Press secretary resigns post

Press, 13 July 1985, Page 2

Press secretary resigns post

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington The information officer to the Leader of the Opposition, Mr McLay, resigned yesterday morning and left last evening. Mrs Wendy Mehany walked out after a number of incidents in recent weeks, culminating in the incident of telephone calls made to Australia last week to inquire about the health of the Prime Minister, Mr Lange. Mr McLay at his postcaucus press conference on Thursday seemed to be trying to deflect attention from the calls made by his office on the subject of Mr Lange’s health. (“The Press” printed yesterday a transcript of his responses to questions on the subject.) These inquiries had been made with Mr McLay’s knowledge, and were interpreted by Mr Lange on his return to New Zealand as an attempt to mount a rumour campaign against him. They were known to have been made by a member of Mr McLay’s staff, who telephoned a number of news media people in Australia to confirm or discount a Radio Pacific report that Mr Lange was in an Australian hospital for surgery. It was routine for her to check such a report. Mrs Mehany made the telephone calls, it emerged during the Budget debate in Parliament on Tuesday evening when the Minister of Transport, Mr Prebble, spent some time analysing what had happened. Mr Prebble sourced the telephone calls to “a person called Wendy in the office of the Leader of the Opposition.” This aroused the anger of the Opposition spokesman

on finance, Mr Bill Birch, who on a point of order questioned whether the name “Wendy” referred to someone else — the implication being that it was Mr McLay himself who had made the telephone calls. Mr Prebble could not believe his good fortune, and lost no time in advising Parliament that the Leader of the Opposition, was not the “Wendy” he was referring to. This embarrassment may have prompted Mr McLay to decline to comment further when the issue was raised at his Thursday press conference. By not commenting any further, he left the impression in some minds that the whole matter was somehow the responsibility of Mrs Mehany. Mrs Mehany visited the office of “The Press” in Parliament after Mr McLay’s press conference, to get the whole issue downplayed. As a result of Mr McLay’s own intervention, the item was not used by the 6.30 p.m. Television News on Thursday. Later “The Press” was visited by Mr McLay’s private secretary, Mr Malcolm Fearn, asking if he could help on the issue any further. Mr Fearn also said that Mrs Mehany had been under a lot of pressure, and left the impression that he thought she was over-react-ing in a way that was not helping Mr McLay. In fact, Mrs Mehany had supported Mr McLay’s “no comment” response by trying to dampen the issue down even more. Yesterday morning Mrs Mehany handed in her resignation, which was accepted, and she finished last evening. Mrs Mehany was due to

leave in mid-August. Her resignation only brought forward by a month a departure that was already certain. She had been told in mid-May that her contract would not be renewed, and was given three months to make other arrangements. Mrs Mehany was a press officer employed by the Tourist and Publicity Department during the time of the last National Government, when she worked for the then Minister of Health, Mr Aussie Malcolm. When National lost office in July last year it was not immediately clear whether Mrs Mehany, or some other members of the press officer corps, would have jobs in the Beehive. As Mrs Mehany wished to continue to work in Parliament, she applied for and won a 12-month contract to work as the press officer for Sir Robert Muldoon, then the Leader of the Opposition. When Mr McLay succeeded Sir Robert he inherited Mrs Mehany as part of his staff. Mrs Mehany had 12 months leave of absence from the Tourist and Publicity Department to work for the Opposition, leave due to run out in midAugust. She was a public servant, and not identified with the National Party. It was made clear to her when her contract was not renewed in May, and she was given three months notice to go, that Mr McLay wanted someone more closely identified with the National Party as his press officer. His choice fell on Ms Michelle Boag, a public relations consultant in Wellington who until recently had been promotions officer for the Wellington division of the National Party.