‘Breathless hypocrisy’ behind Covid details leak
IN her role as acting chief executive of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust, former National Party president Michelle Boag received a private list of quarantined Covid19 patients and passed it on to CluthaSouthland MP Hamish Walker.
Michelle accepts she made a ‘‘massive error of judgement’’ and has done the decent thing and resigned. But it was Hamish Walker who passed the confidential patient information on to numerous media outlets (who fortunately also did the decent thing and refused to publish the patients’ names).
Todd Muller used the ‘‘leak’’ to accuse the Government of another supposed border ‘‘shambles’’. You might conclude this is breathless hypocrisy, as the source of the leak was National itself.
Bill Southworth
Port Chalmers
HAMISH Walker and Michelle Boag both claim their actions were ‘‘an error of judgement’’. Um, any adult/ responsible person knows that even viewing or passing on other people's medical records is not an error of judgement, but is plain wrong and unlawful.
Bernard Jennings
Wellington
IT has been said many times in the CluthaSouthland electorate National could stand a donkey and it would win the seat.
Never thought I'd see the day when we might have been better off with the donkey.
Mel R. Tapp
Balclutha
MULLER, Woodhouse, Boag and Walker; Goodbye National.
Even Whaleoil could not not save them now.
Ewan McDougall
Broad Bay
HOW brave of Clare Curran to bring to the attention of the public the real side of Michael Woodhouse (ODT, 6.7.20). What a despicable way to treat a fellow human being.
I think we have heard enough from this person who also has wasted the time of Government officials with his imaginary homeless trespasser.
Now we have Hamish Walker trying to discredit the government. Thankfully, the media have more scruples and didn’t publish the names of the 18 people who where in isolation.
Shame on the National Party for playing dirty politics.
Mary Robertson
Ocean View
THE National Party seems to be playing a very dangerous game.
There is a large number of leaks occurring from the public service, all of which are detrimental to the Government. Democracy demands that regardless of the political views of a public servant, he will do his job in a completely neutral way, yet it is obvious that these leaks are politically motivated; the leakers are almost certainly at least National Party supporters and are possibly given inducements to find juicy bits, which the Opposition then holds to spring on the Government at the most embarrassing moment.
There is absolutely nothing neutral about this process at all. This has the potential to undermine the public service and with it democracy. Can the National Party not see this? Or doesn't it care?
Dennis Dorney
Calton Hill
‘GRUBBY politics wearing thin’, a perfect headline above the editorial today (ODT, 7.7.20). In a few words it highlights the unpleasant way some politicians seem to feel that it is necessary to demean others while doing the work they should be doing. Thelma Arthur
Mosgiel