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The overseas vote gave Labor and Greens an additional seat each in the last election in 2017. It gave Green MP Golriz Ghahraman a chance to become a legislator.
“That is always a possibility for any party and I always thought there is no point in worrying about things that you cannot control,” Collins told reporters Wednesday, when asked if he was concerned that more deputies would lose their jobs.
“It’s a really tough position for them. As you know, Maureen Pugh is at the top. She has been there before. She is a very resilient person and unfortunately people often become resilient because of their experiences and she had to before”.
It is the third time that Pugh, who ran in the West Coast electorate, has been trapped in limbo. In 2014, he made it to Parliament on the party’s list on election night, but came out after the special votes were counted and it was the same story in 2017.
Pugh became a deputy in 2018 after former national leader Bill English resigned, allowing her to get on the party’s list.
Pugh, who has described herself as the “yo-yo MP,” told RNZ that she hopes to leave once the special votes are confirmed.
“In fact I thought that this could have been the third lucky time. But no … Definitely déjà vu. So I have no illusions, what is going to happen with the stages is counted,” he said.
“It looks like it’s going to happen again, although I’m not really sure if we’ll have enough leeway this time, because it’s a very short list.”
Pugh’s path to remaining a MP would be if veteran national MPs Gerry Brownlee or Nick Smith, who lost their constituencies to Labor on election night and are now making the party’s list, decided to resign.
Pugh came into the spotlight in 2018 after a leaked recording by former national MP Jamie-Lee Ross revealed former leader Simon Bridges called her “fucking useless,” for which she later apologized.
The National Party caucus met Wednesday morning before each deputy met with Collins to discuss their future and what portfolios could be allocated.
“I have asked all MPs to meet with me for 30 minutes over the next two days so that we can discuss what their wishes are regarding the wallets and also where they can add some value that they may not have realized they have. in areas or expertise that they haven’t had a chance to show, “Collins said.
“I won’t make the assignment until after the government has announced their portfolios and who has them. That’s really to see the mix, but also who might be better to follow someone from the government.”
National is losing much of its diversity as a group, including several female MPs, its first Filipino MP Paulo Garcia, and Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, of Indian descent.
“I’m just worried that we don’t have as many people as we would like,” Collins said.
“I also think there are obviously problems, particularly that we have to work harder to reach communities that would not necessarily be represented at this point and we have to make sure we work hard to represent those communities.”
Collins said the remaining national MPs should be grateful to be there.
“I hope everyone is grateful to be here. It is a great privilege to be a deputy.”
National MPs will decide whether to keep Collins and his deputy leader Gerry Brownlee in their roles once the special votes are confirmed.
