Sting in ponytail tale for Key
Prime Minister refused to release text due to Rachel Glucina's status as a journalist; Ombudsman rules he should have.
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Prime Minister John Key says he will release a text message related to last year’s bizarre ponytail-pulling brouhaha following a finding from the Ombudsman.
Mr Key has until now refused to release any messages between him and Rachel Glucina – who was at the time working for the NZ Herald – about the incident, despite requests under the Official Information Act for him to do so.
But now a spokesman for Mr Key has confirmed that he "will comply with the Ombudsman's recommendation."
Mr Key has said his refusal was based on Ms Glucina’s status as a journalist, and the principle that communications with members of the fourth estate are exempted from OIA requests.
However, Chief Ombudsman Judge Peter Boshier says there is no “blanket exception” under the act for “off the record communications between ministers and members of the media.”
Instead, each case must be viewed on its own merits and, having done so, Judge Boshier concluded that “even if an obligation of confidence existed, I consider it is outweighed by the high public interest in the information.”
Ms Glucina and the NZ Herald were criticised for an article she wrote in which she revealed the identity of a waitress who had posted an anonymous blog in which she accused Mr Key of repeatedly tugging her ponytail on occasions over some months in the cafe where she worked.
The Press Council subsequently upheld several complaints against the NZ Herald over Ms Glucina’s article, finding “there were elements of subterfuge” in her and the newspaper's dealings with the waitress, as well as “a failure to act fairly towards her.”
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Nick Grant
Fri, 19 Feb 2016
Fri, 19 Feb 2016
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Sting in ponytail tale for Key
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