Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday went into battle on behalf of Finance Minister Michael Cullen over news coverage of a mortgage levy, but she ended up in a battle of her own - issuing veiled threats to reporters about contact with ministers.
She complained at her post-Cabinet press
conference that coverage had been given to the mortgage levy when it was clearly "dead in the water".
Dr Cullen had said such a levy would require consensus, and National finance spokesman Bill English had made it clear there was none.
"Dr Cullen has made it clear it's a dead duck because there is no consensus," Helen Clark said.
But she also had a warning for reporters.
"I do raise a more serious issue which is that if media like having access to ministers for reflective interviews on a wide range of subjects, that's not the way to treat people because you will find that people will give very narrow and focused interviews and refuse to comment on anything outside a narrow brief.
"These things need to be dealt with at some level of maturity."
Dr Cullen's major economic speech on Friday was overshadowed by a radio news story about the levy (first proposed 10 months ago) that had emanated from a long interview with a reporter the day before.
But while Dr Cullen had responded to a question from the reporter rather than raising the mortgage issue himself, his response suggested it was not completely dead. "I think that is one area that is worth further investigation," he told National Radio.
The mortgage levy was one of the recommendations made in a report released 10 months ago by the Reserve Bank and Treasury about finding new ways for the Reserve Bank to have more immediate influence over housing interest rates.
In several testy responses to questions yesterday, Helen Clark said she had "no idea whether [Dr Cullen] think's it's a good idea".
National leader John Key said Helen Clark's "stoush" with the media showed the Government was "shaky." It was also evidence of "a rift".
"They can't agree on tax cuts and they can't agree on tax increases either, with Dr Cullen saying on Friday he wanted to study the mortgage levy idea and Helen Clark squashing it today."
