Outgoing Police Minister Ginny Andersen has said she "doesn't recall" yelling at a teenage volunteer and calling her "useless" amid her loss of the Hutt South electorate last month.
On Thursday it was revealed a complaint by the teenager's parent had been sent to the president of the Labour Party, alleging Andersen had yelled at her daughter and son in an "aggressive" manner on election night. The parent accused Andersen of telling her children, "Maybe you should have done some more door-knocking", making her daughter "feel little" and as if she was to blame for Andersen's loss.
The complainant also alleged Andersen referred to her daughter as "useless".
Speaking to AM's Ryan Bridge on Friday morning, Andersen denied she was a bully, adding: "The only person in the Labour Party who can be blamed for losing the Hutt South electorate is me."
She admitted she said on election night that her campaign should have included "more door-knocking" but denied it was directed at the volunteer in particular.
"In no way at all did I intend for that to be directed at that person, and if it was taken that way, I wish to sincerely apologise - that was never my intention," she told Bridge.
"I said in general, 'We could've door-knocked more', as the reason we were behind."
Andersen added she does "not recall" and has "no recollection" of yelling, raising her voice, or calling the volunteer 'useless', claiming she always tries to treat people with respect and hold herself to professional standards.
"I've known this volunteer for a number of years, I know her family really well. I'd like the opportunity to sit down and talk through what happened and offer my apology. I do believe this has been a misunderstanding," she said.
"Are you saying you didn't do it then?" Bridge questioned, to which Andersen replied: "These allegations were made a number of years ago. I think it's important as part of the process that we address all of these [allegations]. I'd like to give you lots more detail in relation to this, but in order to protect the individual and the process, I don't want to go into that level of detail."
She said she was "really surprised" she received the complaint and claimed she's not been the subject of any grievances from volunteers in the past.
"If my words have caused any hurt, if my actions have caused offence, I sincerely apologise for that, and I'd like the opportunity through this process to put that right... I'm really sorry that this volunteer has construed my words in a way that was directed towards them, that was never my intention."
However, Bridge pointed out her response, "I don't recall", could indicate her alleged behaviour is so frequent, she is unable to remember certain incidents.
"Do you yell at people so much you wouldn't remember?" he asked, which Andersen also denied.
"Have you had complaints from staff?" Bridge pressed, to which Andersen responded: "Not that I recall, there haven't been any."
"I'm sorry, this is getting just a little bit annoying, the 'not recall' thing - do you get so many complaints that you would not recall getting this one?" Bridge hit back.
"No, I don't," she said, adding there have been "incidents in the past where I've had disagreements with staff", but she doesn't remember any of the incidents involving raised voices and none were escalated to mediation.
"Everyone has moments where they probably could have been better."
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