As Jacinda Ardern opens up about balancing campaigning with being Prime Minister, the State Services Commissioner says public servant Ashley Bloomfield's recent cameo in a Labour Party video could "create confusion".
The video posted to Labour's Facebook page last month - which has since been removed - featured a three-second appearance from Dr Bloomfield, the Director-General of Health, and other Ministry of Health workers.
Dr Bloomfield's cameo sparked backlash from Opposition MPs, including National Party deputy leader Gerry Brownlee and ACT leader David Seymour, who said it was unacceptable for public servants to appear in a political party promo.
The right-wing Taxpayers' Union complained to State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes, who has responded by acknowledging how "confusion" could be created by the video, the contents of which he "carefully considered" in his review.
Hughes said he considered the fact that Labour leader Ardern had the video removed, and she said it was taken down "because we don't want to lead to any questions of there being any compromised position of anyone in this case".
Hughes said he has "carefully considered the material, the content of the video, the context in which it appeared, and how it may be interpreted" by viewers.
"Placing footage of ministers and public servants doing their official work on a political party branded platform could create confusion about the motivations and political neutrality of the public servants concerned," he said.
"In this instance, and having regard to all the circumstances, my judgement is that on balance there is potential for questions to be raised regarding the participation of the public servants in the video."
But Hughes said given the action taken by Labour to remove the video, his "judgement is that it is not necessary for me to look into the matter further".
It comes as Ardern opens up about balancing her role as Labour leader and campaigning for re-election in October, while also leading the country through COVID-19 as Prime Minister.
"For some time to come, we will be, of course, continuing to manage our response as a Government to COVID-19. That will just be a part now of the schedule right up until Election Day," she said on Thursday.
"But at the same time, we will keep rolling out those initiatives that we believe are going to make a difference to our economic recovery as well."
Ardern frequently updates the nation on the Government's COVID-19 response from the Beehive podium, and she will continue to throughout the election campaign as she did on Friday to announce Cabinet's alert level decision.
But Ardern doesn't think New Zealanders will perceive those appearances as campaigning.
"No, not at all. The convention in New Zealand, of course, is that you govern right up until the day of the election. So, that's our convention anyway," she said.
"There's obviously some matters which require that ongoing focus on COVID-19. But that won't remove people's chance to question us on policy, hear new ideas, and of course, ultimately make their decision come Election Day.
"I'll predominantly be out and about."
Otago University Professor Andrew Geddis, who specialises in electoral law, said nothing requires Ardern to be careful about using the Beehive podium because she has the right to govern right up until Election Day.
"That said, if the Government's handling of COVID-19 announcements becomes seen as overly politicised, it will undermine their effectiveness. They need to remain 'Government' announcements, not 'Labour candidate for PM' announcements," he told Newshub.
"Of course, using the Beehive podium does come at the cost of forcing Ardern to be in Wellington as opposed to travelling the country campaigning. And as Ardern is Labour's major drawcard, it will want to have her as visible to the public in person as is possible."
Prof Geddis said Ardern does benefit from incumbency as "every sitting Prime Minister" does.
"Being 'in charge' and able to set the agenda in that way inevitably gives an advantage. That's why we say Governments lose elections rather than Oppositions winning them," he said.
Opposition leader Judith Collins says that doesn't concern her.
"I never worry about whether or not it's fair on us; we just have to do our job. There's no point in us complaining - we just get out there and do our job," she said on Friday.
But Collins suspects there is a "certain amount of politics" in the Prime Minister's decisions to change the COVID-19 alert levels.
"We never even had a level 2.5 until it was announced by the Prime Minister on Sunday so I think people are starting to realise it's not just a health decision, is it? There's a certain amount of politics going on here."
Ardern said the alert level decision-making is based on "evidence and science, not politics".
