Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has made Police Minister Ginny Andersen the new Justice Minister and Kieran McAnulty will become the Regional Development Minister in light of Kiri Allan’s resignation following her arrest last night.

Allan is heading home to reconsider her future in politics having been charged with careless driving and refusing to accompany police after crashing her car in Wellington about 9pm last night.

Hipkins, speaking at a post-Cabinet press conference, said he felt he had handled Allan’s mental health struggles fairly and would never judge her for it or let it impact her job unnecessarily.

He said he’d had a conversation with Allan after her press conference last week, saying to her that she had done well. It was his understanding there were further events in Allan’s life later that day that had impacted her mental health.

Hipkins said he’d made sure Allan had received support when she had taken earlier leave, and then met with her.

“I did not compel her to stay away from work.”

Hipkins also revealed David Parker has requested to be relieved of his revenue portfolio to focus on transport.

He became Transport Minister after Michael Wood was demoted.

Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds will take over revenue and become a finance associate minister.

Damien O’Connor picks up an associate transport role to support Parker. Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson will take over Allan’s role overseeing the cyclone recovery of the Tairāwhiti region.

McAnulty will take on his new portfolio alongside his current Rural Communities portfolio.

Hipkins said he still believed Labour had a chance of winning the election and said the campaign was just beginning.

He said it was very premature to consider whether this was the moment Labour could have lost the election when that was put to him.

On the events of last night, Hipkins said had he been able to foresee this, he would have made more efforts and done things differently but he didn’t have a crystal ball.

Hipkins couldn’t tell reporters anymore about last night’s events as it was a criminal matter that was better directed to the police.

Hipkins confirmed he had decided not to bring anyone else into Cabinet, saying ministers had a “fair and manageable” workload with five sitting weeks to go before the campaign.

Hipkins said Andersen had been a strong performer in the justice space and the aligning of police and justice would help her progress the Government’s law and order policies announced last week.

He defended his actions with poor-performing ministers - such as Michael Wood and Stuart Nash - saying he liked to think he made decisions based on facts and evidence, and were warranted at the time they were made.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called an urgent press conference this morning after news of Kiri Allan's crash broke. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Allan offered her resignation to Hipkins this morning. The PM, speaking at an urgent but brief press conference at 10am, said he would confirm who would be taking on Allan’s main portfolios of justice and regional development.

He has already stated his preference not to bring anyone new into Cabinet and instead, spread the workload across existing ministers.

Hipkins this morning felt it inappropriate to discuss the wider implications of Allan’s resignation regarding Labour’s chances in this year’s election, but suggested he would respond at the post-Cabinet press conference.

Allan has not spoken publicly on the incident, except for a brief statement this morning that said she accepted her position was untenable and that she had faced “a number of personal difficulties” over recent weeks.

“I took time off to address those, and believed I was okay to juggle those challenges with the pressure of being a minister,” her statement read.

“My actions yesterday show I wasn’t okay, and I’ve let myself and my colleagues down.”

The Herald this afternoon published a photo taken immediately after the crash, showing her vehicle on an angle, in the middle of the road, with the headlights pointing in the direction of a ute she had just crashed into.

The ute had damage to a rear right panel and a flattened tyre.

An infringement notice was also issued as Allan had excess breath alcohol between 250-400 micrograms (mcg) of alcohol per litre of breath. Allan will appear in court at a later date.

The offences Allan has been charged with are each punishable by a maximum of three months’ imprisonment.

The charges also do not automatically disqualify her from being an MP, with parliamentarians removed from Parliament if convicted of an offence with a max penalty of two or more years imprisonment.

Ministers misbehaving in 2023

⋅ Stuart Nash - Sacked on March 28 after revelations he had given confidential Cabinet information to donors. On March 15 Nash had resigned as Police Minister after saying he called the Police Commissioner to discuss appealing a court case.

⋅ Meka Whaitiri - Sacked on May 3 after defecting to Te Pāti Māori. Whaitiri never told Hipkins personally she had quit.

⋅ Michael Wood - Resigned on June 21 after revealing he held multiple shares which had been inappropriately declared. On June 7 he was suspended from his transport portfolio after his shareholding in Auckland Airport was revealed by the Herald. Recently referred to the Privileges Committee after an inquiry raised concerns over his conduct.

⋅ Kiri Allan – Resigned as Justice Minister on July 24 after being arrested for careless driving and refusing to accompany police when she crashed her car the previous evening. Allan had also been issued an infringement notice for having excess breath alcohol. Allan had the previous week returned to work facing allegations about her workplace behaviour and personal struggles that affected her mental health.