In the traditional time for releasing news you want buried in the weekend, Jacinda Ardern and Clare Curran gave slightly different versions of Curran’s demotion today for repeating a failure to properly record a meeting.
Ardern says Clare Curran removed from Cabinet
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has removed Clare Curran from Cabinet and accepted her offer to resign her Government Digital Services portfolio and Open Government responsibilities, following a second failure to properly declare a meeting.
Dr Megan Woods will take over as Minister of Government Digital Services and Ms Curran’s delegated responsibilities in relation to Open Government will revert to Chris Hipkins, as Minister for State Services. Minister Curran will retain her responsibilities as Minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, and as Associate Minister for ACC, but will now sit outside Cabinet.
In February this year Minister Curran met with Mr Derek Handley at her Beehive office in her capacity as Minister of Government Digital Services to discuss Mr Handley’s interest in the vacant Chief Technology Officer (CTO) role. This meeting took place after the first unsuccessful recruitment round for the CTO. As with approaches from other interested parties, the Minister directed Mr Handley to register his interest with MBIE officials. Applications reopened for the CTO role in May.
The meeting was not recorded in the Minister’s diary and neither the Minister’s staff nor officials were made aware of it.
The meeting was subsequently mistakenly left out of an answer to a recent Parliamentary Question for Written Answer. The meeting should have been included in the answer and the error has been corrected. Ms Curran has advised there have been no other meetings between herself and Mr Handley outside the application process.
“The failure to record the meeting in her diary; inform her staff and officials; and accurately answer Parliamentary questions has left the Minister open to the accusation that she deliberately sought to hide the meeting.” said Jacinda Ardern.
“While this was not the Minister’s intention, this is the second misjudgement and is not in keeping with my expectations, or the Minister’s expectations of herself. As a result I have chosen to remove Minister Curran from Cabinet.
“Transparency is important, even more so for Hon Curran given her Open Government responsibilities.
“I have accepted the Minister’s offer to resign her responsibilities relevant to this issue, which clearly she can no longer continue in.
So Ardern accepted an offer to resign, but removed her, or something like that.
The demotion from Cabinet but loss of only some of her portfolios must have been at least discussed, it’s hard to see Curran offering to resign exactly as Ardern dictated.
Curran’s statement:
So she is still promoting her retained responsibilities. Some have said it is a bit of a Claytons dumping.
And it has been pointed out that it’s a bit cynical for Ardern to claim “Transparency is important” when she waited until late on a busy news Friday, with the Bridges leak fiasco and Australian leadership fiasco dominating news.
I don’t think the loss of Open Government will disappoint many people, Curran has failed to live up to her responsibilities in a number of ways. She is probably a popular demotee.
I’m not sure how will Chris Hipkins will fit with the open Government role alongside his job as Government Whip.
sorethumb
/ 24th August 2018So what was the meeting about?
Pete George
/ 24th August 2018“In February this year Minister Curran met with Mr Derek Handley at her Beehive office in her capacity as Minister of Government Digital Services to discuss Mr Handley’s interest in the vacant Chief Technology Officer (CTO) role”
Handley is apparently on the shortlist for the position, which was due to be announced any time now. She has made things awkward for the Government.
Kitty Catkin
/ 24th August 2018Oh dear ! 😀
Alan Wilkinson
/ 24th August 2018She’s s great loss as Minister for Open Government continually demonstrating we haven’t got it and need it.
Blazer
/ 24th August 2018basically what Ardern said when she expelled her from Cabinet and stripped her of 2 portfolios.
Kitty Catkin
/ 24th August 2018I thought that it was ‘the Hon. First Name Surname’, not ‘the Hon Surname.’
‘Minister Curran’ sounds a bit odd, too.
Kitty Catkin
/ 24th August 2018My mistake; people do say Minister Surname, but it still sounds odd.
I was right about the Hon Both Names.
Gezza
/ 24th August 2018How could a meeting be “set up directly between Mr Handley”?
This woman is still the Minister for Communications?
Maggy Wassilieff
/ 24th August 2018Oh Come on PG
How about some decent analysis here…
How long has Jacinda Ardern known that Clare Curran gave a dodgy answer to a Parliamentary Question?
Are we to believe that Curran just remembered her slip-up this morning?
Do you really think this has nothing to do with the National Leak?
Blazer
/ 24th August 2018you are clearly a barking mad conspiracy theorist..Maggy..wake up..Maggy..I ..
Trevors_elbow
/ 25th August 2018Oh dear. Straight to ad hominem attacks. Pathetic Bol….
Pete George
/ 24th August 2018I don’t know the answers to those questions, and I have had very little time today to look into it. I put up a quick post to give you all something to comment to.
How about some decent analysis from you?
YourNZ is a community project after all.
Maggy Wassilieff
/ 24th August 2018Well, some decent analysis from me:
1. There is no evidence whatsoever that a National MP has confessed to being the leaker
-your headline is incorrect.
It has been clear for a couple of days that numerous people had knowledge of Simon Bridges
spending… People in the Speaker’s Office, People in Parliamentary Services, as well as National MPs.
So why have you been so assured that the leaker is a National MP?
Blazer
/ 24th August 2018Bridges said it was..but has tried to back away from that.
Maggy Wassilieff
/ 24th August 2018No he didn’t..
He said the Text he received stated that the Leaker was a Nat MP.
At his 9:30am briefing, Bridges made it very clear that he did not know if the Text writer / the Leaker were MPs or Parliamentary staff… hence the need to carry on the investigation.
Maggy Wassilieff
/ 24th August 2018Watch his interview…
or read carefully what he said:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/364815/bridges-police-know-identity-of-texter-claiming-expense-leak
Blazer
/ 24th August 2018Bridges has changed his opinion’ too many.. times.Why would Mallard who is the only Labourite to have the info…agree to an inquiry…?
This is National deep dirt ..clear and simple.
Pete George
/ 24th August 2018I’m not sure, but that’s the impression RNZ gave initially – that was before Bridges’ stand-up that only semi clarified things.
Maggy Wassilieff
/ 24th August 2018That’s the impression RNZ gave initially
Well, they are not impartial.
They may well be complicit in taking leaks from a mentally unwell person and endangering their health. (Where were their ethics, checks?)
They seem to have been so busy trying to find disarray in Nats, they couldn’t see the mess their own Minister was making.
Alan Wilkinson
/ 24th August 2018Turned out RNZ never saw the text though so were relying on second hand reports. Hardly authoritative.
Blazer
/ 24th August 2018the Police did though..they have to tip toe because the perp might commit suicide.
Pete George
/ 25th August 2018