John Key's office has released the email trail between the Henry Inquiry and Parliamentary Services. And it shows that they've been lying to us about whether they had accessed Peter Dunne's emails:
Parliamentary Service gave a ministerial inquiry emails between UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne and Fairfax journalist Andrea Vance, it has emerged.
The revelation follows the resignation yesterday of Parliamentary Service head Geoff Thorn amid fallout from the Henry inquiry.
In documents set to be released this afternoon, it will be revealed that Parliamentary Service recalled the emails that it sent to inquiry head David Henry, who had been tasked with finding out who leaked a confidential report on the Government Communications Security Bureau to Vance.
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) will issue a statement this afternoon saying the emails were never read and the attachments were destroyed.
But why should we believe that statement? Everything we've learned about the Henry Inquiry has shown that it has lied to us at every turn. It said it didn't have access Andrea Vance's phone records. It lied. It said it didn't have access to Peter Dunne's emails. It lied about that too. All it has done is lie to us in an effort to cover up its over-reach and constitutional abuses. Why should we believe it is doing anything different now?
Parliamentary Services manager Geoff Thorn has already resigned over this for bowing to the inquiry's demands, but more heads have to roll. DPMC Chief Executive Andrew Kibblewhite says he was one of the inquiry's commissioners, along with GCSB Director Ian Fletcher. Let's start with them.
Meanwhile, this pattern of deceit has been absolutely corrosive of trust in government. Such systematic lying means that we can no longer trust anything the government says. And that's not good for our democracy.
