New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern fires immigration minister over affair with staff member

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday fired a senior cabinet minister, Ian Lees-Galloway, over an affair with an ex-staffer. The development comes amid heightened vigil on office behaviour ahead of the New Zealand general election in September.

Ian Lees-Galloway, the erstwhile Immigration Minister of New Zealand, was sacked by the Prime Minister after he was discovered having an affair with a former colleague who was working at a government organisation that reported to him.

Prime Minister Ardern told reporters that Lees-Galloway's position as a minister became untenable in view of his role as a regulator for employee conduct and workplace relations.

"The minister has shown a lack of judgement over a period of 12 months -- in undertaking this relationship he has opened himself up to accusations of improperly using his office," news agency AFP quoted Ardern.

The Prime Minister said that she was not passing moral judgement on Lees-Galloway but added: "He has not modelled the behaviour I expect as a minister that is in charge of setting a standard and culture in workplaces".

According to agency reports, the details about the minister's affair with the ex-staffer were passed on to Ardern's office by opposition leader Judith Collins, who had urged the public to contact her with allegations about inappropriate parliamentary behaviour.

Lees-Galloway, who is married with three children, issued a brief statement admitting he acted "completely inappropriately" and apologising for letting his family down.