THE HONOURABLE NICOLE MCKEE AGAINST THE POST
Case Number: 3568
Council Meeting: 21 October 2024
Decision: Not Upheld
Publication: The Post
Principle: Accuracy, Fairness and Balance
Ruling Categories: Politicians
Overview
- On 20 August 2024, The Post published the article Gun minister challenged on firearms company conflict of interest. The article states the Associate Minister of Justice (Firearms), Nicole McKee has listed her firearms safety business, Firearms Safety Specialists as a pecuniary interest but has not declared it as a conflict of interest. The Minister complained under Media Council Principle (1) Accuracy, Fairness and Balance saying the article was based on assumption rather than fact. The complaint is not upheld.
The Article
- The article focuses on Minister McKee not declaring a conflict of interest for her firearms safety business, with Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen criticising her for not doing so. Ms Anderson claims the Minister’s company stands to gain from changing the law to reduce safety oversight on shooting ranges and calls on her to “do the right thing” by declaring the conflict.
- At 7.41pm the day it was published, the story was amended to include a statement from Minister McKee, saying while the Minister refused to confirm whether she had declared a conflict of interest, she was confident she had complied with Cabinet Office rules.
- The Minister’s statement says details regarding conflicts of interest shared with the Cabinet Office are not generally disclosed, to “ensure the confidentiality of Cabinet proceedings, to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs and, in some cases, to protect personal privacy”. She says this has been the approach of successive administrations and she does not intend to depart from it.
The Complaint
- The Minister complained the article was built on an assumption of wrongdoing and said she was not given the opportunity to respond to such a claim. She said conflicts of interest shared with the Cabinet Office are not generally disclosed, and she would have expected The Post to seek clarification with them about what had and had not been disclosed before running the story.
The Response
- The Post said there was significant public interest in how any conflicts were being managed by Minister McKee, given she was directly involved in creating/changing firearms legislation as the Associate Minister of Justice (Firearms) and she entered Parliament as a representative of a firearms lobby group actively seeking to change the law relating to firearm ownership and use.
- The Post said it asked the Minister directly why she had not declared a conflict of interest around her firearms safety business. It said her decision not to dispute the statement did not mean the reporter made an assumption. In The Post’s view, the Minister made a deliberate attempt to deflect from the question and it was incumbent upon her to dispute it then and there.
- The Post accepted that not all conflicts declared to Cabinet were made public but maintained that was not a defence when asked directly by a reporter to disclose it, or to not offer a reason as to why the minister would not answer the question.
- The Post said the Minister had not provided any evidence countering the facts in the story, had not proven inaccuracy or unfairness in the reporting and had obfuscated direct questions on an issue of significant public interest.
The Discussion
- Media Council Principle (1) states publications should be bound at all times by accuracy, fairness and balance and should not deliberately mislead or misinform readers by commission or omission. At the heart of this complaint is whether it was accurate for The Post to report in August 2024 that the Minister had not declared her firearms safety business as a conflict of interest.
- With the information available to the Media Council, it is not possible to answer that question. The Minister would not say whether she had declared a conflict or not, citing confidentiality.
- The questions posed by The Post to the Minister’s office were:
Q. I see the minister has lodged being the director of Firearms Safety Specialist as pecuniary interest but not as a conflict of interest - are you please able to provide a statement why this is also not a conflict given the changes she's seeking to make to firearms regulations?
A. Firearms Safety Specialist hasn’t been operating since 2020.
Q. Why did it stop operating and why is company still active?
A. For clarification: Firearms Safety Specialists has not been operating since 2020 which was when the Minister entered parliament. It remains registered, but non-trading.
- The Post could have been clearer with its initial question, but the Minister chose to leave things hanging by answering the questions as she did. If The Post was wrong, she could have corrected it then and there. The Post might also have been on stronger ground if it had reported the Minister was refusing to confirm whether a conflict had been declared.
- However, the Media Council notes that the Minister did not say the story was wrong. She did not take the opportunity to deny it or clarify the issue in her statement to The Post which was added to the story on the day it was published. Even now the issue has still not been clarified.
- The Minister said conflicts of interest shared with the Cabinet Office are "not generally disclosed" but that loose rule did not prevent her from explaining her position, especially on a matter of public interest that could be considered a reflection on her conduct as a Minister.
- While the story would have been stronger if it had reported supporting information, the Media Council has no basis for upholding a complaint that the article breached Principle (1). The Minister has not alleged or provided evidence to show it was inaccurate. And given that she was given the opportunity to respond, the story could not be regarded as unfair or unbalanced.
- The complaint is not upheld.
Council members considering the complaint were the Hon Raynor Asher (Chair), Hank Schouten, Guy MacGibbon, Scott Inglis, Katrina Bennett, Ben France-Hudson, Jo Cribb, Judi Jones, Marie Shroff, Alison Thom and Richard Pamatatau.