Minister Gone - Now Chief Executive Feels Heat

Friday, 27 July 2007, 4:36 pm
Article: Kevin List

Minister Gone - Now Chief Executive Feels Heat

The fallout from Madeleine Setchell's brief career as ommunications manager for the Ministry for the Environment continued today. This morning Minister for the Environment David Benson-Pope fell on his sword after his credibility was irretrievably dented after a week of tough questions by the media and Opposition regarding Ms Setchell's employment.

Shortly after Mr Benson-Pope had tendered his resignation the Chief Executive of the Ministry for the Environment, Hugh Logan, along with Acting State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie, was facing the media.

Mr Logan was in hot water over the fact that he had ommitted to mention to Mr Rennie a converation he had with Mr Benson Pope regarding Ms Setchell – a conversation that ultimately cost the Minister his job.

Ms Setchell who is the partner of National Leader John Key's chief press secretary Kevin Taylor had been appointed to her position within the Ministry for the Environment without the Minister or Mr Logan's knowledge. Yesterday when questioned by National's Gerry Brownlee Mr Benson Pope admitted that after discovering who Ms Setchell's partner was he informed Mr Logan he would likely be "less free and frank in meetings with such a person."

The admission yesterday by the Minister that he had told Mr Logan he didn't wish to fully converse with the Ministry for the Environment's communications manager ultimately lead to his resignation. Mr Benson-Pope had previously stuck to the line that he had left the entire affair in Mr Logan's hands.

Mr Logan omitted to tell Mr Rennie about Mr Benson-Pope's concerns regarding Ms Setchell when Mr Rennie was preparing a briefing for the State Services Minister on the employment issues relating to Ms Setchell.

"Mr Logan volunteered his full recollections to me earlier this week. In hindsight it would have been desirable for this to have been made clear to me before this week," explained Mr Rennie to a packed media conference held at the State Services Commission this afternoon.

Mr Logan told the media that "with the benefit of hindsight" he should have informed Mr Rennie of his conversation with Mr Benson-Pope.

"I realised over the weekend that the public interest issues became more prominent and that the employment issues became a separate issue," said Mr Logan.

Mr Logan pointed out that Ms Setchell and Mr Taylor would most likely have been working on the same issues "but from a different perspective." Mr Logan was adamant that he had come to the decision to move Ms Setchell from her job off his own bat. After becoming concerned that there was a potential for a conflict of interest Mr Logan offered Ms Setchell alternate employment within the Ministry.

Ms Setchell declined to accept the offer of alternative employment and after coming to a confidential agreement with the Ministry left their employment.

The exact details of what happened between Ms Setchell and Mr Logan remain something of a mystery. Mr Logan has been at pains to point out Ms Setchell is not at at any fault and had in fact been upfront with the employment panel that hired her. Since the details of Ms Setchell's employment difficulties became public Ms Setchell and Mr Taylor have declined to be interviewed by the media and have only been quoted in the media as offering "no comment" on the story.

The fact that many of the main players in this story have remained silent in the media has not stopped the Opposition from launching a concerted barrage of questions that ultimately cost the Minister his job and has put the Chief Executive Mr Logan in an extremely difficult position.

Images - the NZ media gets the opportunity to descend upon high ranking public servants

Listen to the Hugh Logan and Iain Rennie discuss the employment issues surrounding Madeleine Setchell in detail

ENDS

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