KEY POINTS:
A curt Trevor Mallard is ducking calls to apologise to communications consultant Erin Leigh, as it emerges that his attack on her may have been based not only on written advice but also a verbal briefing about her employment.
Mr Mallard - who two weeks ago criticised Ms
Leigh as incompetent and sad - avoided reporters at Parliament yesterday as he arrived at question time and again when he left the House after a grilling from the National Party.
The decision by Mr Mallard to attack Ms Leigh's competence is under scrutiny after the Ministry for the Environment chief executive, Hugh Logan, said on Wednesday that he had not intended the written advice he gave Mr Mallard about Ms Leigh to be a reflection on her ability or performance.
In a statement, Mr Logan described her media work as professional and of good quality.
National Party state services spokesman Gerry Brownlee had a terse exchange with Mr Mallard in Parliament yesterday in which he demanded the minister say sorry for "savagely" attacking Ms Leigh.
But Mr Mallard said he was waiting to see the report of State Services Commissioner Mark Prebble into allegations of political interference at the Environment Ministry - on which Ms Leigh blew the whistle - before he said anything further.
On Wednesday, Mr Mallard said he had no intention of apologising and felt he had acted on the advice he was given when he criticised Ms Leigh.
The Environment Ministry was asked to prepare advice about Ms Leigh's employment just over two weeks ago in order to inform the minister so he could answer a question in Parliament.
But it is understood that with the written document, Mr Mallard also received verbal advice about Ms Leigh's employment that was not glowing.
He then launched into Ms Leigh.
The exchange
National MP Gerry Brownlee questions Trevor Mallard in Parliament:
GB: Does he have confidence in the chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment; if so, why?
TM: As I have previously told the member, confidence in the chief executive is a matter for the State Services Commissioner.
GB: Has he had any discussions with the State Services Commissioner about the competence of Mr Logan, noting particularly that in less than a week after providing the minister with incorrect information, for which the minister had to come down to the House and make a correction, Hugh Logan has done it again; and why, in this case relating to the attack on Erin Leigh, does the minister find it so hard to make a correction and an apology?
TM: I have regular discussions with Dr Prebble.
GB: If all the blame for the vicious attack on Erin Leigh lies with Hugh Logan and the ministry, as they have publicly said, why is it so hard for the minister to say sorry for his part in this shameful fiasco?
TM: I am waiting to see Dr Prebble's report.