New Zealand PM floats privacy laws after aide accused of filming women

WELLINGTON - New Zealand’s prime minister floated new privacy laws on June 5 after his own press secretary was allegedly caught taping sex workers without consent.

Senior aide Michael Forbes resigned after a local news outlet alleged he covertly recorded audio of sessions with sex workers and secretly photographed women at the gym.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was “shocked” – but it was unclear whether Mr Forbes had broken the law.

“If you’re a New Zealander, you ask quite legitimate questions about how does this behaviour happen, and is it legal or illegal,” he told reporters on June 5.

“I have that same reaction to it as well.”

Mr Luxon flagged new privacy laws that could be drafted to clear up the legal grey area.

Mr Forbes – who was Mr Luxon’s deputy chief press secretary – apologised in a statement sent to media.

“I want to offer my sincerest apologies to the women I have harmed,” he said.

The scandal came to light after a sex worker noticed Mr Forbes’s phone was recording audio while he took a shower, according to an investigation published on June 4 by New Zealand news outlet Stuff.

Mr Forbes phone was then found to contain photos of women in compromising positions at the gym, and a video shot through a window showing women getting dressed at night, Stuff reported.

“In the past, I was in a downward spiral due to unresolved trauma and stress, and when confronted with the impacts of my behaviour a year ago, I sought professional help, which is something I wish I had done much earlier,” Mr Forbes said in a statement.

“What I failed to do then was make a genuine attempt to apologise.” AFP