New Zealand’s justice minister has stepped down after she failed an alcohol breath test following a car crash on Sunday night.
Kiri Allan, 39, was charged with driving carelessly and refusing to accompany a police officer. No casualties were reported from the crash.
Prime minister Chris Hipkins said Ms Allan was detained at the central police station in Wellington for about four hours after hitting a parked car at 9pm local time on Sunday. She is due to appear in court at a later date.
Ms Allan, whom Mr Hipkins said had been suffering from “extreme emotional distress”, will remain as a member of parliament for now.
“She understood that retaining her ministerial warrant was untenable, especially for a justice minister to be charged with criminal offending,” said the prime minister in a press conference.
Less than three months away from the national elections, this is the latest incident involving Hipkin administration ministers.
She is the fourth cabinet minister to leave since March. According to polls, the conservative opposition has either caught up or slightly surpassed the incumbent liberals, setting the stage for a closely contested race.
Police said her breath test showed she was over the legal alcohol limit. She was issued an infringement notice in relation to the breath test.
Ms Allan, who was also minister for regional development, conservation, and emergency management, had recently taken time off due to “personal difficulties”, only returning to work last Monday. She confirmed her separation from her partner last month.
Mr Hipkins said she had a conversation with Ms Allan on Monday morning and told her he thought she wasn’t in a fit state to remain a minister.
He told her that it was untenable for a justice minister to be charged with criminal offending and she agreed to step down from her ministerial roles.
“While her alleged actions are inexcusable, I’ve been advised she was experiencing extreme emotional distress at the time of the incident,” Mr Hipkins said. “Her recent personal struggles with mental health have been well documented and it appears some of those issues came to a head yesterday.”
In a statement on Monday, Ms Allan said that she had returned to parliament believing she could juggle personal challenges with her job.
“My actions yesterday show I wasn't okay,” she said, adding that she will consider her future in politics. “Over recent weeks I’ve faced a number of personal difficulties. I took time off to address those, and believed I was okay to juggle those challenges with the pressure of being a minister,” she added.
The resignation was the latest blow to Mr Hipkins who had said it has been a “messy” time in his own party, ahead of elections on 14 October.
In the last month, transport and immigration minister Michael Wood resigned due to his failure to disclose a potential conflict of interest related to stock ownership.
In May, customs minister Meka Whaitiri was dismissed from her role after switching her allegiance to a different political party, causing upheaval within the government’s ranks.
In March, police minister Stuart Nash was fired for providing confidential information to donors, which came to light in a concerning revelation.
