The National Party has suffered yet again the reverse Midas touch from former president Michelle Boag.
She has admitted being the person who passed on confidential patient details to Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker:
Former National Party president Michelle Boag has admitted to passing on COVID-19 patient details to National MP Hamish Walker who leaked the information to the media.
Boag said in a statement on Tuesday that the information was made available to her as acting chief executive of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust (ARHT), although she said it was sent to her private email address.
Boag has resigned as acting CEO of ARHT.
“This was a massive error of judgement on my part and I apologise to my colleagues at ARHT whom I have let down badly,” Boag said. “I very much regret my actions and did not anticipate that Hamish would choose to send it on to some media outlets.”
Boag said she was grateful to the media for choosing not to publish the 18 names that were contained within the information.
“I take full responsibility for my actions and have resigned as acting CEO of ARHT… My actions were mine alone and should not reflect at all on the professionalism, integrity and outstanding reputation of the Rescue Helicopter staff.”
What a piece of work. This poisonous old hag has yet again become the story. Worse, she’s chucked Hamish Walker under the bus on the way through.
Instead of the Government’s inept and lackadaisical data security being the issue before us all, it is National’s dirty tricks in the forefront of the news.
Boag’s statement came just after Walker, MP for Clutha-Southland, admitted passing to the media by email information containing COVID-19 patient details that he said was given to him by a “source”.
Walker said he did it to “expose the Government’s shortcomings” so they would be “rectified”.
“It was never intended that the personal details would be made public, and they have not been, either by me or the persons I forwarded them to.”
Walker said he has received legal advice that he has not committed any criminal offence.
“The information that I received was not password protected by the Government. It was not stored on a secure system where authorised people needed to log on. There was no redaction to protect patient details, and no confidentiality statement on the document.”
Which will all now be over-shadowed because of the nefarious and despicable actions of Michelle Boag.
Unfortunately, Michelle Boag has a terrible character flaw in that she just can’t stop being herself. Now she has helped harm the career of a MP through her connections, including possibly her own son.
It is unconscionable that Michelle Boag has tried to smear the good friend of her son by suggesting she never intended for the information to be passed on.
That excuse holds as much water as a colander. Hamish Walker had no business having this information being sent to him.
You have to ask Michelle Boag precisely why she decided to do that. This is on her and her alone.
All Hamish Walker did, as many have before him, was to trust Michelle Boag. Like all her other victims he is suffering the same fate.
Todd Muller MUST excommunicate her. He, as a practicing Catholic, knows full well what that word means. He has to do it, because he and Nikki Kaye are both creatures of Boag. She was out there pushing their agenda to topple Simon Bridges.
If they both don’t excommunicate her immediately then it’s on them.
This is the last thing National needed at this stage of the election campaign. They need to bring in the Witch-Finder General and start exorcising any presence of Michelle Boag.
If the party is looking for the bus that should be being warmed up then I’m their man. I won’t even blink as they chuck her under.
Michelle Boag is COVID-20 to the National party, with a rate of infection exceeding that of Ebola. Time to burn her out.
