Government's Telecom mole found

The mole who leaked secret Cabinet documents to Telecom has been traced and is facing action.

State Services Commissioner Mark Prebble said today he understood "employment action" had been initiated against the culprit.

The Government was forced to bring forward an announcement on opening Telecom's network to competitors, which it had intended to make as part of next week's budget, after Telecom revealed it had a copy of the Cabinet documents.

Dr Prebble said today that investigation was nearing completion and he expected to be able to release a report next week.

"I have assessed that there is no continuing risk for the security of government information. I understand employment action has now been initiated in relation to this event," he said.

The announcement on "unbundling" of the local telecommunications loop caused a $1bn drop in Telecom's share price.

- NZPA