More incompetence from Hodgson
Health Minister Pete Hodgson's incompetence is jeopardising public confidence in the Ministry of Health's investigation
into Focus 2000, says National’s Health spokesman, Tony Ryall.
"Mr Hodgson has been making extravagant claims about information he has received, yet none of those claims are supported
by the Ministry of Health,” says Mr Ryall.
"In Parliament yesterday, Mr Hodgson said he had received ‘new information’ that ‘changed our view significantly’.
“He said that ‘it is not in the national interest for me to give details of the new information or indeed the sources of
that new information....but I will say...that the information came from a variety of sources, mainly during the course
of Friday, and a little more over the weekend’.
"Earlier he had described this information as ‘potentially serious allegations’.
"In the Health select committee this morning, the Ministry of Health advised MPs that the ‘information’ all related to
matters that had been aired on radio on Friday morning.
“MPs were told that the Minister had passed on no matters additional to this. The Ministry also detailed the cases and
associated issues that they would be investigating. This is ‘information’ the Minister apparently deemed to be not in
the ‘national interest’, but had been on National Radio.
"Minister Hodgson is being incompetent and too tricky for his own good.
"A direct explanation of what his concerns were would have sufficed and caused much less embarrassment for him and his
government,” says Mr Ryall.
Ends