Crown to pay costs of Mr Lange’s apology

Press, 10 March 1987, Page 1

Crown to pay costs of Mr Lange’s apology

By

BRENDON BURNS

in Wellington Taxpayers will bear the costs of the Prime Minister’s attack on the former Defence chief, Sir Ewan Jamieson, which yesterday led to a public apology. The fees of two top Wellington lawyers are involved. At his post-Cabinet news conference last Monday, the Prime Minister had twice suggested that Sir Ewan had been acting for the Northrop Arms Corporation while still Chief of Defence Staff. He changed the reference later in the conference to Sir Ewan having been “talking” with Northrop about taking the job after retiring. Speaking after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Mr Lange said he regretted his first comments and was happy to say Sir Ewan had filled his responsibilities impeccably. Mr Lange had even urged him to extend his term in office. “I want to apologise for any hurt that might have occurred in respect of the allegation that he was fulfilling two functions at once. He was not,” Mr Lange said. Asked if the apology

was made for legal reasons, Mr Lange said it had been issued for political reasons after his error. Speaking from his Wellington home, Sir Ewan said he was satisfied with the apology. He said he had not sought to sue the Prime Minister for any sum of money. . “The only settlement I was interested in was clearing my reputation,” he said. ”It is settled to my complete satisfaction.” Sir Ewan’s solicitor, Sir Hamilton Mitchell, said Mr Lange had been written to, seeking an apology, with the requirement that this be made publicly at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference. Sir Hamilton said no threats of legal action were made, but “the Prime Minister had agreed to pay all reasonable legal expenses,” he said. The top Wellington barrister, Mr Des Dalgety, who has often acted for the former Prime Minister, Sir Robert Muldoon, was employed on behalf of Sir Ewan. His hourly fee is understood to run to $250. Mr Lange’s chief press

secretary, Mr Ross Vintiner, confirmed that the Crown will meet the costs incurred by Sir Ewan. Mr Vintiner declined to confirm or deny whether Mr Lange had also taken legal advice. The Prime Minister’s response to this question yesterday was, “I am a lawyer.” But “The Press” has learnt that the top Wellington litigation lawyer, Mr Tom Goddard, was consulted. His hourly fee is thought to be about $2OO. Mr Vintiner said for the Crown to meet costs for a Prime Minister in such a situation was normal. The Cabinet Office Manual contains a chapter on litigation against Ministers of the Crown. It says by the nature of his or her official position, a Minister is constantly exposed to the possibility of legal action. A procedure is outlined whereby the issue is referred to the Cabinet by the Attorney-General (Mr Palmer in this case), to certify whether any action subject to a •'legal claim was part of the Minister’s duties. Costs are normally met in the same way as for

•any public servant. An exception is made where malice is involved meaning, in broad terms, improper motives. The costs come from the Minister’s Vote, in this case either from the Prime Minister’s Department or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Lange also apologised yesterday to Sir Ewan and the former Foreign Affairs secretary, Mr Frank Corner, for suggesting they were in Washington as part of an orchestrated response to the defence White Paper. But that apology only came after it was raised by journalists. “I did not know that it has actually got to the stage that you have to apologise to someone for alleging they went to Washington,” said Mr Lange. “What I said was wrong and I apologise for saying they were somewhere where they were not.” Mr Lange rejected a suggestion that he had been trying to smear two of his most prominent critics on the Government’s defence policies. “There is no smear in it. I thought that I was telling the truth,” he said.