Heather..✨️🇳🇿

Given the footage, these seem like fair questions for the media to put to Opportunity. Does the GM have the authority to end the leader’s public interactions without her direction? Who actually decides whether the leader keeps talking to someone, the leader or the GM? Will Iain Lees-Galloway be in the room for any coalition talks, and will he have any say in the decisions? What formal limits, if any, does the board put on the GM’s authority over the leader’s public engagements and political decisions? Opportunity’s constitution doesn’t give the GM any formal role in coalition negotiations, these sit with the leader, and then the board for approval. The footage clearly shows Lees-Galloway stepping into a conversation Wong was willing to continue, standing between her and the questioner, putting his hands on him, and then grabbing her to turn her, which is a pretty clear example of the GM directing both the interaction and the leader. Given that, having him in the room for coalition talks should raise red flags and questions about how much control he has over Wong and the party.

No question Michael Laws’ comments were inappropriate. But given it looks like RNZ broke the story first, it’s fair to ask them and Deputy Political Editor Craig McCulloch whether they sat on it for a week before running it 3 days out from the election.