When the issue of his crony appointment of Ian Fletcher was first raised, John Key sought to minimise their relationship, passing it off as a casual acquaintance from long ago. He also claimed in Parliament not to be able to recall any contact with Fletcher before the appointment, and to the media that he had not seen him in a long time. He lied:
Prime Minister John Key had breakfast with Ian Fletcher just days after he selected a panel to interview candidates for the country's top spy job.
The pair ate together at Auckland's Stamford Plaza Hotel on June 17, 2011. Key says the vacancy, as head of the Government Communications Security Bureau, was not discussed.
Three days earlier, Key had signed off on an interview panel for the job, which included then Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet boss Maarten Wevers. Fletcher was the only person to be interviewed for the post, after a shortlist of four other candidates was rejected.
Of course, there's no evidence to suggest that the GCSB position was mentioned at that meeting - but if it didn't, why has Key been so keen to cover it up? The fact that he has consistently lied and minimised shows he is trying (ineptly) to hide something. And the natural conclusion is that he stitched up this appointment from the beginning.
