PM denies a coverup on Barclay
Prime Minister Bill English claims the fallout from Todd Barclay’s secret recordings has not damaged the National Party.
Barclay, Clutha-southland’s MP, has announced he will stand down at September’s election. The embattled rookie MP has been under pressure to step aside after revelations he secretly taped a staff member in his electorate office.
The 27-year-old has repeatedly told media he did not make a recording but his fate was sealed on Tuesday when English produced his police statement saying Barclay had told him he had recorded Glenys Dickson.
Opposition leaders have accused the National Party, in particular English, of a ‘‘coverup’’ and Labour Party leader Andrew Little has slammed police for not pursuing an investigation into Barclay.
English said the issue ‘‘has been dealt with pretty decisively, partly because of the decision by Mr Barclay to stand down‘‘.
‘‘He’s made a difficult decision but it is the right one. We can get back to focusing on the issues which matter to the country.’’
English said a number of people, including senior National MPS, had spoken with Barclay, but he had not had a conversation with him about his decision to stand aside.
English said the fallout was not damaging to the party because ‘‘these sorts of issues arise commonly in politics’’ and it had been dealt with quickly.
‘‘My main regret here is that people I know well fell out so badly and it’s been an ongoing problem in different forms.’’
English was the Cluthasouthland MP for 18 years until he vacated the seat, making room for Barclay’s selection in 2014.
Little, Green Party co-leader James Shaw and NZ First leader Winston Peters have all pointed to a ‘‘coverup’’.
‘‘I think that the prime minister should have asked him to stand down as a member of Parliament when he discovered what he’d done, rather than to cover it up,’’ Shaw said.
The ramifications for the National Party were ‘‘serious’’, said Peters. ’’They were all involved in a coverup where taxpayers’ money was used to get a confidential settlement.’’
Little said the National Party, and probably others, were involved in doing ‘‘everything they could to conceal it from the public’’.
A police investigation into whether Barclay recorded Dickson was closed when the MP refused to co-operate and there was insufficient evidence to continue.
Little said the police got it wrong and they did not have to wait to interview Barclay.
‘‘I don’t accept the excuse the police have given that their inability to interview Todd Barclay was the reason they couldn’t take it any further.
‘‘From the information that’s now available, I don’t accept the police didn’t have enough to launch a prosecution,’’ he said.
Barclay said in a statement: ‘‘I got into politics because I was inspired by the people I worked for, Bill English, Gerry Brownlee and Hekia Parata. I wanted the opportunity to make my contribution too.’’
Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers confirmed police were ‘‘assessing the information that has been discussed publicly in recent days in relation to any impact on the findings of the original Todd Barclay inquiry’’.