Not Quite Right

Link: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10414789

Simon Power says that the Liam Ashley debacle is the most serious departmental failing since Cave Creek, and Damien O'Connor should resign as Minister of Corrections.

While the observation may indeed have merit, and Liam's case is certainly a fuckup of monumental proportions, National ought to be incredibly careful about drawing comparisons with Cave Creek and then demanding ministerial resignations. After all, despite significant public pressure, Denis Marshall, the National Minister of Conservation at the time, didn't resign for over a year after the Cave Creek disaster. That really set the bar for any demands that National might make for ministers to resign in the face of blunders on the part of ministries for which they are responsible, and that involved 14 fatalities rather than just one - not to minimise Liam's death, but 14 deaths in one incident carries vastly more weight in arguing for a resignation.