Yesterday I posed a number of random impertinent questions about Michelle Boag and the handling of sensitive confidential information. One of them was:
Who else has she forwarded these reports to?
Well this morning that question has been answered, at least in part. Michael Woodhouse, he who poses with toilet seats, has admitted that he was one of the recipients of the information.
From Radio New Zealand:
National MP and health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse has confirmed he was also the recipient of patient details from former National Party president Michelle Boag.
In a statement, he said he received four unsolicited emails from Boag between 21 and 25 June.
“While not the same information that is the subject of the inquiry led by Michael Heron QC, [they were] similar in so far as it contained patient details,” Woodhouse said.
“Michelle told me she received this information through her role with the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and I was led to believe it was circulating among a number of other health agencies.
“I recognised that the information in those emails was private so I did not share it with anyone else and I subsequently deleted them.”
Woodhouse said he has contacted Heron about the emails and will cooperate with the inquiry.
So four “unsolicited” emails between June 21 and June 25.
Remember on July 4 when he said:
Yet another mistake just goes to prove that this Government is not fit to manage the Covid-19 recovery, National’s Health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says. “Reports coming in this morning of personal details being leaked which reveals the identity of New Zealand’s current active cases, is yet another serious failing from this incompetent Government.
“This is unconscionable and unacceptable that those suffering from the incredibly dangerous virus now have to suffer further with their private details being leaked.
“The Government needs to get to the bottom of this, and quickly. The Ministry of Health have been assuring people since the beginning of the epidemic in New Zealand that personal details would remain private, it’s unfathomable that they couldn’t handle a simple task like this.
Let us pick this apart. Woodhouse knew Boag was getting confidential information and was leaking them like a sieve. He was right that it was “unconscionable and unacceptable” that this was happening. But he was suggesting that it was the Government’s incompetence not a senior National Party member’s malevolence.
He has offered to cooperate with the Heron inquiry. It might be quicker for Heron if National MPs who did not receive private information from Boag identified themselves.
The question has to be asked, who else was given this information? How likely is it that Boag only sent it to two MPs?
The inquiry is going to be really interesting. Popcorn sellers in the country should get ready for a rush on their product.
Update: Michelle Boag has announced she has resigned from the National Party.
And Todd Muller said yesterday that that he had not asked his MPs whether they had received confidential information as Walker had and that “[t]he issue is sorted from my perspective”. But a party spokeswoman told the Herald that Muller knew about Boag’s emails to Woodhouse on Tuesday.
This is a nightmare for National. It is going to suck out every bit of momentum from their campaign that they may have been generating.
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