Clark’s new standard of ministerial responsibility

John Armstrong writes in the Herald about the buck-passing regarding Graeme Burton murdering while on parole.

As part of this, he astutely observes:

In brushing O’Connor aside, she might also be unintentionally rewriting the concept of individual ministerial responsibility. The old Bob Semple maxim of the minister being “responsible, but not to blame” for his or her department’s failings – and therefore not obliged to resign – has now become the department being both responsible and to blame.

Clark took that view with the Qualifications Authority over the NCEA botch-up. The same applied to Transpower when the lights went out in Auckland last year. And it has happened to the Parole Board and Corrections in the Burton case.

It is further evidence of the obvious – that the concept of individual ministerial responsibility exists only in theory.

Armstrong also notes that while there have been nine Ministerial resignations under Clark, none of them have been as a result of failures by their officials – all nine have been for personal scandals and improper conduct.