When Charlotte Bellis complained about MIQ, Covid Minister Chris Hipkins leaked private information about her in an effort to smear her. Now, the Herald reports that he did it despite being specifically told not to:
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins publicly disclosed private information about Kiwi journalist Charlotte Bellis who was stuck overseas despite officials telling him it was "not for public comment".Meanwhile in Question Time today Hipkins is suddenly clamming up, refusing to discuss why he disclosed personal information because it is "not in the public interest to do so". Its a fine example of how Ministers consistently conflate the public interest with their own personal political interests, while ignoring the actual public interest in accountability. But when have politicians ever really been interested in that?
This is just the latest case of Ministers leaking personal information for political advantage (or simply petty revenge), and it is clear that it is a consistent problem across our political culture. Once Ministers have tagged someone as an "enemy", they lack both the ethics and self-control to resist smearing with whatever weapon is at hand. Agencies sticking warnings on such information is clearly not effective in preventing such abuse. The solution seems obvious: if Ministers cannot be trusted with personal information, agencies simply should not give it to them.
