National Party lodges complaint with TVNZ over pursuit of chief whip interview

National has lodged a complaint with TVNZ, claiming members of its Press Gallery team broke Parliament's rules in their pursuit of an interview with chief whip Stuart Smith.

But TVNZ disputes National's version of events and says the correct avenue for complaints is with the Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee.

In a statement to RNZ, a spokesperson for Brownlee said he was aware of the alleged events but had no further involvement with the complaint.

The incident is alleged to have occurred at the end of a frenetic Tuesday in which Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called and won a vote of confidence in his own leadership.

A key element of the story was the absence of the party's chief whip from the critical caucus meeting. Smith had avoided speaking to reporters for five days despite his prominent role in a NZ Herald story about flagging caucus support for Luxon.

In a post on social media, National's campaign chair Simeon Brown said TVNZ staff followed Smith into a corridor where media interviews were not permitted without express permission.

He said staff then "aggressively" knocked on Smith's office door for several minutes and pressured him by suggesting how he might be portrayed on TVNZ's Breakfast programme the following morning if he did not agree to speak.

In response to questions from RNZ, a TVNZ spokesperson said the news outlet had a "different view of what took place".

"Our journalist was asking questions on behalf of the public, as they do every day. This story came to light due to leaking from National Party MPs. It was a legitimate story to follow. We look forward to Stuart Smith making himself available to explain his absence from caucus."

The TVNZ spokesperson said the correct place for such complaints was with Parliament's Speaker, not with TVNZ or on social media.

"Simeon Brown is well aware of this," the spokesperson said.

In his post on X, Brown said the behaviour of TVNZ was "unacceptable" and a "clear breach" of Parliament's rules governing media access.

"We respect the role of media, but there are standards, and those standards matter," he said.

He said New Zealanders expected fair, balanced and accurate reporting, rather than what he characterised as "a media-driven soap opera".

Smith finally addressed media at Parliament on Wednesday, where he flatly denied the earlier Herald report which claimed Smith had tried to alert the prime minister to discontent in the ranks.

Asked why it took him so long to issue a denial, Smith told reporters: "I didn't feel it was appropriate [to do so earlier]."

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