An "emotional junior staffer" accused of deleting a petition from the National Party website following the Christchurch terror attack is now embroiled in a dispute with the party, according to a report.
The staff member is now out of the office on leave, and has found himself the subject of a dispute, with Parliamentary Services primed to step in.
The staffer, who has worked for the National Party in various roles for a number of years, alleges media were lied to, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Stuff.
- Simon Bridges backtracks on why UN migration pact petition removed from National's website
- National wants out of controversial UN migration pact
Last month, Simon Bridges backtracked on why a National Party petition against the UN migration compact was removed from the party's website.
The National leader had told media the petition was removed by an "emotional" junior staffer, which contradicted an earlier statement given to The Spinoff, which stated that the petition had been deleted weeks before in a routine maintenance check.
Stuff reports that immediately after the Christchurch shooting, the staff member noticed a petition on National's website regarding the UN Migration pact.
The pact was mentioned by the alleged terrorist before the attack.
After asking whether the petition should be deleted, and receiving no answer the staff member deleted it themselves, Stuff reports.
When National MP's were questioned regarding the petition's absence, they told media it had been deleted "weeks ago" as part of a routine clear-out.
This was disproved the following Tuesday, when records showed the petition was live the afternoon of the shooting.
Newshub.
