when asked if guidance for political neutrality was clear.

“There’s a lot that you get told. And that’s not a big part of it.”

National wants greater scrutiny of public sector leaders

Brown said there was a culture of political bias in senior public servants.

“She’s a senior politician. She is someone who knows how this place runs.

“It’s frankly appalling that she hadn’t read the code of conduct. She’s now going to reflect on something which is blatantly a breach of the code of conduct. She should resign.”

Brown said the Public Service Commission has a “far greater role to actually make sure it’s overseeing this”.

“They are the watchdog for the New Zealand public and taxpayers to ensure that political neutrality is followed. They have a greater role to actually play here.”

Campbell’s sacking sparked greater focus on the political commentary of public service leaders.

Hughes said it was, “timely and appropriate” to remind board members of the expectations around impartiality.

“By in large, people are pretty clear about the rules. But we do live in a social media age. Where the boundaries between your public and private personas are not as clear as they used to be.”

Little directed Hughes to remind chairs and chief executives around political neutrality, after questions were raised around neutrality after Campbell was sacked.

Hughes did not expect to have more cases raised, in light of expectations being reinforced.