Hunt for ‘leaks’ upsets Mr Moore

Press, 29 January 1982, Page 4

Hunt for ‘leaks’ upsets Mr Moore

Parliamentary reporter >■ A request to .the Labour member of Parliament for Papanui (Mr M. K. Moore) to say ? where he obtained a “leaked” Cabinet paper'was’ described by Mr Moore yesterday as “incredible and unprecedented.” Mr Moore said that he had been asked by the chairman of the State Services Commission (Dr M. C. Probine) to provide the names of people who had given him inside information about Government policies on raising interest rates on Post Office home ownership account loans. In a letter to the Leader of the Opposition (Mr Rowling) it had been suggested that under section 15 of the State Services Act (1962) Mr Moore could be required to answer on oath. “I advised Dr Probine that the action contemplated was unique in New Zealand’s Parliamentary history and that I would not answer his questions,” Mr Moore said. “Dr Probine has said that no action will be taken against me. Action was considered but, due to my reaction and on reflection, the

matter was reconsidered. There 1 is no .way I would cooperate with a kangaroo court. I think the idea of using the State Services Act to force me to toe their line was stupid and smacks of Big Brother. “I am a member of Parliament. The use of leaks is a time-honoured and perfectly legitimate political function. It is as old as Parliamentary democracy itself. The free use of information is basic to a free Parliament,” Mr Moore said.

“The truth is that my original information was correct: that before the election the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) promised to open his safe and unlock the formula to decrease interest rates, while his Minister of Housing (Mr Quigley) was preparing a paper for the Cabinet to raise them.

“This is very much like other embarrassing leaks in the environmental area, so it is little wonder that the National Party now seeks to cover its tracks by a witch hunt,” he said.

“This trend of Big Brother and paranoid actions of the National Party represents

the mentality of Nixon and Watergate. These are the actions of a Government under seige, attempting to silence critics-rather than answer and solve the problems raised. .; • “They have strengthened the Security Intelligence Service, they are finger-printing civil servants, and now someone is asking a member of Parliament to answer questions or face possible judicial action. “That’s an amazing state of affairs. Will they next be finger-printing members of Parliament, clearing their mail, or carrying out saliva or blood tests on Ministers of the Crown?” Mr Moore said. “I feel embarrassed for the senior civil servants who I know are men and women of integrity and whom, I suspect, are doing this present job against their better judgment. “This was not a matter of national security. It was a major issue of public concern. The National Government is no more interested in open government or the housing needs of New Zealanders than it is in lowering interest rates,” he said.