Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today said he was “relaxed” about National MP Andrew Bayly, who recently resigned from his ministerial portfolios, taking two weeks’ leave from Parliament to trek to Mount Everest base camp in Nepal.
Bayly stood down from his portfolios last month after admitting he grabbed the arm of a staffer during a discussion he described as “animated”.
Scott Simpson took over as Minister for ACC and Commerce and Consumer Affairs, while Bayly remained in his role as MP for Port Waikato.
At the Post-Cabinet press conference today, Luxon said: “It was a pretty significant and big decision that he made to resign and it’s important that he has time to clear his head.
“He’ll be back here next week doing his electorate work as he’s expected to do.”
Luxon said going to base camp would not be something he would do.
“The bottom line is each to their own, and it’s important that he has time to clear his head, and I think that’s entirely appropriate.”
In recent times, absences from Parliament sitting days have become more frequent among MPs.
Deputy Labour leader Carmel Sepuloni took time off to participate in TVNZ’s Celebrity Treasure Island last year, while Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer headed to the Cook Islands for a wedding anniversary and ended up joining a protest.
Speaker Gerry Brownlee previously signalled in an interview with the NZ Herald that he had initiated a discussion with the standing orders committee, which oversaw rule changes, on whether there should be a greater incentive to attend the House.
Asked today for any further detail on that discussion, Brownlee said he had no comment to make.
