Phil Twyford, a member of the most open and transparent government ever, is hiding yet another communication to his office.
This time it is from the leader of NZ First, Winston Peters.
Transport Minister Phil Twyford is refusing to release correspondence he’s received from his coalition partner NZ First relating to the Auckland light rail project.
NZ First has publicly said work on the project has been “suspended,” but Twyford claims that a Cabinet paper, which would pave the way for work to start, is a matter of weeks away.
Sources within the Government say NZ First is blocking the proposal and the correspondence, which came from the Office of NZ First leader Winston Peters, could detail the party’s position on the project. Publicly, Peters will only say that work isn’t happening in the immediate term.
“Light rail is a plan that the costs have blown out massively for,” Peters said.
But Twyford refuses to make the correspondence public, telling Parliament today it was not in the public interest to release it.
It is strange behaviour. He is wanting to keep this secret but it is widely suspected around the Wellington Beltway that it was him who leaked the Cabinet Paper about the timing of moving to level one.
There is quite a bit of disquiet inside Labour’s caucus right now. Many backbench MPs and even some ministers are quite sick of the Jacinda and Grant show.
Some have mused that they can’t actually do their jobs without those two sticking their snouts in to claim any glory.
Word on the streets of Wellington is that the heavy hitters in the government, ministers who are halfway competent have been sidelined and are no longer in the inner sanctum. Those include David Parker, Megan Woods and Phil Twyford.
It is little wonder that Labour is starting to leak. There are a lot of angry MPs frustrated at their inability to do their jobs.
This election cycle is certainly hotting up. It could get interesting.
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