Curran strikes again

The Herald reports:

It would have been better for someone other than Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran to call RNZ chairman Richard Griffin over his reappearance at a select committee, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.

Curran has denied reports that she suggested Griffin should stay away from the select committee but says she left a message on his phone saying he didn’t have to appear in person.

“After receiving some advice from the Office of the Leader of the House I made a phone call to him suggesting that if he couldn’t attend in person that the record [to] be corrected could be corrected by letter,” Curran told reporters today.

The Minister really needs to learn some restraint.

Curran said she could not recall whether she had made a suggestion or inferred that Griffin not appear in person.

Well it was all of a couple of days ago.

Politik further reports:

When Curran learned of this, she left a message last Thursday morning on Griffin’s phone suggesting NZ not actually appear at the Committee again, but simply send a  written correction to their earlier statements to the Committee.

And the Prime Minister has confirmed that when Curran could not reach Griffin, directly, she asked the CEO of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Paul James, to contact him to urge him to provide only a written statement.

Had Griffin agreed it would have meant that he and Thompson would not have been able to answer questions from the Committee.

So not only did Curran directly try to dissuade the Radio NZ Chair from appearing, the Government also sent in the Chief Executive of MCH to pressure him not to appear.

All because they don’t want MPs to be able to ask questions about what really happened.

Again I remind people this comes from the Minister for Open Government.