Leaked report not ‘sinister’

Press, 10 November 1981, Page 6

Leaked report not ‘sinister’

PA ’ Whangarei Hamilton’s outspoken member of Parliament, Mr M. J. Minogue, would stay outside the Cabinet as long as he retained his independent views, said the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) yesterday. The National Party backbencher, who is again contesting the Hamilton West seat at the General Election, criticised the secret report to the Cabinet economic committee which seeks to reduce the powers of the Commissioner for the Environment.

Mr Muldoon told journalists he doubted if Mr Minogue had seen the report. “Mr Minogue is not a member of the Cabinet and so long as he wants to be an independent he won't be a member,” he said.

“This is simply a paper for the Cabinet economic committee, and to be perfectly frank with you I cannot

remember what we did with it.” The paper was part of the continuing process of “tidying” environmental reporting requirements. “There is nothing sinister in it and nothing particularly unusual about it. “In this environmental field we have just got to take it that any secret or confidential document is going to be leaked to the press,” Mr Muldoon said. “These fellows are very hot on the environment but they are very light on integrity.”' The aim was to avoid the Environmental Commissioner making economic policy. He recognised this and accepted that it was not his role. It was the Government’s responsibility to make economic policy and the Government was answerable to the people, Mr Muldoon said.