John Key MP
National Party Leader

9 September 2007

Clark should sack O'Connor

Helen Clark should sack her Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor over the parliamentary rugby trip fiasco involving a suspended Corrections staff member, says National Party Leader John Key.

"Mr O'Connor has shown unbelievable stupidity by including in the parliamentary rugby team tour the partner of his senior private secretary who has been suspended from Rimutaka Prison under a cloud.

"Helen Clark needs to act and sack Mr O'Connor, or else admit she agrees with him.

"In isolation it might be possible to excuse Mr O'Connor for a mere act of stupidity, but this comes after a long catalogue of failures in the portfolio, many relating to his judgement.

"This is a department that needs to rebuild confidence with the public, and as the Minister he plays a crucial role in that rebuilding. Of all people, Mr O'Connor must have known the significance of that.

"Helen Clark also needs to explain why this government took the unjustified step of sacking a public servant for perceived conflict of interest, yet it was perfectly okay for a suspended prison officer to be included in a parliamentary rugby tour co-captained by the officer's own Minister.

"Damien O'Connor is just one of a number of Ministers under a cloud for their performance, and Helen Cark needs to do more than conduct minor surgery in her upcoming Cabinet reshuffle. Major open-heart surgery is required.

"She's already lost David Benson Pope, and Mark Burton, the Minister who introduced one of the most appallingly anti-democratic bills this country has ever seen, is on his way out.

"Meanwhile, Labour is coming under fire in Parliament from one of its own governing partners, NZ First. It all adds up to a shaky looking government."

ENDS

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