Curran emails fail to materialise

EMAILS from former minister Clare Curran’s personal Gmail account failed to materialise at Parliament’s question time yesterday, but Labour says they will be made public.

Speaker Trevor Mallard on Tuesday gave State Services Minister Chris Hipkins 24 hours to front up with the emails at question time.

The emails related to the ongoing saga over the chief technology officer position, which cost Ms Curran her portfolios and technology entrepreneur Derek Handley his new title.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson, fielding questions from National’s Dr Nick Smith yesterday, outlined three email exchanges between Ms Curran and Mr Handley between August 11 and August 21.

In the first, on August 11, Mr Handley emailed Ms Curran about the CTO position, asking about resourcing and potential conflicts of interest.

Ms Curran replied on August 14 to arrange a phone call to discuss, and Mr Handley replied the following day, confirming the best time to call.

The second exchange began on August 19, when Ms Curran emailed Mr Handley about ‘‘logistics’’ in the appointment process. That included discussion of any public statements that might be made, and referred to contract discussions with the Department of Internal Affairs.

On August 20, Mr Handley responded, discussing the contact he had with DIA.

The third exchange was on August 21, when Ms Curran emailed Mr Handley about the contents of the CTO work plan and attached background documents. Mr Handley replied the same day, acknowledging the material and referring to discussions with the DIA.

Yesterday, Mr Robertson told the house he had ‘‘sought and received an assurance’’ from Ms Curran the email exchanges would be made available for release, subject to normal Official Information Act processes.

Dr Smith pressed Mr Robertson, asking whether the emails would be released publicly or tabled yesterday — in line with the Government’s commitment ‘‘to be the most open and transparent ever’’.

Mr Robertson reiterated they would be released in accordance with the OIA.

Asked if there was anything ‘‘inappropriate’’ in the emails which influenced the Government’s decision to not proceed with Mr Handley’s appointment, Mr Robertson said the decision ‘‘does not relate to those emails’’.

Yesterday’s exchange came after Ms Curran found herself at the centre of a political storm in recent weeks, and after she was eventually stripped of two portfolios and demoted from Cabinet after revelations she had held a second private, offtherecord meeting.

She then struggled to answer questions in Parliament about her use of her personal Gmail account in her ministerial role, and tendered her resignation as minister of broadcasting and associate ACC minister on September 6.

She told media her ‘‘mistakes have been greatly amplified and the pressure on me has become intolerable’’.

‘‘On the question of Gmail use, I use my Gmail account infrequently for work and it would have been discoverable and it hasn’t been used to conceal anything.’’ — Additional reporting RNZ