Press secretary sex scandal: Investigation to conclude in August

Michael Forbes had audio recordings of multiple sessions with sex workers, as well as zoomed-in photos of women in public and footage of women getting changed for a night out.
Photo:
LinkedIn/Michael Forbes
The government says it will "consider what information can be made public" about the sex scandal surrounding the prime minister's former deputy chief press secretary, after the investigation ends in August.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has ordered Ministerial Services - run by the Department of Internal Affairs - to carry out a "deep dive" investigation after it was revealed
Michael Forbes had
audio recordings of multiple sessions with sex workers, as well as zoomed-in photos of women in public and footage of women getting changed for a night out, filmed through a window.
Forbes resigned as Luxon's deputy chief press secretary this month after the Stuff investigation looking into the matter contacted him for comment. The recordings, photos and footage was discovered by a Wellington sex worker in July last year.
In a statement, the Department of Internal Affairs said its investigation would look into "employment and device policies, procedures and information sharing practices".
"The deep dive is expected to conclude in August 2025, at which point DIA will determine what information can be shared and when.
"We will not be commenting further as the deep dive is in progress."
The statement follows a
report by the NZ Herald
quoting DIA chief executive Paul James, who said he did not have terms of reference "per se", but that he expected to release the investigation's findings publicly in August.
James told the
Herald
officials were checking the range of security clearances Parliamentary staff had, and with police and the Security Intelligence Service would assess information sharing practices - likely in July.
James also told the paper he did not expect the inquiry would prompt wide-ranging changes but he wanted to remain open minded, including around whether employees were expected to raise concerns about a change in their circumstances, or whether departments should check in about that regularly.
In statements after the scandal was revealed, Forbes said he had sought therapy over the past year, and should have apologised to the women affected at the time.
Police investigated the same month the recordings were discovered and seized two phones in a search warrant, but said the available evidence did not meet the threshold for criminal prosecution.
After the scandal broke, the DIA said all Ministerial Services staff were subject to standard pre-employment checks including reference checks, serious misconduct checks and a criminal conviction check when first employed - but this was not required when Forbes was temporarily assigned to the PM's office.
Luxon himself told reporters it was Forbes' responsibility "to actually declare those issues or those incidents to us - that didn't happen which is why his employment would have been terminated, obviously".
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