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Andrew Bayly has stepped down as New Zealand's Commerce Minister following an incident in which he "placed a hand" on a staff member's upper arm. Bayly, describing his actions as "overbearing," apologized on Monday, stating that the incident occurred during an "animated discussion" and was not an argument. He will remain in parliament.
His resignation comes after he was criticised last October for calling a winery worker a "loser"- including putting his fingers in an 'L' shape on his forehead - and allegedly using an expletive directed at them. He later issued a public apology.
"As many of you know, I have been impatient to drive change in my ministerial portfolios," Bayly said in a statement announcing his resignation.
"Last week I had an animated discussion with a staff member about work. I took the discussion too far, and I placed a hand on their upper arm, which was inappropriate."
He said a complaint had been made but would not elaborate further on exactly what had happened.
Bayly resigned last Friday, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon later told a press conference, adding that the incident happened three days earlier, on 18 February.
Luxon said on Monday the government's handling the issue within a week was "pretty quick" and "pretty impressive". He denied that he should have asked Bayly to step down following October's winery incident, and said "never say never" when asked if there was a way back for the 63-year-old into another cabinet position.
However, Labour leader Chris Hipkins criticised Luxon as being "incredibly weak", saying the incident with the staff member should not have been dragged over the weekend.
"Christopher Luxon has once again set the bar for ministerial behaviour so low, that it would be almost impossible not to get over it," he told reporters on Monday.
Bayly himself said that he had to talk to his family and "would have had difficulty" speaking to the media earlier.
He was first elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 2014 as an MP for the current ruling National Party. He was appointed the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing, and Minister of Statistics following Luxon's election in late 2023.
Before joining politics, Bayly worked in the finance industry.
