Finally they get the tone right on Kiri

Stuff reports:

In a statement released by Hipkins on Friday afternoon, he said “Kiri has had a rough time lately”.

Also in the statement, Allan apologised to “anyone who has found my behaviour towards them unacceptable”. 

“I will also offer that apology personally to anyone who wants to talk to me individually.”

“I want to create a working environment where we set high expectations and work hard to achieve them. But I’ll be working extra hard to make sure those around me know and see how much I appreciate them and value the work they do.”

Allan would receive “extra coaching… to create the positive working environment both of us are committed to”, Hipkins said.

This is the response they should have had three weeks ago. An acknowledgement that things were not right, and some contrition.

Instead they made what was a small issue into a big issue by denying there was a problem. They kept hiding behind the red herring of their being no formal complaints and outright denied there had been any shouting.