Grant
ROBERTSON
Deputy Leader
28 May 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT
Judith Collins rorts process again
National’s rorting of processes for appointments to government positions has been exposed again with Judith Collins
giving special treatment to Jackie Blue’s application to be Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, says Labour’s
Deputy Leader Grant Robertson.
“This National government has a record of riding roughshod over process in the interests of their cronies. The process
followed by Judith Collins in this appointment was not fair. Other candidates were not treated the same as Jackie Blue –
Ms Collins’ fellow National MP.
“Expressions of interest in the position closed on the 13th of October 2012. Ms Collins received a summary list of those
who had applied on the 1st of November that did not include Jackie Blue’s name.
“Jackie Blue’s expression of interest was then sent to the Ministry of Justice on the 11th of November, and a new list
of candidates was provided to Judith Collins on 19 December 2012, with Jackie Blue’s name included.
“This timeline shows that Jackie Blue was treated differently to other candidates. What is worse is that Ms Collins is
trying to cover this up by claiming that she received Ms Blue’s expression of interest in September. The problem is that
there is no paper trail in documents released under the Official Information Act to back this up.
“In fact Ms Collins originally said in answer to written parliamentary questions that she had not discussed the position
with Jackie Blue before the closing date for expressions of interest on the 13th of October. She subsequently changed
that answer to claim that there was a discussion in September.
“New Zealanders rightly pride themselves on living in a country where everyone gets a fair go. It seems that is not
important to Judith Collins or National. She has failed to run a fair and transparent process. It’s not on, but is sadly
typical of a government interested in governing only for their mates and cronies,” said Grant Robertson.
ENDS