PM’s response backed

Finance Minister Steven Joyce backed the Prime Minister’s handling of an MP who secretly recorded a staff member, downplaying the scandal’s effect on the National Party.

Clutha-Southland MP Todd Barclay will not contest the election after Bill English produced a police statement saying Barclay told him he had secretly recorded an electorate staff member.

English has come under fire for not asking Barclay to resign when he was told about the recording.

English had been trying to let electorate processes go ahead, and not ‘‘drive the outcome’’ in his former electorate, Joyce said during his visit to Timaru yesterday.

‘‘Bill has done a great job,’’ the National Party campaign strategist, said.

The employee received a payment from former Prime Minister John Key’s leader’s budget.

Joyce said the incident had not tarnished the reputation of the National Party: ‘‘Most people will see it for what it was.’’

The recording issue ran on for a long time and involved some ‘‘quite entrenched views’’, Joyce said.

Joyce, who visited the CluthaSouthland electorate on Weednesday, said Barclay made the right decision, and the electorate’s response was a reminder to politicians that once they decided to step down people moved on quickly.

The issue made it difficult for Barclay to do his job and the public seemed to accept that, he said.

‘‘Pretty much everybody was saying ‘yes it’s sad to see him go’, because he was working hard in the community.’’

A police investigation into whether Barclay recorded Dickson closed after the MP refused to cooperate.

Labour Party leader Andrew Little, Green Party co-leader James Shaw and NZ First leader Winston Peters have all pointed to a ‘‘cover up’’.