KEY POINTS:
Ministry for the Environment chief executive Hugh Logan says David Benson-Pope's reservations about Madeleine Setchell played no part in his decision to remove her as the ministry's communications manager.
He also said that even if Mr Benson-Pope had no problem working with her, he would still have removed
her because of a perceived conflict of interest.
"If he said to me it didn't matter, I would still hold the same view that there was a potential conflict of interest."
Mr Logan made the comments at a press conference where he sought to explain his role in the affair, which culminated in the resignation of Mr Benson-Pope from the Cabinet, where he has been Environment Minister and Social Development Minister.
Acting State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie said at the same press conference that commissioner Mark Prebble considered it legitimate for ministers to "have a say" in whom they dealt with.
Mr Rennie backed Mr Logan's processes and believed he came to his own decision without "improper interference" from Mr Benson-Pope.
But he criticised Mr Logan for not having told him of the conversation he had had with Mr Benson-Pope.
"In hindsight, it would obviously have been desirable for this to have been made clear to me before this week," Mr Rennie said.
He said Mr Logan "volunteered his full recollections" earlier this week.
Mr Rennie made no mention of it in his report to State Services Minister Annette King.
If it had been declared in the briefing note to Annette King, there would have been no opportunity for Mr Benson-Pope to make misleading statements about it.
Mr Logan said he had briefed Mr Rennie on a cellphone call from Palmerston North but that was no excuse for not having told him.
Although most of the blame is being levelled at Mr Benson-Pope, Mr Logan is coming under the spotlight, too. Prime Minister Helen Clark expressed disappointment on Radio New Zealand last night that he had not revealed the conversation earlier.
Mr Logan said when making his decision on Ms Setchell he had taken into account how the public, politicians, the media and other parties would see her position.
The seniority of the position held by her partner, Kevin Taylor, was also a factor and he believed Mr Taylor might have been involved in giving advice on how to counter some of the policy ideas coming out of the ministry. "They would both be likely working on the same issues but from a different perspective."
Central to Mr Benson-Pope's resignation was the fact that he had made misleading statements about his conversation with Mr Logan.
Mr Benson-Pope had denied giving Mr Logan his view on the matter, but in Parliament on Thursday, on the advice of the Prime Minister, he admitted that he had.
He said he had told Mr Logan that because Ms Setchell's partner was the chief press secretary to National leader John Key, he would be less frank in what he could say.
