Exposing
the reality behind John Key's denials
“Prime
Minister John Key is defending his role in the appointment of Ian
Fletcher as director of the Government Communications Security
Bureau.
“Mr
Key told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that despite ringing Mr
Fletcher to tell him about the job, proper
process had been followed in the appointment.”
Investigative
journalist Nicky Hager looks a bit more deeply at this -
See
also John Campbell's interview -
Former
GCSB head Sir Bruce Ferguson speaks out..
The
PM has such bad amnesia he really needs some help for his condition.
Key
'had forgotten' call to Fletcher
TV3,
3
April, 2013
Prime
Minister John Key has explained why he gave different stories about
the hiring of GCSB boss Ian Fletcher, saying he simply forgot how it
actually happened.
Mr
Key admitted
this morning that he was the one who had called Mr Fletcher and
told him about the job, not State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie
like he told reporters last week.
"I'd
forgotten that [phone call] at that particular time," he says.
"I don't remember everything that happened in 2010. I went back
through all the files and all the records."
Mr
Fletcher, a childhood friend of Mr Key, was hired at the beginning of
last year to head the Government Communications Security Bureau. He
was the only one to be interviewed.
His
appointment came only after Mr Rennie went to Mr Key and told him the
four people initially short-listed for the role were not good enough
and a better person was needed.
"[Mr
Rennie] said 'you'd better put your thinking cap on' and we discussed
Ian Fletcher and we discussed another name that was there […] and I
said 'I'll contact these two people'.
"So
I contacted them and sent them off to the State Services
Commissioner," he says.
The
initial phone call wasn't a job offer, Mr Key says, it was merely
informing him of the position.
"I
rang him and said 'look, I think you might be interested and if you
are interested, you should go and speak to Martin Weevers who is the
head of Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and see whether
that job interests you'".
Mr
Key never mentioned these details last week, saying the only role he
played in Mr Fletcher's appointment was that Mr Rennie had come to
him with a recommendation.
"The
State Services Commissioner made the recommendation, they interviewed
him, he hired him," he said.
Mr
Key rejects criticisms that he was nepotistic towards an old family
friend, and is adamant Mr Fletcher was the best person for the job.
"He
isn't some bunny I pulled out of my hat. This guy is a very
successful civil servant."
this reminds me of Muldoon!!!
ReplyDeleteit is that bad!