Ministers all over the place on Smith passport

Ministers responsible for the Phillip Smith debacle are at odds over the passport he used to escape, says Labour’s Corrections spokesperson Kelvin Davis.

“It beggars belief that Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne says the passport issued to Smith, under his original name Traynor, should not have been issued, while the Minister of Corrections Peseta Sam Lotu-liga said in the House this afternoon it was issued legitimately.

“Clearly one of them is wrong.

“Corrections is in a mess. There is no accountability from the top of the department to the bottom.”

“Yesterday’s damning report on Smith’s escape highlighted major issues. It is time the Ministers responsible for this whole sorry affair got their act together,” says Kelvin Davis.

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