Among the criticisms aired by members of the public about Mr Ryall's wish to remove Mr Thomson from the role over the $16.9 million defrauding of the board are that it sends the wrong message to people who may uncover wrongdoing, and that confidence in Mr Thomson was expressed at the local body elections in 2007.
Mr Key's office, responding to the third request from the Otago Daily Times for comment on the issue, said Mr Ryall was following due process and Mr Key had no concerns.
Questions about the issue itself were referred back to Mr Ryall's office, but Mr Ryall is not commenting at this stage.
He awaits the views of the board and Mr Thomson, due by 5pm Monday, which he has said he will consider before making a decision.
Yesterday, Mr Thomson, responding to the Office of the Auditor-general's rejection of some claims Mr Thomson made in his briefing paper to Mr Ryall on the fraud, said it was acknowledged there was a difference of opinion between the board and the audit office.
"However, [board chief executive Brian ] Rousseau stands by his recollection of the conversation."
In a statement on Monday, the auditor-general's office stated a number of comments in the briefing paper about Audit New Zealand and auditor Bruce Robertson were " not correct and potentially harmful to the reputation of the office and individual auditors".
Yesterday, the auditor-general's office declined to comment on Mr Thomson's statement.
