Metiria Turei stays but won't seek ministerial portfolios

Metiria Turei will not resign as the Green Party's co-leader despite her latest revelations.

But she will not seek a ministerial position in a Labour-Greens government.

She made the announcement at midday, after a turbulent couple of weeks following her admission of benefit fraud in the mid-1990s.

Her decision comes just three days after Labour leader Andrew Little fell on his sword after a string of poor poll results and was replaced by Jacinda Ardern.

"My story has been subject to intense scrutiny," she says.

She says she considered resigning but her work is too important. She says she can't apologise for making those choices. "I don't regret telling my story."

"The work is more important than a ministerial position," she says, in reference to her fight against poverty.

"I would have very much liked to be a minister in a new government," she says.

Some media reports had Jacinda Ardern communicating to the Greens this morning that Labour did not want Ms Turei in cabinet, but the Green co-leader says has not spoken to anyone within the Labour party, including Ms Ardern, about her decision to not seek a ministerial position. She had her "heart set" on being the Social Development Minister beforehand.

Fellow co-leader James Shaw says Labour was advised about the press conference.

ACT leader David Seymour says Ms Turei's announcement is a copout.

"She needs to resign as an MP. She has defrauded the taxpayer, used that fact to score political points, lied to the Electoral Commission, and misled voters about it.

“By trying to take a compromise position, it’s as though she says she’s only a little bit sorry. He also says Ms Ardern should make Metiria Turei’s resignation a condition of the Greens’ participation in a Labour-led government.

Ms Turei says there has been a huge outpouring of support asking her not to stand down. In fact no one, including Labour, asked her to resign.

The back story
She says she was not living with her child's father in the mid-90s.

"My baby's father was a flatmate prior to my child being born."

She says her mother was a flatmate of hers "off and on" for 10 years and paying rent over that time. 

The party
Mr Shaw says he still stands with Ms Turei as she helped open the conversation about poverty in New Zealand.

Asked about how voters will react to this, she says "we may see a decrease" in the polls.

Nevertheless, "I know I have the backing of the party."

She says her remaining as co-leader could be hurting Labour-Greens' chance of winning government.

She said she has "nothing more" to reveal to the public.

Reader poll result

In a poll of NBR readers, the vast majority of participants (76%) were of the view Ms Turei needs to resign due to a profound personal ethical deficit and a further 6% that she should resign so as not to adversely affect the chances of “the Left” of winning the election.

The remaining 18% were insistent the controversy swirling around Ms Turei is merely a right wing beat-up and that she should stand her ground and remain in parliament.

The result roughly correlates with a Newshub Reid Research poll released last night that showed 74% of New Zealanders believed it was wrong for Ms Turei to lie to get a bigger benefit, 18% percent said it wasn't wrong and 8% didn't know.

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