No, this is not a trick question. The answer is when the minister determines that it is not – despite its being written on a Ministerial letterhead and signed the “Associate Minister of Transport“. Julie Anne Genter says that the letter is from the Green Party Transport spokesperson and therefore does not need to be disclosed. She says party policy should remain confidential.
The letter from Julie Anne Genter dated 26 March is to Phil Twyford, Minister of Transport. MPs Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis suspect that it contains proof that Genter coerced the Wellington City Council into adopting a green transport plan which puts major tunnel and roading projects in Wellington on hold for 10 years, and funds public transport instead.
Yesterday Genter again asserted her right to keep the contents of the letter private, which only raises the question, “why is she going to such lengths to hide the contents of the letter?”
There are other details about Genter’s relationship with the Wellington City Council that she may not have made public.
The letter to Phil Twyford was written prior to Twyford’s finalising government funding for the Wellington Transportation Programme in May 2019.
Genter’s husband Peter Nunns became Principal Advisor to the Wellington City Council in July 2019 but also remains Principal Economist for MR Cagney – a leading independent transport and planning consultancy with a special focus on sustainable transport and urban outcomes. What, if any, business relationship is there between MR Cagney and the Wellington City Council?
In a business situation, Genter would be expected to disclose her husband’s relationship with the Wellington City Council as a conflict of interest. Such disclosure includes people who are in a consenting personal relationship, that is, your spouse. Did Ms Genter table this disclosure in her meetings with Twyford and the Wellington City Council and remove herself from the discussions and decision making, which would be normal business practice?
Surely ministerial practice should be at least as good as good business practice – in fact, better, you would hope.
Genter’s insistence on keeping the information in this letter hidden is beginning to develop a very bad smell.
Sean Plunket on Magic Radio, talking with Chris Bishop, called it the “very curious saga of how Wellington’s transport plans nearly brought down this government”.
Plunket said this because Genter may have threatened to resign, which would have destabilised the coalition if the council did not comply with her green plans. This sorry little saga could still bring down the government if it is found that Genter threatened to resign and/or withhold funding in an attempt to subvert the Wellington City Council’s transport plans.
If proven, the story of the Greens, with 6% of the popular vote, manipulating a local body, using the threat of destabilizing the Coalition government by resigning, or withdrawing billions of dollars in funding, will go down in history.