Labour is claiming the appointment of a National Party candidate to Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa’s board proves the Government is “giving jobs to their mates”.

The candidate and new board member, Dale Stephens who will contest Christchurch Central for National, is dismissing the claim and maintains he avoided the relevant ministers for about a year since he applied for the governance role.

Minister for Sport and Recreation Mark Mitchell described Labour’s allegation as “obviously nonsense” and argued Stephens was appointed through the “usual rigorous process”.

On March 27, Stephens was one of two additions to Sport NZ’s board, approved by Mitchell as the minister responsible for the entity.

Four days later, National confirmed Stephens as its candidate to contest Christchurch Central in this year’s election.

In his appointment, Stephens joined former National Party staffer Megan Campbell, who was appointed to Sport NZ’s board in 2024 by former Sports Minister Chris Bishop.

It’s understood board members are paid about $45,000 per year.

Labour’s sport spokeswoman Cushla Tangaere-Manuel claimed it proved there was a coalition Government “old boys’ club”.

“Christopher Luxon and his Government have been hard at work giving jobs to their mates at a time when they are telling New Zealanders to tighten their belts, and the unemployment rate continues to rise.”

Cushla Tangaere-Manuel is criticising Dale Stephens' appointment.

She also pointed to the increased perception of corruption in New Zealand – a reference to Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perception Index.

New Zealand fell two points in the latest survey published this year but was still ranked highly in fourth place alongside Norway and behind Denmark, Finland and Singapore.

Accusations of “jobs for mates”, also known as cronyism, are not uncommon as governments change their stripes. Labour faced similar criticism in 2022 when former Labour minister and Speaker of the House Sir Trevor Mallard was confirmed as New Zealand’s ambassador to Ireland, a role he held until Foreign Minister Winston Peters ended it prematurely last year.

Stephens, who has contested Christchurch Central and Ikaroa-Rāwhiti for National, holds several governance roles, including as chairman of New Zealand Māori Tourism.

He has formerly held chief executive roles at Touch New Zealand and Basketball New Zealand.

Speaking to the Herald, Stephens said he had applied about this time last year and had intentionally avoided both Mitchell and Bishop since then.

“I made a point of avoiding them because I didn’t want that to colour in any way the process,” he said.

“I haven’t spoken to them, I haven’t asked them anything, they haven’t contacted me.”

Stephens claimed the application process was run by Sport NZ so Mitchell only learned of his name when he was one of two recommendations made.

He dismissed any suggestion his appointment was “jobs for the boys”.

“I would like to think that I’ve earned it through my experience in the sports sector.

“[$45,000] is hardly a high-flying, big-paying number, you know, it’s, it’s a standard governance role.”

Sport Minister Mark Mitchell said the appointment process was followed according to protocol. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Stephens accepted it was “unfortunate” timing for the board appointment to be announced so close to his candidacy, but he claimed the board appointment had been long-delayed.

In a statement, Mitchell welcomed Stephens as a “highly qualified and respected governance leader”.

“His appointment went through the usual rigorous process that you would expect for all board appointments across Government.

“An independent panel made two recommendations from a group of candidates whom they felt held the requisite governance experience, skills and background to become members of the Sport NZ board.”

Mitchell confirmed he hadn’t had contact with any potential candidates.

Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.