DBP lied to the PM also

It had been reported that the PM only learnt on Wednesday that DBP had told Hugh Logan that he was unlikely to have full and frank discussions with the Ministry if Setchell was kept on.

Now I assumed after questions in the House suggesting he had said he would not have her in his office, that DBP thought it was a good idea to let the PM know of that detail.  Or maybe that the PM had asked DBP whether there was anything additional.

But it seems that he never fessed up voluntarily.  The SSC informed Clark on Wednesday of his comments, and she then called in him to say he needs to tell the truth (this time) in the House as otherwise the comments would come via the SSC at some stage.

But get this – even though he sat down on Monday with the PM and her colleagues, and lied to them about what he said.  That was not a sackable offence.  It was only after the House on Thursday when the press gallery starting to state they had been lied to, that she decided he had to go.

So the moral of the story – you don’t get sacked for lying.  You get sacked for being caught out by the media in a lie.