Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says it's "not the language I would have used" when asked about an email sent to Ministers directing them not to give media interviews on a Covid-19 document dump last week.
Her comments come after hundreds of official documents, including minutes and advice about Covid-19, were published on Friday afternoon, followed by a leaked Government email instructing Ministers not to do media interviews on the material released.
Ms Ardern was asked about the email at her post-Cabinet address today.
"I don't think that anyone could accuse me of not being available.
"Nor would I believe that to be the case either, but I will say it's not the language I would use in an email but I don't craft all the emails sent out by people who work in my team," she said.
A political commentator this morning says the memo sent from the Prime Minister's Office dents the idea of it being an open and transparent Government.
Josie Pagani and Ben Thomas give their thoughts on the Government’s handling of the release of documents about Covid-19. (Source: Other)
Josie Pagani told TVNZ1's Breakfast that the Government should have "points deducted" for the timing of its Friday dump, but more concerning was the memo that followed.
"The charitable light on this is that they wanted to get this out of the way before we moved to Level 2 so they could focus on safety measures in Level 2, that's the charitable interpretation.
"But I think the memo particularly dents this idea of a different type of politics, a transparent and open Government, and it adds something new which commentators have noticed which is sort of a tone of arrogance."
Ms Pagani also said the content of the documents was concerning, recommending a Royal Commission into how the Government handled the coronavirus pandemic and its advice.
"Not because we think they were wrong, but because we need to understand how did they make these decisions," she said.
"One of the things that really surprises me is that you can't say on the one hand that you've got to trust the experts, and then on the other hand do exactly what the experts tell you not to do which is go from Level 2 to Level 4 straight away which is what the Government did."
"[It] may have been the right call, I don't know, but I do think there needs to be some kind of Royal Commission at some point into how these decisions are made."
"Too many jobs were lost, too many businesses gone under. We need to understand how they made decisions and what can be done differently in the future."
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