Minister of Secret Meetings
It is easy to see why the prime minister is reluctant to sack Clare Curran. Not only would it create a precedent against which other ministers might well fail, but the incident appears to fail the ‘‘average voter’’ test.
Curran threw herself in the spotlight when she held a meeting with Radio New Zealand head of content Carol Hirschfeld, which she later failed to disclose, using the creative justification that the meeting was ‘‘informal’’.
If Curran was to be let off the hook for that, the possibilities for ministerial mischief are practically limitless.
But this is an issue which will not fill the airwaves of talkback radio.
Blood will not boil in the way other early contenders for first minister to fall might have.
Building and Construction Minister Jenny Salesa ran up a $10,000 a month travel bill in her first months as a minister and carries on unperturbed.
Defence Minister Ron Mark uses air force helicopters as a matter of convenience and it barely raises a shrug.
No one outside of the Wellington beltway or corporate governance circles will truly understand Curran’s sin.
A long-standing electorate MP having breakfast with someone else vaguely famous does not feel like a sackable offence.
Many voters probably think holding meetings in trendy cafes is all that happens in Wellington. Many in the political class might shudder at how close to the truth that really is.
Astoria, the Lambton Quay cafe where Curran met Hirschfeld, is the heart of the gossip scene. As old as MMP, at least one senior lobbyist refers to it as ‘‘my office’’.
But Curran, the enigmatic MP for Dunedin South, has made herself a type of cocktail party joke that she will probably never shake, for reasons which have little to do with RNZ, but her other title.
The Minister of Open Government.
When your very job title is the punchline of the joke, you are doomed.
In reality her official portfolio title is less poetic – Associate Minister of State Services (Open Government) – but the other, more earnest moniker has stuck.
If Jacinda Ardern is determined not to sack her, she cannot possibly escape the fact that a plank of her Government – to be more transparent than National – is utterly comic while Curran is its figurehead.
While the meeting may have been the simple catch-up Curran describes it as, the secrecy which has kept it out of view for so long, and the context of Curran’s plans for RNZ, fuel speculation that it may not be so simple.
Paul Thompson, the former Press editor who now heads RNZ, has publicly opposed Curran’s plan to pump millions into the organisation to effectively create another standalone TV channel, yet another player in a media field where a number of players are fighting for survival.
Was Curran checking whether in Hirschfeld she had a kindred spirit more keen to execute the plan? If so, Curran should be sacked immediately. Even attempting to form a direct ‘‘informal’’ relationship with Hirschfeld appears improper.
Even RNZ’s most ardent fans should thank Thompson for taking a stance on what appears to be a Labour pet project, even if they disagree with his stance.
So many other chief executives in the public sector are eager to draw huge salaries, yet are simply cowardly when it comes to questioning their political masters in public.
Those who genuinely hope that RNZ will be able to maintain editorial independence may, perversely, hope Curran stays as the minister. If Thompson was willing to stand up to her before, Curran is certainly in no position to boss him around now.
National finds itself in a strange position. Not unlike in club cricket, when a batsman is scoring so slowly that the captain or bowler instructs teammates not to appeal under any circumstances, because the next batsman is probably better.
Simon Bridges told Stuff on Wednesday that he did not want to be the type of leader constantly calling for resignations. That lofty claim will only be put to the test in the future. National do not want Curran going anywhere.
The country will be worse off if that is the reason Curran stays, however.
New Zealand relishes the fact that it is lauded in annual transparency surveys, but those who work at the coalface know that governments of both sides have manipulated the Official Information Act for political purposes.
Journalists under increasing time pressure are required to wait for years if they seek the help of the Ombudsman to intervene.
New Zealand needs to focus on open government to assure itself that it deserves to be seen as corruption free.
But Curran is now the Minister of Secret Meetings, the Minister of Astoria and the Minister of Costing a Respected Journalist Her Job. She is in no position to drive more open government.
Many voters probably think holding meetings in trendy cafes is all that happens in Wellington.