Young said while Kaushal had the confidence of Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, he was not the right person to chair the group.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Checkpoint on Monday, she told Lisa Owen about its \u201cunpleasant environment\u201d.<\/p>\n
Goldsmith made the appointments to the group in mid-2024 and they were supposed to be for two years.<\/p>\n
Since then, the MAG has faced criticism for its spending, including on catered meetings around New Zealand and for its inner-city Auckland office space.<\/p>\n
It has also faced questions about its value for money after it was revealed that Kaushal invoiced more than $230,000 for work in its first 12 months.<\/p>\n
Kaushal defends the group\u2019s work, saying it operates under its $1.8 million annual budget, which comes from the proceeds of crime fund.<\/p>\n
Ministerial advisory groups have been set up to provide expert advice to the Government on issues such as aged-care funding and transnational crime.<\/p>\n
The retail crime group was created after a sharp spike in crime in the sector. Members are appointed by the Government.<\/p>\n
\u2018Very unpleasant environment\u2019<\/p>\n
Young said her resignation was a difficult decision. It came after long conversations at the Retail NZ board level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that our members were really keen for me to stay on the group, but it really became untenable in terms of the relationship with the chair and just some of the ongoing communication that I\u2019ve had from them and himself, really implicating my professionalism and who I am and how I work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just didn\u2019t think that was the right thing for me and a professional way to go about things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Young said the dairy owners sector group, previously led by Kaushal, had made a personal attack on her.<\/p>\n
There were conversations within the MAG about that, which she described as \u201cless than satisfactory\u201d, as well as ongoing communication with Kaushal about engagement work by Young.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just felt like it was a continual battle to constantly be able to speak about what retailers are really looking for and how that plays out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t leading to getting good outcomes for retail, and that\u2019s really the key thing that we\u2019re after,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, it was a very unpleasant environment. It wasn\u2019t a nice place to go and spend an afternoon in a meeting room, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the group\u2019s effectiveness would be judged in time and, in her view, its key piece of work was about recommendations to strengthen trespass laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m not sure about anything else \u2013 whether it\u2019s going to make a significant difference to retail crime and providing protections to retail workers.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked about Kaushal, Young said it was important he was involved with the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure that he\u2019s necessarily the right person as the chair, but the minister clearly has confidence in him and isn\u2019t about to make a change – [that] is my understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the group\u2019s spending, Young said it was fine so long as it wasn\u2019t out of kilter with other advisory groups.<\/p>\n
She said the office space was significant for the group\u2019s small number of people, and she was sure officials would make sure there was good accountability for what was spent.<\/p>\n
Rowles and Bell were contacted for comment.<\/p>\n
Resignations \u2018reflect normal leadership movement\u2019 \u2013 chairman<\/p>\n
Kaushal said he was at the Indian Republic Day celebration event on Monday, so couldn\u2019t be interviewed.<\/p>\n
In a written response to questions from RNZ he said the changes \u201creflect normal leadership movement in any organisation\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMembers hold other senior roles and when business demands increase, or people step into new appointments, they sometimes need to step back from external commitments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe work of the MAG continues. We have a busy year of new work ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe group remains focused on delivering practical, evidence-informed advice to improve safety for retailers and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did not answer questions about whether, as chairman, he took any responsibility for the resignations; how the group worked together and if there was any conflict; and what work is in the pipeline for the group this year and if the resignations would affect that.<\/p>\n
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith was also unavailable for an interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to external commitments and job changes, Carolyn Young, Michael Bell and Lindsay Rowles have recently resigned from the Ministerial Advisory Group,\u201d the minister said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thank them for their work and wish them well in their next endeavours.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe MAG has been extremely busy over the last 12 months generating detailed policy proposals, including new citizens\u2019 arrest powers, a shoplifting infringement regime and strengthening trespass laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese were crucial in developing the Crimes Amendment Bill, which passed its first reading in December. We plan to pass this into law before the election.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goldsmith said the Government was determined to give businesses more options, and to fix the basics in law and order.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to achieve different outcomes, we need to try different things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are now considering next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Clearly over-catered\u2019<\/p>\n
Just before Christmas RNZ revealed criticism of the group for its spending of almost $24,000 on a series of 22 well-catered stakeholder engagement meetings around New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Two meetings in Auckland each cost more than $4000, while another cost more than $3000.<\/p>\n
Rock melon, goat\u2019s cheese and prosciutto crostini, mini chicken and leek savouries, and $9 bottles of Coke were among menu items around the country.<\/p>\n
Kaushal said the meetings were an important part of his mission to fix retail crime in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
After a select committee hearing, where the spending at one of the Auckland meetings came under fire, Goldsmith told the NZ Herald the event was \u201cclearly over-catered\u201d and \u201cprobably had too many scones\u201d.<\/p>\n
Labour MP Duncan Webb was critical of the cost of food at the meetings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just sounds like he\u2019s spending government funding lavishly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
RNZ has also revealed the Ministry of Justice, which provides back-office support to the group, has leased for it a central Auckland office space for $100,000 a year.<\/p>\n
The ministry said the 389sq m space was used for meetings, video conferences and boardroom sessions, as well as having room for up to 70-80 people for engagements and events.<\/p>\n
In his first year as the group\u2019s chairman, Kaushal billed $238,625, at a daily rate of $920.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime, Steve Symon, received the same rate, while chief victims adviser Ruth Money is paid $850 for every day worked in the role.<\/p>\n
Kaushal can work up to 250 days a year and invoiced for the maximum amount.<\/p>\n
Among the staff supporting the group are three principal policy advisers.<\/p>\n
RNZ has previously revealed that one position earns $1261 a day for a contract ending next month, another earns $1126 a day on a contract finishing in March, and the third is on $1036 a day on a contract ending in September.<\/p>\n
RNZ has also revealed how ministry officials have provided advice to Goldsmith about concerns to do with Kaushal, however, the minister won\u2019t release the information.<\/p>\n
\u2018On a mission\u2019<\/p>\n
In December Kaushal said the group had delivered five \u201clegislative-ready major policy papers\u201d \u2013 addressing citizens\u2019 arrests, strengthening trespass laws and allowing retailers to use pepper spray to defend themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am on a mission. My focus is on the bigger goal, fixing retail crime in New Zealand, which is costing $2.7 billion per year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The ministry and the minister\u2019s office refused to release advice and recommendations from the group last year, including about trespass and \u201cpersonal safety aides\u201d, which included pepper spray.<\/p>\n
– RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Young said while Kaushal had the confidence of Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, he was not the right person…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[806,138,25815,6147,33912,209,78,1736,13489,25814,111,43,139,69,106487,644,66711,3755,143077],"class_list":["post-252201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-as","tag-business","tag-cleave","tag-crime","tag-ellingham","tag-group","tag-in","tag-jimmy","tag-leader","tag-louisa","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-quits","tag-retail","tag-taskforce","tag-third","tag-turmoil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}