Cam Slater: Why Governments Do a Friday Dump

There is a reason governments do a Friday bad news dump. It is to hide other news that is usually unpalatable. And so it was last Friday as we salivated over Meng Foon’s conflict of interest drama that saw him effectively sacked. While we were talking about that we missed yet another indiscretion by Stuart Nash:

An investigation into sacked minister Stuart Nash’s communications with his donors has identified another conflict of interest.

However, Cabinet Secretary Rachel Hayward, who conducted the investigation, determined it was “at the lower end of transgressions”, given Nash’s attempts to manage the conflict.

Nash, the former Police Minister, was placed on a final warning by PM Chris Hipkins for breaches of the Cabinet Manual and was later sacked in March after it was revealed the Napier MP had sent an email in 2020 to donors Troy Bowker and Greg Loveridge with details of Cabinet discussions and noting Nash’s personal disagreements with ministerial colleagues concerning a commercial rent relief package during Covid.

Hipkins announced a review into Nash’s communications with donors in the hope it could help restore public confidence in Government MPs.

Hayward’s report, released this morning, did not identify any instances – other than those that led to his sacking – in which Nash shared information with declared donors in a “manner inconsistent with the Cabinet Manual” – the set of rules that governs how ministers should act.

However, the report did highlight one matter when Nash identified a conflict of interest when a close associate and donor was appointed to a government advisory board Nash was linked to.

The report said Nash removed himself from the appointment process in an effort to manage the conflict, but Hayward determined Nash should have done more.

“The report concludes he should have also declared his interest when Cabinet signed off the appointment and made it clear that another minister was responsible but the review finds that this is at the lower end of transgressions and in fairness to Stuart he did take actions to manage the conflict,” Hipkins said.

“It’s a helpful reminder of the importance of Ministers making sure their conflicts are fully managed.”

NZ Herald

Yet another indiscretion comes to light, but one we all pretty much missed as the government dealt with other undisclosed conflicts of interest.

What this shows is a categoric case of a government that is shabby and dirty, more through incompetence than anything else, but shabby and dirty, nonetheless.

It is time for these clowns to find a new circus.

There is a reason the government dumps bad news on a Friday: it is so they can hope you miss other more important news. Usually it works.

Cam Slater is a New Zealand-based blogger, best known for his role in Dirty Politics and publishing the Whale Oil Beef Hooked blog, which operated from 2005 until it closed in 2019. This article was first published HERE