The Government is being criticised after it was revealed it didn't give Opposition MPs a heads up it was negotiating the release of two Kiwi influencers who were stuck in Iran.
Topher Richwhite and his wife Bridget Thackwray were reunited with their families this week after entering Iran in July as part of an 'Expedition Earth' world tour they were documenting on their social media accounts.
While they may not have been imprisoned, Newshub understands the pair's movements were restricted and they were held in more than one place, unable to leave without Government intervention.
New Zealand media - including Newshub - agreed not to report their detention because of fears from diplomats negotiating their release that any publicity would anger Iran's dangerous ruling regime and put their safety at risk.
And Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also deliberately tempered her criticism despite huge protests in Iran sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old Iranian died earlier this year in police custody, prompting protests across Iran and around the world in opposition to the Iranian regime's treatment of women.
But now the Kiwi couple is safe, the Prime Minister was free to speak.
"Over the past several months, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the New Zealand Government has been working hard to ensure the safe exit of two New Zealanders from Iran," said Ardern earlier in the week.
"It's absolutely horrific to see a set of circumstances where a woman would lose her life as a result of breaking the rules of what essentially are morality police."
And while the Government's response has general support from the Opposition, one element is causing tension.
Speaking with AM fill-in host Patrick Gower on Friday National's Erica Stanford said while she stood by the Government's response, it should have given the Opposition a heads-up about the situation.
"That couple put Jacinda and the Government in a very difficult position," Stanford said. "[But] Firstly, I'd like to say the Government never briefed us on this and, frankly, I think they should have - that's one thing that I will say should've happened in the background."
The Government and the Opposition needed to be on the same page in such situations, she said.
"Our women's spokesperson Nicola Grigg called me and said, 'There's something going on, I think there are Kiwis stuck. We need to be very careful about what we say to make sure they get out alive'.
"So that's why I think everyone has been a bit muted. Did we want to be? Of course not, I think what's happening over there is horrific and I am hoping now that the Prime Minister and certainly from outside as well we can condemn the things happening over there."
Stanford said National had briefed Labour in similar circumstances in the past and it's the right thing to do.
But Labour MP Michael Wood, who was joining her on AM, hit back saying the Government's top priority was the couple's safety.
"Our job in these situations is to focus on the welfare of New Zealanders, to do the things we need to do to ensure their safety," Wood told Gower.
"There will be internal protocols about how we handle these things in the most sensitive way and that has to be the priority over and above everything else.
"I am confident that our team and our officials did everything right in that case and, as I say, at the end of this we are in a situation where I think there actually has been a good degree of unity.
"Our job is not to make everyone in the political realm feel comfortable and happy, our job is to ensure the safety of New Zealanders
But Stanford hit back saying telling the Opposition would have helped keep them safe.
"That would have happened if you had actually told us - it would have helped the safety of those New Zealanders.
"And you will remember when there was the woman (Louisa Akavi) that was under our watch and we briefed every single other party to make sure they knew there was a media blackout, they knew why we were doing it and there was consensus across the political spectrum we would keep that media blackout happening. That did not happen in this case and it should have," she said.
It was a view shared by Gower who called the Government's actions "reckless" and "irresponsible".
But Wood disagreed saying these types of situations need to be handled on a case-by-case basis.
