Gerry Brownlee MP
National Party State Services Spokesman

19 May 2008

What was Clark told about Thompson case?

National Party State Services spokesman Gerry Brownlee says Helen Clark’s claim that she was never told about issues relating to Mary Anne Thompson’s CV is difficult to accept.

“Mary Anne Thompson, one of the front runners to be the head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and an acting CEO, suddenly withdraws from the process and Helen Clark wants us to believe that she didn’t ask, and no one told her why.

“Furthermore, we are expected to believe that the State Services Commissioner knew about the suspicious CV and let Ms Thompson remain in a senior position at DPMC until she moved to the Immigration Service – into another very senior position.

“Four years later, with questions swirling around Helen Clark’s Ministers about the residencies offered to members of Ms Thompson’s family, suddenly the allegations about the CV surface.

“It will be very difficult for the public to accept that the Prime Minister never asked about why Ms Thompson dropped out of the running for the DPMC job, especially when Ms Thompson had travelled with Helen Clark and advised her over a number of years on a daily basis.

“It is as hard to believe that story as it is to believe that fully briefed Immigration Ministers did not know about the allegations contained in the Oughton report until they became public.

“Those Ministers’ stories do not stack up. They were fully briefed but took no action until they started being asked awkward questions.

“The Immigration Service is one of the most important arms of our public service. The integrity of our borders is reliant on that department’s integrity.

“As issues continue to unfold around the Pacific branch, senior Labour Ministers cannot keep ducking for cover.”

ENDS

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