The Prime Minister is continuing to face questions about allegations of staff mistreatment against one of his senior ministers.
East Coast MP Kiri Allan is on leave minister is on leave after the most recent allegations she "yelled and screamed" at a senior public servant. However, no formal complaints have been made.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will be flying to Europe later this week and said he'll meet with Allan on his return.
Hipkins believed that was fair for all involved.
"When somebody takes a bit of time off - particularly when they've been under a lot of pressure - that's something that I respect. I think that creating a good working environment means treating everybody with respect and that's what I intend to do," he told AM on Tuesday.
Hipkins said providing a safe workplace was "a real priority" for him as Prime Minister.
Asked by AM host Ryan Bridge why he couldn't directly speak to Allan immediately, Hipkins made it clear he'd had some telephone conversations with his minister in the past day.
"I'm reserving some of that conversation until we have the opportunity to meet face-to-face."
Hipkins said he wasn't in the position to have an in-person conversation with Allan, at the moment.
"Therefore, I'll reserve that conversation until I'm in the position to be able to do that," he added.
"As I've indicated, she's taking some time off - I respect that. We had a conversation about that yesterday, I've encouraged her to take some time off as well."
The Prime Minister wouldn't be drawn on what that conversation entailed.
"I'm not going to go into the detail of that until I've had a chance to sit down with her properly and have a conversation about that."
Hipkins insisted the well-being of everyone in Parliament was front of his mind.
"That is something that I will always make my top priority."
Hipkins said he first learned about the allegations against Allan while he was in China for trade talks last week.
"The feedback that I had, and it was conveyed through the media as well, was that the relevant employers of those staff members were satisfied that those issues were resolved at the time."
Given the absence of any official complaints or further allegations, he said there was "not a lot that I can do about that".
"Ultimately, anonymous allegations that are made through the media aren't something that I can necessarily investigate or do anything about.
"If anyone wants to come forward and raise a confidential complaint then of course they can do that - no one has done that.
"Certainly, if anything gets raised through a formal channel - and that doesn't have to be a written complaint, it means someone raising it with their boss or with their manager or with their chief executive… then, of course, we will make sure that gets a proper hearing and the issue is adequately resolved."
Since Hipkins took over as Prime Minister earlier this year, his Cabinet has been plagued by ministerial scandals. Before the allegations emerged against Allan, Stuart Nash was sacked for sharing confidential Cabinet information; Meka Whaitiri abandoned Hipkins' Labour Party for Te Pāti Māori; Michael Wood was forced to resign as a minister after failing to declare conflicts of interest; and Education Minister Jan Tinetti was ordered by the Privileges Committee to apologise to Parliament for negligence.
Hipkins, however, said on Monday New Zealanders can have confidence in his Cabinet.
