The Social Development Minister Louise Upston says she’s apologised to the National Party after she failed to turn up to the reading of her own Bill at Parliament today.
The Regulatory Systems (Social Security) Amendment Bill had to be discharged when Upston didn’t turn up.
“I stuffed up,” the embarrassed Minister told reporters this afternoon.
“The House was progressing faster than I anticipated and I didn’t make sure a hard copy of the speech was in the House on time.
“I’m fully copping, I got it wrong, I’ve apologised to my party (National) and we’re moving on from here,” she said.
There was a minister in the House at the time – Melissa Lee – but she did not take a call on the Bill.
Upston said the failure of the Bill to be heard won’t have any impact on those receiving welfare and it will be reintroduced later this year.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wasn’t impressed.
“It’s not great,” he said.
“What happened was the call came early, the Minister was actually in a Cabinet committee meeting, there wasn’t time to actually put an alternative Minister up front.”
Labour was more critical – their MP Duncan Webb calling it “an absolute shambles, disorganised, chaotic, unprofessional, unbelievable”.
“At the end of the day if a Minister doesn’t turn up for work, what’s going on?”
When 1News pointed out to Upston that beneficiaries get sanctioned for offences such as failing to attend appointments Upston responded: “Well I was here, I just didn’t get the paperwork in the right place.”
Upston is adamant that financial sanctions should be “fully applied, rather than used sparingly,” against beneficiaries for missing meetings.
Asked if it was time for sanctions to be introduced for politicians like herself who fail to turn up to important events, Upston said “maybe I’m on my first strike”.