Ministers not responsible for siblings

What a beat up story in the SST. Stuff reports:

A Cabinet minister’s brother is due to appear in court this week on child indecency charges.

The man has been summonsed to appear in the District Court on Tuesday — but the man’s lawyer, high-powered Queen’s Counsel Jonathan Eaton, last night went to the High Court in Christchurch to obtain an injunction stopping theSunday Star-Times naming the man or the minister concerned.

The minister did not respond yesterday to questions about whether he would stand down while the case was before the court. 

Why on earth would he? It’s slimy to even ask the question. Unless the case directly involves the Minister, he has no responsibility for adult siblings.

Prime Minister John Key, who was at the National Party regional conference in Waitangi, also failed to respond to questions about whether he would stand the minister down from Cabinet.

Again, ridiculous to even ask.

Earlier this year, Labour spokeswoman Carmel Sepuloni stepped aside while her mother was before the courts on benefit fraud charges.

She did not stand down as a Minister (as she isn’t one) or even an MP. She temporarily swapped portfolios as Labour thought there was a conflict with the specific portfolio. That is very different to stepping down from all portfolios as a Minister.

I also think there was no need for Sepuloni to have even stood down in the welfare portfolio, and said so at the time. Hold MPs accountable for what they do, not for what adult family members do.