MINISTERS have faced criticism from backbench politicians for missing the last sitting of the States Assembly before the summer recess.
Treasury Minister Ian Gorst took questions from Members yesterday and explained that Chief Minister Kristina Moore was attending a conference in Rwanda, while Deputy Chief Minister Kirsten Morel was on holiday.
Members were told that Deputy Moore had received an ‘unexpected’ invite to the Women Deliver conference, which takes place every three years and where she was representing Jersey as a female head of government.
Deputy Gorst said: ‘The decision to attend was based on what the Chief Minister and her advisers felt was in the best interests of Jersey.’
He added that Deputy Morel was on a ‘long-planned’ holiday coinciding with the end-of-school exams and had previously missed sittings of the Assembly only ‘very infrequently, if at all’.
Deputy Steve Luce said he was disappointed by the Chief Minister’s absence.
He said: ‘I think it would be in the best interests of the Island for her to stay where she’s been elected and answer questions from backbenchers, who get few such opportunities.’
Deputy Rob Ward questioned how the Chief Minister had prioritised her schedule, while Deputy Lyndsay Feltham asked why it had not been possible to attend the conference remotely.
Deputy Gorst said that his experience of attending such events was that face-to-face contact was ‘without a shadow of doubt’ more beneficial than participating from a computer screen.
‘This is a prestigious conference and offers the chance to show off Jersey in a very positive light,’ he said.
