25 Mar 2010

Families Commissioner resigns

6:00 pm on 25 March 2010

Chief Families Commissioner Jan Pryor has resigned and will leave at the end of May.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says she has accepted the resignation of Dr Pryor for personal reasons.

However, the Labour Party is suggesting her resignation was inevitable when Christine Rankin was made a commissioner.

The party's deputy leader, Annnette King, is sceptical and cites the appointment as a commissioner of Ms Rankin - who did not support changing the law on child discipline - as a factor.

"I believe there is a lot more to it. She (Dr Pryor) is a woman of great integrity and as soon as the Government started to stack the Families Commission with National Party hacks, it was inevitable that she was going to go."

Dr Pryor has released a statement saying she won't detail her personal reasons for leaving.

But she says it has nothing to do with her relationship with the minister, the Government or its policies or her relationships with the other commissioners.

Ms Bennett says Dr Pryor worked hard to oversee the co-location with the Commissioner for Children, funding and Board changes.

She says Dr Pryor handled the changes with proper regard for the needs of the Commission and the Government.

Ms Bennett says that in the event an appointment has not been made before Dr Pryor's departure, deputy commissioner Bruce Pilbrow will act in the role.