“Ashley Bloomfield’s admission that he just forgot he’d been texting the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade about the UN worker from Fiji shows an official being economical with the truth,” says ACT Leader David Seymour

“Perhaps most telling is his protestation, that he didn’t intend to mislead the Committee. We think the Director General protests too much.

“Our democracy depends on the people sending representatives to Wellington to hold the Government accountable. Accountability is impossible if Government representatives don’t tell the truth to Parliament, such as to the Health Select Committee.

“You can see why Labour have been so reluctant to bring back the Epidemic Response Committee. You can see why they stacked the Health Committee with patsy questions. Once Ashley Bloomfield gets asked basic questions, things get ugly.

“New Zealanders deserve an open and transparent Government. That’s what Jacinda Ardern promised, but it’s just another thing she’s finding difficult to deliver.”

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