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Simon Bridges press conference on Budget breach
Simon Bridges on Budget breach: Treasury secretary 'must resign'
National Party leader Simon Bridges says this week's behaviour by the government was "contemptible" in bringing in the police over the Budget data breach.
Mr Bridges has spoken to media after Treasury said this morning that the Budget breach wasn't unlawful.
Watch Simon Bridges' full press conference here:
He said Treasury knew since Tuesday what had happened and were covering up their "incompetence" and that Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf "must resign".
He also said Finance Minister Grant Robertson had played politics throughout should also resign as he did not have the "moral authority" to deliver the Budget today.
Mr Bridges said National "came across" the Budget material by doing a simple internet search on the Treasury website.
It was National's duty to access the information, he said.
"It was the right thing to do. It shows the incompetence of the government and it showed that this Wellbeing Budget is just glossy pictures."
Treasury has confirmed that a feature in its website search tool was exploited by an unknown person or persons, but police have concluded this did not break the law.
The investigation found one of the IP addresses involved in the searches belonged to the Parliamentary Service.
Yesterday, Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Mr Bridges were locked in a stand-off over the leaking of Budget information.
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