Inquiries into leaks 'a witch-hunt'

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Labour has labelled a probe into Government leaks a witch-hunt and a waste of money.

State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie yesterday said parallel inquiries would look into a Dominion Post story, outlining planned mergers in the state sector, and a leak to Forest & Bird – passed on to the media – identifying areas of the conservation estate that could be mined.

"The Government is a serial leaker of information when it suits them. They need to take a good look in the mirror, rather than wasting resources on a witch-hunt of these whistleblowers," Labour state services spokesman Grant Robertson said.

The Dominion Post reported last week that the Government was considering folding the National Library and Archives New Zealand into the Department of Internal Affairs, merging the Food Safety Authority with the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, and merging the Foundation for Science, Research and Technology with the ministry.

Forest and Bird spokesman Kevin Hackwell said he had "learnt" the Government wanted to allow mining in Paparoa National Park, Great Barrier Island and on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Prime Minister John Key did not deny the reports but on Monday attacked the media for hysteria over the stories and suggested some of the details may not have been accurate.

"That's the danger when people want to leak information," he said. "When some people want to leak bits of information that aren't complete they risk getting out prematurely in front of a more coherent debate."

Mr Rennie said the first inquiry would cover the leak of information relating to a Cabinet paper on the "Stocktake of schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act 1991."

The second would look into the leak "of information relating to a machinery of government Cabinet paper on proposed changes to the structure of the state sector".

He said such leaks could seriously undermine trust in the Public Service.

"It is critical that we thoroughly investigate these breaches and act on any findings to ensure confidence in the system is maintained," Mr Rennie said.

"Ministers need to be able to continue to trust us to work with them around issues that can at times be difficult, and I expect public servants to follow good systems and practices that enable decisions to be made in an appropriately confidential manner."

The commission's chief legal adviser is to lead both investigations and report as soon as possible.

The report would be made public.

Mr Rennie said he would advise chief executives of the need to have systems and procedures in place to ensure that government information, including Cabinet material, was protected securely and not disclosed except in accordance with authorised procedures.

State Services Minister Tony Ryall, who called for the probes, said he would not comment until he had received the reports but he had no strong views on who had done it. However, he said any unauthorised disclosure of government information was a serious matter that could undermine trust in the public service.

Mr Robertson said the leaks were a result of the Government's secrecy on important public issues, and that it needed to look at its own handling of them instead of starting a witch-hunt. The Government had not even talked to key stakeholders in areas affected by state-sector mergers.