Remorse would be better than pedantry

Hipkins and Allan are being very stupid by claiming there were no significant issues in Allan’s office because there were no formal complaints.

The fact three seperate departmental CEOs raised concerns speaks volumes. To have one CEO raise a concern is rare – three is pretty unheard of.

Of course there were no formal complaints. Allan is their bloody Minister. A CEO who lodged a formal complaint against their own Minister would be suicidal.

This issue could go away if Kiri just said something along the lines of “As a new Minister I may have been too hard on my staff, as I was getting to grips with my portfolios. I regret this, and have modified my style accordingly”. 90% of fair minded people would accept this.

But being pedantic about whether complaints were formal or not will just keep the issue alive. Especially as Stuff hints there is more to come:

A mystery text message – kept secret by senior public servants – is at the centre of a controversy swirling around Cabinet Minister Kiritapu Allan, and is now the subject of a complaint to Parliament’s information watchdog.

There is a reason they don’t want to release it.