KEY POINTS:
Trevor Mallard has made some bad judgment calls in his time but his refusal to apologise to Erin Leigh after today's bombshell takes the cake.
It makes no sense whatsoever. Helen Clark should instruct him to.
The State Services Commission should be in the process of sacking Hugh Logan if
he isn't preparing his resignation already as chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment.
Mallard, you may recall, as new Environment Minister stood up in the House on November 22 and said that Erin Leigh - a former communications specialist at the Ministry for the Environment - had repeated competence issues.
It allowed the Opposition to reinforce his bullying image.
The Erin Leigh employment affair is a sequel to the Madeleine Setchell employment affair. Mallard based his "competence" statement on advice given to him by Hugh Logan.
Logan this afternoon issued a formal apology to Erin Leigh saying her media work was professional of good quality.
Logan said he had been responsible for the briefing to Mallard and that the briefing note he gave to Mallard could be and was interpreted in an adverse way.
To cover their political butts, Annette King got an assurance from Logan's bosses at the State Services Commission that it was understandable that Mallard interpreted the advice in the way he did.
So what does Mallard do? He wait for Gerry Brownlee to announce the news of the Logan statement to the House and demand an apology by him to Erin Leigh. It sounds pretty reasonable in the circumstances.
But Mallard refuses to apologise and won't say why he won't say why.
It has been a tough week for Trevor. When he stopped to talk to reporters a little while ago leaving the House, he looked and sounded shattered.
He began the week in the dock of the Wellington District Court fending off a private prosecution for assault of MP Tau Henare under a law that truly deserves to be sent to the Law Commission.
Many people felt sorry for Mallard over that when the matter had been settled.
Now he appears to have lost all judgment over his refusal to apologise for being the conduit of wrong advice from his chief executive to the House.
Logan has to go, that must be certain. This must be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
The quality of advice coming from his ministry has long been questioned by the Government.
His error of judgments and refusal to follow advice of his superiors not to discuss employment matters with his (ex) minister, Benson-Pope, in the Madeleine Setchell affair eventually cost his minister his job.
And now his advice to his minister has led to another debacle, though one that is being compounded by Mallard.
Mallard won't say that he has lost confidence in Logan - that is legally a matter between Logan and his SSC bosses - but he surely has.
But there is a time when legal considerations and politics should be tossed out the window for common decency. Mallard was wrong. He should apologise.
