Three weighty tomes equally heavy on detail may yet haunt Key

Former justice minister Judith Collins is exonerated, the Department of Corrections has some faults and there is nothing for Prime Minister John Key to apologise for, or so the narrative goes.

In a disappointing continuation with tradition, the Government released three weighty reports within two hours in an obvious attempt to baffle the public, and hopefully Opposition politicians, with a huge amount of detail.

Parliament descended into a shouting match yesterday with screams for Mr Key to resign.

Social media became a battle ground for the Left and Right as each side pulled out bits of the reports to justify their positions.

The tactic used by the Government yesterday is not new.

Former prime minister Helen Clark was a master at releasing data either late on the Thursday before Good Friday, or late afternoon on any particular Friday.

It is now common to deliver bad news with a series of ''don't look, nothing to see here'' reports, which are designed to show the respective governments in a good light and deflect attention away from the bad news.

What is particularly disappointing about yesterday is the Government attempting to distract attention away from one of the most damning reports released so far in the term of the Prime Minister.

The report by Inspector-general of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn clearly identified failings of Mr Key's office in dealing with a blogger and indicated Mr Key had divested some of his responsibilities for dealing with the SIS to a staff member.

Ms Collins was cleared of trying to undermine the former head of the Serious Fraud Office, Adam Feeley, now the chief executive of the Queenstown Lakes District Council.

But that report showed there was a conspiracy to discredit the man in charge of policing the financial markets.

And the Department of Corrections has some work to do concerning its processes in dealing with temporary release prisoners after the absconding by Phillip Smith.

If Mr Key thought dumping the three reports on one day was a good strategy, he may now be regretting that decision. Ongoing scrutiny will continue until the reports are thoroughly digested.

dene.mackenzie@odt.co.nz

Add a Comment