Stuff’s report on 3 deaths attributable to Wellington hospital’s low heart op throughput has a curious omission. The DomPost print version covers what appear to have been lying responses by Minister Cunliffe to Heather Roy MP’s Parliamentary questions. Stuff omits the following:

“…Minister David Cunliffe was briefed in November about three ‘allegedly preventable deaths” and sought more information. Questioned by Mrs Roy in Parliament 3 weeks later Mr Cunliffe said he did not know about the cases she refered to.”

Perhaps Cunliffe had no reason to connect his knowledge and her questions. I hope so.

Avoidable deaths due to Labour’s anti-private sector dogma are frequent.  Ministerial denial of knowledge should be the gripping part of that story.

 Our public service can not remain incorruptible if their bosses face no consequences for lying. Nine years of “superb political management” has done for our public morality if bare-faced Ministerial lies are now disposable trivia. 

What happened to headlines like “Minister in cover-up?” or “Minister’s job on line for lying?”?

As a commercial lawyer I’m sickened by the left’s sanctimony toward business. Labour love passing laws they could never satisfy in their own conduct. They lie happily, yet business people (properly) face prison or huge fines for faulty prospectus statements.