David Parker should be sacked
Trevor Mallard scolded the Ministry for the Environment for hiring Labour activist Clare Curran, and in Parliament today he described the decision to hire her as naive. Yet it was Minister David Parker who advised the Ministry to hire Curran - and Helen Clark said on Friday that it was Parker who was naive and it wasn't such a big deal.
So it is now naive to follow the advice of a Minister.
But tonight we found out why it is such a big deal: Parker wanted Curran to make sure Labour's election agenda was looked after. In other words he managed the selection process, which is a big deal.
A former employee at the Ministry of the Environment, Erin Leigh said she resigned over the political interferance, and so did her boss. This from the TV3 News tonight:
She was there representing David Parker's personal political agenda - it was highly unusual, my advice was to push back on the minister and it could be illegal, Leigh says..If this is true - and the State Services Commission is doing another investigation on this - Parker should immediately lose his portfolios as he is not fit to be a Minster of the Crown. Two Ministers interfered with employment processes, one is gone for lying about it, the Ministry lied to the Minister about the tender, then had to apologise, and now we find out that there was not just political advice, but the Minister planted a Labour activist to further his agenda in a "neutral" public service - and a Minister lied about that in parliament today as well.
Leigh says her warnings were ignored, and she resigned in protest before Curran started.
She says Parker wanted Curran to make sure Labour's election agenda was looked after
A Minister who plants what is in effect a political advisor in a Government Department should be sacked. And if Mark Prebble knew about this, he should be sacked as head of the State Services Commission for doing nothing about it because he has not upheld political neutrality of the public service - which is his %*@* job.