Brownlee ‘had time for checks’ - report

It would have taken former transport minister Gerry Brownlee less than two minutes to go through security rather than skipping the screening at Christchurch Airport, a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) report reveals.

The report, by investigating officer Diane Cooze, has been released on orders of the Office of the Ombudsman, which responded to a complaint about parts of the document being withheld.

Brownlee and two unnamed ministerial aides took an unauthorised shortcut into a secure gate lounge after arriving late for a flight on the morning of July 24, 2014. They also did not have boarding passes, which are required for the area.

The report said Brownlee had ‘‘plenty of time’’ to go through security correctly and still catch the flight, as a review of screening times that day showed the process took less than two minutes per passenger.

The group had entered the security controlled area through a manned exit door. An airport staff member opened the door intending to tell Brownlee he could not enter that way.

The report said the staff member recalled Brownlee ‘‘stated words along the lines of ‘sorry to do this to you but we’re in a hell of a hurry’ before walking off to the departure gates’’.

The staff member was so ‘‘dumbfounded’’ he did not tell Brownlee he had to go back through security, but radioed his supervisor immediately afterwards.

After bypassing security, Brownlee purchased gum and a can of soft drink from an airport bookstore before going to the departure lounge near his gate, where he got a boarding pass.

The report said Brownlee’s presence and conduct would have ‘‘had the affect of potentially exerting a degree of undue influence, whether intended or not’’ on the staff member.

Brownlee was fined $2000 and given a formal letter of warning for the incident in November 2014. The two aides were also given warnings. He attempted to resign immediately after the incident, but it was not accepted by Prime Minister John Key.

At the time, Brownlee publicly apologised for the incident. He said he acted ‘‘without thought’’ and put staff in ‘‘a compromised position’’.