Judith Collins has shown her cunning yet again.
And it is over what the Prime Minister knew and when about the Iain Lees-Galloway affair.
She added that when she passed on the information to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, she did not know herself he was accused of an affair – but she accused the PM of knowing prior to their conversation.
“I didn’t know anything about it, I think she probably did.”
But when asked this afternoon if she thought Ardern had lied, she said: “No I’m saying that I did not know. I simply said to her that I’ve had a message from someone, an email, saying that they had some information that is even worse than what has come out about our then-MP and I passed it to her and she asked me who it was about and I said, ‘Iain Lees-Galloway’.
“I did not have the detail and I said I didn’t want to receive the detail and I asked them to contact her office.
“And when I said ‘It’s Iain Lees-Galloway’, she said ‘Oh yes, right’.”
When asked if the implication was that Ardern had “joined the dots because she already knew about the affair”, Collins said: “I didn’t know about the affair and I’m not interested in all the grubby details. It’s not my business. She needs to front up with what she meant by ‘an abuse of office’ and frankly that’s for her to answer. I’m not her minder and if I was, she would be much better at her job.”
Zing! An accusation that demands answers and a sledge at the end.
Boom.
Now Ardern will be on the back foot again over her knowledge of Lees-Galloway and his inappropriate relationship.
One wonders how she will cope when she is asked about La Cucaracha as the minister is becoming known as…
Labour types are very nervous; they know people and the media know too, it is only a matter of time.
Labour’s leadership is going to have to do something.
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