Judith Collins

Collins at the National War Memorial, 2010

In 2009, Collins questioned the leadership of, and later refused to express confidence in, Department of Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews, after a spate of bad publicity.[15] However, after an enquiry by the State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie, Matthews kept his job because Corrections had made efforts to improve and had warned the government of the day and the previous government that under-resourcing was putting public safety at risk.[16]

Collins increased the availability of work programmes in prison,[17] and increased funding to widen the availability of alcohol and drug treatment programmes. Corrections built three new Drug Treatment Units and introducing condensed treatment programmes for prisoners serving shorter sentences.[18] Collins oversaw completion of a new prison in Mount Eden, Auckland, and instigated the private management contract for the new prison to British company Serco, on the recommendation of the Department of Corrections. This was the first prison since 2005 to be managed by a private sector contractor.[19][20]

In June 2010, Collins announced that from 1 July 2011[21] tobacco smoking and possessing lighters in prison would be banned, to reduce the health risk that smoking and fire presented to prison guards and prisoners.[22] This ban was subsequently successfully challenged in court on two occasions, resulting in a law change to maintain it.[23][24]

Following a police trial of tasers in 2006–07, Collins supported their introduction by then Police Commissioner Howard Broad.[25] In the 2009 budget she announced NZ$10 million worth of funding to complete a nationwide taser roll-out to all police districts,[26] and since then has advocated that the Police be given further discretion about when they can equip themselves with tasers.[27] She has also supported increased access to firearms for frontline officers, by equipping all front-line police vehicles with lock boxes for firearms, but does not support the full-time general arming of Police officers.[28]

During her early years in parliament, Collins developed a reputation for tough talking and in 2009 was nicknamed Crusher Collins when she proposed legislation to 'crush' the cars of persistent boy racers.[29] Collins described herself as the minister "who brought back deterrence".[30][31][32]

In 2012, Collins moderated the cuts-back to legal aid begun by her predecessor, Simon Power. She reduced the charges for family and civil cases, delayed the period before interest is charged on outstanding legal aid debt and dropped a proposal to make it harder to get legal aid for less serious crimes such as theft, assault or careless driving.[33] She did however retain fixed fees for criminal work and the rotation of the legal aid to lawyers in all but the most serious cases, which attracted criticism from some lawyers.[34]

After a two-year investigation the Law Commission produced a report for government with 153 recommendations to reform New Zealand's alcohol laws. While some legislative changes were passed in December 2012, the Opposition and health sector lobbyists said the evidence-based advice from the Commission was disregarded by Collins and her predecessor Simon Power with the result that the final legislation "was a pale imitation of the landmark Law Commission report it was based on."[35] Examples include Collins originally announcing a ban in May 2012 of ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages with 6 per cent alcohol or more from off-licenses. However, in the face of criticism from the liquor industry, she back-tracked on this ban, and three months later announced that the industry would develop its own voluntary code "to limit the harm to young people caused by RTDs".[36] The Commission also recommended a 50 per cent tax increase on alcohol (which was dismissed immediately by the Government) and an increase in the purchase age, which was also dismissed after a conscience vote in September 2012.[35] Collins herself voted to raise the purchase age.[37] Overall Collins said "the reforms struck a sensible balance by reducing the serious harm caused by alcohol without penalising people who drank responsibly."[35] The Labour Party and Professor Doug Sellman of Alcohol Action[38] stated that the changes were weak and would do little to reduce the harm caused by binge drinking. Sellman said: "It's called the Alcohol Reform Bill but it has no reforms in it".[39]

In December 2012, Collins revealed she had concerns about the robustness of a report authored by retired Canadian Supreme Court judge Ian Binnie, which recommended that David Bain should be paid compensation for the 13 years he spent in prison before being acquitted at retrial in 2009.[40] The report had been presented to Collins on 31 August 2012, but the dispute only became public after Binnie threatened to release the report on his own.[41] Collins had provided a copy of the report to the police and the Solicitor-General and ordered a peer review by former New Zealand High Court judge Robert Fisher, sending a "34-point list of issues attacking the case" along with her letter of instruction.[42] She did not provide a copy of Binnie's report to Bain's legal team. This fact, combined with the circumstances around the peer review by Fisher, led to accusations from Bain's team and from Justice Binnie that Collins was not following an "even handed process".[43] Collins subsequently released the reports publicly.[44] A month later, Mr Bain filed a claim in the High Court seeking a review of Collins' actions. The claim alleged Collins breached natural justice and the Bill of Rights Act in her treatment of him and that she "acted in bad faith, abused her power, and acted in a biased, unreasonable and predetermined manner".[45]

In August 2011, a significant privacy breach occurred at the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) following the accidental release of 6700 claimants' details to ACC claimant, Bronwyn Pullar.[46] Following the breach, Collins wanted a change in the culture at ACC to make "privacy and information security" the most important focus. As part of these changes the board chair, John Judge, did not have his tenure on the board renewed,[47] and the chief executive Ralph Stewart resigned the next day.[48] In May 2012, Collins sued Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little for defamation over comments they made on Radio New Zealand linking her to the leak of an e-mail from Michelle Boag about Pullar's case.[49] The case was settled after a High Court hearing in November 2012.[50]

In March 2014, Collins was accused of a conflict of interest after an overseas trip where she 'dropped in' and endorsed the milk produced by Oravida – a New Zealand company which exports to China – of which her husband is a director. After being admonished by the Prime Minister, Collins apologised and stated that she and a Chinese executive were 'very close personal friends'.[51][52][53] Over the following weeks the Labour Party continued asking who the Chinese official was. Collins did not provide his name, which House speaker David Carter described as "very unsatisfactory".[54] Prime Minister John Key stated publicly that Judith Collins was on her final warning over this incident.[55]

In August 2014 the book Dirty Politics, written by Nicky Hager, revealed that Collins was friends with right-wing blogger Cameron Slater and had passed on private information to him about Simon Pleasants, a public servant at Internal Affairs. Collins believed Pleasants had leaked information about Deputy Prime Minister Bill English misusing his housing allowance. Slater published Mr Pleasant's name and details on his blog as well as the abuse and death threats that were subsequently directed at Mr Pleasants.[56] A 3News-Reid Research poll taken at the time revealed that 63% of voters believed Prime Minister John Key should have stood Collins down over this incident.[57] Key said Collins had been 'unwise' and placed on her second final warning.[58]

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters claimed he was approached to do a post–2014 election deal with National with Collins as leader. Peters went on to say he would swear an affidavit that he had been approached. Collins denied this claim. On 29 August 2014 Key backed Collins up by stating "I accept Judith 100 per cent at her word."[59]

On 30 August 2014 Collins resigned her Cabinet positions following the leak of another e-mail written by Slater in 2011, which suggested she had also attempted to undermine another public servant, Adam Feeley. Feeley was Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Collins was the Minister responsible for the SFO at the time. Collins says she resigned because she believed the attacks on her had become a distraction for the National Party leading up to the election. She called for an inquiry so she could clear her name.[60]

After the 2014 election, John Key left Collins off the "Roll of the Honourables" due to the ongoing inquiry into her role with Adam Feeley. This made her ineligible to use the title 'The Honourable'.[61] Collins expressed surprise about having found out about the decision through the media,[62] and Key admitted that his decision should have been explained to Collins.[63] On 25 November 2014 the Chisholm report was released, clearing Collins of the allegations into her dealings with former SFO director Adam Feeley,[64] so on 4 December 2014 Collins was granted the right to retain the title of 'The Honourable' for life.[65]

Collins was cleared of involvement in the Adam Feeley smear.[2] On 7 December 2015, Key announced Collins would return to Cabinet, to hold her former portfolios of Corrections and Police again. She was sworn in again on 14 December 2015.

Collins in 2016

John Key announced his resignation as leader of the National Party on 5 December 2016. The following day, Collins announced her intention to stand as his replacement, which would have elevated her to the prime ministership.[66] The other candidates were Bill English and Jonathan Coleman. On 8 December, both Collins and Coleman withdrew as candidates, allowing English to be elected unopposed.[67]

On 20 December 2016, she was officially sworn in as a minister with new portfolios in the new Bill English cabinet. She dropped in cabinet rank, but was made Minister of Revenue, Minister of Energy and Resources, and Minister for Ethnic Communities. The corrections and police portfolios were given to Louise Upston and Paula Bennett, respectively.

Bill English announced his resignation as leader of the National Party on 13 February 2018. The following day, Collins became the first person to announce their intention to stand as his replacement; she was later joined by Amy Adams and Simon Bridges. She cited the need for "strong and decisive leadership".[68] Collins was endorsed by former National leader Don Brash,[69] and political commentators Duncan Garner,[70] Mike Hosking,[71] Cameron Slater,[72] and Chris Trotter.[73] Hosking later retracted his endorsement when Steven Joyce announced his candidacy.[74] Bridges went on to win the leadership role.

In late May 2018, Collins, in her capacity as Opposition Transport spokesperson, raised the matter that Transport Minister Phil Twyford had made an unauthorised phone call while his flight had taken off; a violation of national civil aviation laws. In response, Twyford offered to resign as Transport Minister. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stripped Twyford of his civil aviation portfolio but retained him as Transport Minister.[75][76][77]

On 14 July 2020, Collins was elected as leader of the National Party following a leadership election held following the abrupt resignation of Todd Muller earlier that day. Gerry Brownlee was also elected as Deputy Leader of the National Party.[78][79]

She became the second female leader of the National Party.[79]

Collins led the party to the 2020 election as significant underdogs, with opinion polls suggesting historically large swings to the Labour Party, reflecting its well-received response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Collins, although more popular than her predecessors Todd Muller and Simon Bridges, still significantly lagged behind Jacinda Ardern as preferred prime minister by 30 to 40 points.

Ultimately, the 2020 election saw a massive Labour landslide, with the party winning 65 seats, enough to form a majority government in its own right. Meanwhile, Collins lead the National Party to a crushing defeat, suffering a 18.9% swing against them, and a 23 seat drop; finishing with 33 seats. The result was the second-worst defeat the National Party had ever suffered, edged out by the 2002 disaster, where the party won an even grimmer number of 27 seats.[80] The election even saw the party's Deputy Leader Gerry Brownlee lose his own seat of Ilam, which was considered National heartland. [81]

With the result beyond doubt, a near-tearful Collins announced on election night that she had telephoned Ardern and conceded defeat, but vowed that the party would bounce back stronger in the next election.[82] Despite these setbacks, Collins retained her electorate seat in Papakura by a final margin of 5,583 votes.[83]

• Pull No Punches (2020) ISBN 9781988547510