Clare Curran quit today. But just this morning, the Prime Minister was knowingly lying to us about it on the radio:
Jacinda Ardern insisted in an interview today that she would not fire Clare Curran - but the Prime Minister had accepted the errant MP's resignation the night before.
The under-fire Curran has quit as a minister, saying the pressure on her had become "intolerable". She becomes the first casualty in the Ardern administration.
Ardern had suggested in a radio interview with Newstalk ZB's Chris Lynch - recorded at 8am this morning - that Curran's job was safe.
But it has now emerged the errant minister told Ardern last night that she would quit - and Ardern accepted her resignation.
Its a lie of omission, but it is still a lie. Past Prime Ministers have fired Ministers who have knowingly misled the public in this way. We should expect our Prime Minister to be honest with us. Sadly, this morning, she failed that test.
