National MP Hamish Walker has announced he won’t be standing for re-election in the Southland electorate at the September 19 election.
He made the announcement on Wednesday afternoon, as the National Party board was meeting to discuss his fate.
National Leader Todd Muller on Wednesday morning effectively said he wanted Walker gone.
Walker on Tuesday admitted to giving media the personal details of 18 people with COVID-19 in quarantine.
He said he did so to expose the fact the information was supposedly being held insecurely.
However, reporters who received the information said Walker wanted them to see the names to justify his comment, criticised for being racist, that it was "absolutely disgraceful" that arrivals from "India, Pakistan and Korea" were going into managed isolation down south without the community being consulted.
Walker received the patients' details from former National Party President Michelle Boag, who said she received them in her capacity as the Acting CEO of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust (ARHT), even though they were sent to her personal email address.
However the Trust said Boag has never had access to any clinical or patient data held by it.
"ARHT is an integral part of the health system and we are entrusted with information about our patients which is properly protected by protocols which only enable access to those who need this data to care for the patient. We have reviewed these protocols and are confident that none of this patient information has been subject to any privacy breach," its chair Simon Tompkins said.
Boag has resigned from her role with ARHT. She will also no longer be part of National Deputy Leader Nikki Kaye’s campaign for Auckland Central.
Walker and Boag came clean more than 24 hours after the State Services Commission announced it had appointed Michael Heron QC to investigate the leak.
Walker reportedly only told Muller he was the leaker at midday on Monday, after he and other National MPs had spent much of the weekend attacking the Government for its handling of border control.
Muller reportedly asked Walker to own up publicly. He then received a letter from Walker's lawyers asking the party not to out Walker, citing privacy concerns.
Muller said: “There was a clear breach of trust, which goes against the values National holds as a party.
“The National Party Board will still meet today to discuss the selection of a new candidate.”
Muller has distanced himself from Boag, saying she didn't have anything to do with he and Kaye overthrowing Simon Bridges and Paula Bennett.
Walker said: “I wish to thank the people of Clutha-Southland who I have loved meeting, assisting and representing over the past two and a half years.
“I sincerely apologise for my actions.”
National Party President Peter Goodfellow said: "On behalf of the National Party Board of Directors, I would like to apologise for any distress caused to the individuals concerned as a result of the actions of one of our Members of Parliament."
Heron is expected to report back in three weeks' time.
A spokesperson for the State Services Commission said costs would likely be recovered from the various parties involved.
The media organisations that received the personal information chose to not share it.
92 Comments
And what about the timing to bring out the book, it can be seen as a negative for Muller and National even though her target was Key.
I thought she looked a little glum last night when there was a shot of her with the front bench, she probably got a rollicking from Muller about the book release.
Yep, Luxon to go next. Thankfully Muller will blow it all up, so he can walk in without having to use a knife.
If not him, then my call is that he won't be deputy. He aspires to be PM, and deputies often come with too much baggage for succession. Kind of like Labour have done with Grant Robertson, kept him at #3, so if/when he succeeds Jacinda, he's not tainted by being deputy during everything that's gone before (including potentially those things that led to Jacinda going)
Everyone expects Luxon to be a leader of National at some point, the problem is how he gets there. Since he'll only just be a newbie MP, moving into the leadership before the 2nd half of 2022 seems unlikely, so who's going to be leader in the meantime?
I guess they could stick it out with Muller, like they did with Simon. Really depends if Muller gets them a result starting with a 2 or not.
He's correct, but possibly not in the way he thinks. 2020 will be remembered at least for COVID-19 and the varied responses to it. The failures of right wing dictators' responses (Duterte, Bolsonaro, Putin, Trump), for example. The comparative success in other countries.
'Xenophobia not data security the more likely reason'.... you could add simple dumbarse stupidity and attention deficit syndrome or just possibly the born to rule twat might have spotted a genuine irregularity of concern in the spreadsheet data. I'm keeping my mind open - slightly.
And ditto the adjacent seat of Invercargill occupied by Ms Dowie, soon to quit. Victim, willing or not, of another National fiasco redolent of skullduggery in high circles. Must be a bit cold down there, seem to be attracted to heat. And as President Truman succinctly quipped long ago, if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. Still applies doesn’t it, well and truly.
Fair point. I've made assumptions which may not align with the facts. I just sensed, rightly or wrongly, that she was on the receiving end of more public and by inference media 'blame' judgement than Ross. I would like to have seen her tough the sneering out and carry on but easy for me to say that.
No doubt Walker is an idiot and had to go.
I think we should acknowledge that the NZ media outlets he shared the information with chose not to publish it and raised the red flag. In many other countries I don't think the media would have taken the same principled approach.
Redcows. That's an insightful comment and I can only agree. After 3 years in opposition, the National Party hasn't picked up on the shift to which you refer. The election of the patrician Muller is evidence if it was required. A party still reeking of privilege, entitlement, arrogance and elitism with an absolute disrespect for the NZ public. The hideous Boag considers it acceptable to share the health details of covid-19 patients. This is utterly despicable. I suspect another two terms in the wilderness may be required before they become electable.
Inevitable result, stupid move disclosing private information to media - bad timing for National to have questionable members with bad judgement just before an election where they are supposed to get elected primarily for having good judgement
Muller and co knew better and it is the right call to cut them out of govt
Michelle Boag is way ahead of Hamish Walker in National's hierarchy by several pay grades. Others will definitely be involved here. Too many loose ends, too many things not quite stacking up. Such action as this isn't taken lightly or in some maverick fashion. Walker's the chump, the fall guy here. Watch this space.
Possibly in her twisted brain , she thought she was doing the party a favour. Pick the dumbest MP , already under fire for racist comments , and give him a list , which presumably contains non kiwi sounding names, to leak . Then Muller gets to take the high ground and fire him. Only walker got legal advice , and took her with him .
It doesn't include nationalities.
The nationalities are already publicly available anyway: https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-no…
Actually 'last country returned from'. Might not be a significant difference but leaves the possibility open that they could have transited from elsewhere. I recall cases being reported of infected travellers from elsewhere such as Kenya and from memory Afghanistan but don't see those places on the current list.
What about the guy who prepared a report based on racial profiling of Chinese surnames? Who is still part of her cabinet? Who doesn't seem to get sacked no matter how badly he stuffs things up? Who is in charge of our economic recovery? Who just got promoted on their party list?
Crocodile tears.
There wasn't really any choice but to do something like that.
National flatly refused to allow any statistics on the numbers of overseas property buyers were in the NZ market, if they had done we could have had a sensible debate about it at the time.
But of course the Nats had vested interests they wanted to protect.
Because he had to take legal advice.
I didn't specify what he should have done, just that he appears to have done nothing aside from "seek legal advice". He could have advised Mike Heron that he had information relevant to the investigation, but not provided any details.
He didn't.
Don't even think about Judith Collins doing anything. Like Michelle Boag, she has far too much bad baggage to be where she is, let alone further up the pecking order. The only people who put up with people like them are the ones who think the same . The vast majority of Kiwi voters will run a mile from either of them when they are reminded of their pasts coming up to the election.
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